The Census, it seems, doesn’t want to know about us

Were you annoyed by the exclusion of motorcycles from the Census?

You weren’t alone.

Here’s a typical letter from a reader. I got lots of these!

Hi Bear,
If we ever needed evidence that people who prefer 2 wheels to 4 don’t count, the govt. made it very clear in the census. They told us the census details were needed to improve infrastructure……blah blah blah.
Then I get to Q.54 “How many registered motor vehicles owned or used by residents of this dwelling were garaged or parked at or near this dwelling on Census Night?”  Then the note “Exclude motorbike and motor scooters.”
I think to myself they must ask for that separately on the next page – WRONG!
Just makes you realise that just like now they don’t want to consider us in the future – other than of course to rip us off whenever possible.
Steve Evans
Mornington
One possibility you haven’t considered, Steve, is that since motorcycles and scooters take up so little room, they don’t even need to be factored into future transport planning… no? No, I don’t believe that either.
This question came up at the last census, too, and I chased down a response from the people who put the questions together. If anything, clearing this up made it worse.
“Nobody asked,” was the response. Nobody asked about bike and scooter ownership. And the people who did ask about vehicles, only wanted to know – specifically – about cars. Couldn’t be bothered with bikes.
“Well, I’m asking!” I said. But it seems that I’m just not important enough to get my own question into the census. I’m not (thank heavens, really) a government department or a planning authority or anything useful like that. I’m just a taxpayer trying to do the right thing.
So there you have it. Until someone who has the clout cares enough to ask for bikes to be included, they will miss out in the Australian census.
At least they did ask us if we went to work by bike.
This whole thing is symptomatic of the car-focus of Australian transport planners, of course. How can we get them to take bikes and scooters, which could do so much good, seriously as part of the transport mix?
Well, I guess it’s the old story – write to your parliamentary representative, both State and Federal, and copy the letter or e-mail to the respective transport and roads ministers. It’s up to us – nobody else is going to do this for us.
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming