Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh has attacked the government over its handling of the census, following last night’s closure of the website used for online submission of census forms.
“Millions of hours of Australians’ time has been wasted,” Leigh told a media conference. “I’m not sure Australians can have faith in anything the government says about the census… If they can’t manage the census, how can they manage the other arms of government?”
Leigh said the ALP was “deeply concerned that the position of Chief Statistician was left vacant for nearly a year”. He accused the government of blaming public servants for the census problems when ministerial responsibility should apply.
Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale called for the suspension of all fines for not completing the census.
Listen to Leigh’s media conference (9m)
Watch Richard Di Natale (63s)
