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June 15th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Harnessing the power of computing has been the dominant thread in Pink’s ABS career, as has putting distance between the bureau and politicians.
Within months of taking the top job on his return from New Zealand he cut off the early access to key statistics traditionally offered to the Treasurer and other ministers, insisting they see them at the same time as everyone else – 11.30am.
On the table are the labour force figures released an hour earlier. ”Wayne Swan tweeted about these at 11.40,” I tell him. ”Are you saying he hadn’t seen them until I had at 11.30?” Pink nods. He lets government officials see the figures in a pre-release lockup in the Treasury building, but doesn’t let them out until 11.30.
”You would have heard those figures moved the dollar,” he says. ”Someone made money. I want to be absolutely sure no one gets them early. I myself don’t see them until the morning they are released.”
There are occasional problems. Two years ago South Australia briefly lost its mantle as Australia’s biggest wine producer. A coding error gave it to NSW. News reports alerted the ABS to the unlikely result and it tracked down and fixed the error.
”I want people to challenge our data – that’s a good thing, it helps us pick things up,” he says. I tell him I am unhappy with the labour force release. I think the methods used falsely make it look as though jobs growth stopped during 2011. He says he doesn’t believe there is a problem, but gives every indication he’ll put my concerns to his staff, giving them as much weight as if they came from the Treasurer.
”My act is very specific. Neither the Treasurer nor Prime Minister can tell me how to go about my business. They can tell me what information to collect, but they can’t tell me how to do it, when to do it or how often to do it.”
Although appointed by the governor-general on the recommendation of the then Treasurer, Peter Costello, Pink can be removed only by both houses of Parliament.
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