(1) Official statistics shall be collected to provide information required by the Executive Government of New Zealand, government departments, local authorities, and businesses for the purpose of making policy decisions, and to facilitate the appreciation of economic, social, demographic, and other matters of interest to the said Government, government departments, local authorities, businesses, and to the general public.
(2) In order to co-ordinate as effectively as possible, and to render most useful the official statistics produced, and also to avoid unnecessary duplication of requests for information, all official statistics shall be subject to this Part, except where an exemption is specifically made by regulations made under this Act or by the Minister in writing.