Australia's chief statistician, David Gruen, has defended the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) after it publicly contradicted right-wing claims of “mass migration”, saying the independent agency will not stand by when its data is egregiously misrepresented.
Speaking ahead of World Stats Day on 20 October, Gruen rejected accusations that the ABS had censored anyone by issuing a clarifying statement in August. The move came after overseas arrivals figures were misused to support inflated claims about migration levels, despite the data counting people entering and leaving the country rather than permanent settlers.
“To claim that we were censoring anyone is an odd claim, because nothing's being censored. We went on publishing all the same data. We simply were making a statement about its appropriate use,” Gruen said. He noted that the right-wing thinktank Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), which had accused the Albanese government of “weaponising” the ABS, continued to make similar claims despite official figures showing a downward trend.
Gruen acknowledged the “trade-offs” of intervening in contested policy areas, but insisted the bureau's role was to side with truth. “You don't want to be seen to be taking sides; I mean, you are taking sides in the sense that you're trying to take the side of truth,” he said.
The episode underscores the growing pressure on statistical bodies worldwide amid rising disinformation. Gruen cited examples including the sacking of America's labour statistics chief by Donald Trump and the manipulation of data by authoritarian regimes, warning that an independent statistics agency is vital for democracy.
