sentences:  The 2001 New Zealand census found that Hector and Ngakawau have a combined population of 300, a drop of 16% or 57 people since the 1996 census.This has dropped further in 2006 to 234 people.Despite a low population, many of the workers at New Zealand's largest open-cut coal mine at Stockton choose to live at these places and shuttles frequently operate between the two places.