Harry Styles will have to take part in the 2023 New Zealand census, which aims to capture the country as it was on the same night as his only show in the country.
The census is conducted every five years and requires everyone in the country, including overseas visitors, to take part. This year it happens to be held on the night of the British pop star’s Auckland show on 7 March.
A spokesperson for the New Zealand government’s census team confirmed to the Guardian on Friday that Styles would have to take part. Any individual who does not participate or provides false or incomplete information can be fined up to NZ$2,000 (A$1,830, £1,037).
On Twitter, the 2023 census account also confirmed to an inquiring user that it requires everyone in the country to provide their details – including “tourists, visitors and former members of One Direction”.
The account then shared an “artist’s impression” of Styles filling out his census form “lovingly rendered in fuchsia in Microsoft Paint”.
Kia ora @coupdemain CC: the country. Thank you for this important query.
— 2023 Census | Aotearoa New Zealand | 7 March 2023 (@2023Census) February 23, 2023
Everyone who is in Aotearoa New Zealand on census night (Tuesday 7 March), needs to be counted in the census. This includes tourists, visitors, and former members of One Direction.
Artist's impression: pic.twitter.com/e5yvh2B551
Styles will be asked to answer questions ranging from his household members to his smoking habits and his income. The 2023 census will also collect information on gender and sexual identity for the first time. All answers given are confidential.
Completing the New Zealand census is a nicer task for the 29-year-old singer, who was pressured to perform a “shoey” – taking off his shoe and drinking from it – while on his sold-out tour of Australia.
The first official census was run in New Zealand in 1851. Since 1877 there has been a census every five years. It has only been cancelled three times: in 1931 after the Great Depression, in 1941 during the second world war, and in 2011 after the Canterbury earthquakes, which killed 185 people.
The 2023 census will go ahead for about 80% of the country but organisers are still deciding how to tackle areas in the North Island devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle.
