Planned to go back in time

An anti-census campaigner in New Zealand was hoping to avoid yesterday’s compulsory national count by hiding in a TARDIS, it’s reported.

The self-styled Laird McGillicuddy, otherwise known as Graeme Cairns, says he was going to use the Doctor Who time-travelling space craft to boycott the five-yearly census by “travelling in time”, the New Zealand Herald reports.

Cairns, who was once the leader of the satirical McGillicuddy Serious Party, has a history of unusual stunts to protest the census, which is compulsory for all New Zealanders.

He’s once claimed not to be in New Zealand by hovering above the city of Hamilton in a hot-air balloon, and on another occasion declared himself “temporarily dead”.

He risks a fine of up to NZ$500 for refusing to fill out the form, the Stuff.co.nz website says. Five years ago, there were around 100 prosecutions for census avoidance.

While most of New Zealand’s approximate 4.7 million people are taking part in the census, some have concerns that the results may be skewed due to accessibility problems – see story this page.