There are calls to make sure Indigenous people are properly counted in this year's census next month.
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Tuesday August 10 is census night and it will be one of Australia's biggest peacetime operations for the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Kalkadoon man Warren King is ABS Census Engagement Manager in the Mount Isa and Gulf Regions and he is passionate about helping his community and region be Census-ready, and understand the importance of being counted.
"It's important for our mob to complete the Census. We need to be counted so our stories can be told and heard," Warren said.
"The Census is about making sure we get an accurate count of our communities. It's about having the right numbers to address local needs - from transport in remote areas to health clinics and mums and bubs' programs."
Warren wants more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to apply for remote Census jobs as part of this years' Census. The job involves supporting local communities to understand the Census and to complete their forms. Employing local staff who know and understand their community and the languages they speak is key to these roles.
"Who better to know our communities, our towns and our regions, than our own people from those same communities," Warren said.
There is concern that Indigenous people are being undercounted in Mount Isa especially after the 2016 census when Father Mick Lowcock requested a recount for the suburb of Pioneer.
"Three weeks after the census people in Pioneer contacted me asking me when it was going to be done," Father Mick said.
"Another concern is when answering where they live, they answer where they are from, say 'Doomadgee' even though they have been in Mount Isa for five years."
Father Mick said it was important to get this right because government services are based on population and Mount Isa was where the services were and if the city did not get numbers then the services would be down.
"They are keen this time round to do something more extensive," he said.
Father Mick said the numbers of people in Pioneer is underrepresented.
"Some people are reluctant to talk, for example if they've got five adults and are only supposed to have two, people are nervous when it comes to officials," he said.
"The more people who say they are from Mount Isa the better, even FIFO people, how much time do they spend here versus at home?"
Traeger MP and KAP leader Robbie Katter said Mount Isa would have to be one the most difficult places in Queensland to count accurately due to the high influx of people coming over the Northern Territory border who are not necessarily going to be forthcoming to the authorities for giving accurate information as to why they are in the region.
"It is a terrible injustice to the people of the North West, including all the organisations that support it and to the people who participate," Mr Katter said.
"We will inevitably be underfunded and under resourced if we can't even accurately count the population in Mount Isa."
Mr Katter said the other problem was that Mount Isa was a big enough place for people to hide.
"People only have a vague understanding of those who live in the riverbed. It is big enough town to hide in and end evade being counted," he said.
"When I was involved in an informal census last year it proved how inaccurate the previous census was and many organisations involved in the census confirmed that it could not reconcile with the increased demand on their services."
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