I am going to share this tonight. Everyone is afraid to use the A word, Austerity. That is what we have. That means the rich get richer and the poor/vulnerable suffer.
I'm still processing Jonathan Mosen's recent RNZ interview, pondering how I will respond to, honour his words.
I share a few key quotes from that interview for those who missed it.
Kia kaha 🙏
"....I try and keep a gratitude journal. And as an advocate I wouldn't have survived if I didn't keep a gratitude journal because advocacy is kind of like banging your head against a brick wall. every so often the wall moves just a fraction and you're got to take the wins, so I try and keep a balance.
.......There are a lot of things that need to change [in the disabilities sector] and we can talk about the agencies and the crisis that I beleive that they face, but if we want to start making change, we've got to have disabled people in public facing roles so that those attitudes can shift, and that will help to shape public policy for service delivery and also ither accessibility related things that affect disabled people.
.........We have no members of Parliament who identify as active members of the disabilities community.
There has never been a minister for disability services who is disabled themselves.
And in 2024 it wouldn't be acceptable for a moment for there to be say a male minister for womens affairs or a pakeha minister for Māori development.
.........But we have a culture in this country that disabled people will be the people that things are done for, and frankly I'm just tired, I'm fed-up with disabled people only being visitors to Parliament.
How is it that a house of representatives doesn’t represent a group that comprises a quarter of the country's population - disabled people.
It is an enditement on all political parties that that is the case.
..........How can you go out there credibly and say employ blind people when they don't even do that themselves in those senior leadership positions.
........There has not been a blind what we would now call a Chief Executive of the blindness organisation in this country since 1923 - over one hundred years of no blind person leading that organisation.
.........And it starts with leaders, who can't just shut their laptop down and forget about blindness or walk away from blindness....
But to be fair this doesn't just apply to blind low vision nz, and the blindness sector, we have very few disabled people in leadership roles.
In my 5 years at Work Bridge, I was really the only disabled person leading a larger provider of disability support servixes, and I just don't understand why people think that's okay, particularly when you look at say the number of Māori doing geeat work in Māori development roles right accross their sector, we don't have the same thing here.
New Zealand is a signatory to the Conventional of Rights of People With Disabilities.
What we need, and the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care said this, is legislation that codifies into law our rights under that convention.
So it's more than just accessibility, it's about human rights.
If you get discriminated againts because you are disabled when you're applying for a job or anywhere else in society, that's not necessarily an accessibility issue, but it is a civil rights violation. And we do have a human-rights act here, but it's very weak and it's very focused on mediation and lets get everybody around the table and try and sing kumbyah if we can - it doesn't have teeth.
......The Labour government absolutely shafted disabled people, by instead of introducing a bill that gave enforceable accessibility standards, it just put a piece of legislation on the table that said - oh we'll form a committee to discuss disabled people.
And that right there is an example of how successive governments from both political persuasions treat disabled people. That was a contemptuous thing for the previous Labour Government to have done....."
I have just been saying the same thing. It is exhausting being expected to continually provide information for free, information they have been told before, and information that is emotionally draining to have to give. And this is happening for disability services, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, environmental/conservation issues, animal welfare
Thank you, Dr Bex, for your powerful words that so vividly capture what it’s like to advocate for people with disabilities. While I haven’t been doing advocacy for as long as you have, your experiences deeply resonated with me.
In the Dementia Community—particularly in my case, advocating for age-appropriate support and services for those with Young-onset Dementia—we share the same feelings of frustration and disillusionment.
But, like you, we’re still here, still breathing, and still climbing to the rooftops to shout for change.
Please keep going—you’re an inspiration to so many. And if you need it, don’t hesitate to take some time for yourself.
I hear your exhaustion e hoa. And it's the same as what hapū tell us about engaging with yet another young bright thing at council who is trying to get up to speed in 200 years of mamae and being ignored and worse. All we can do in our planning programme is teach future planners to listen and not take anger personally then do their best to change the system within which they work. but I still feel there must be a better way that allows long term progress to be retained beyond the political cycle and beyond the constant turnover in public service.
Yes, it seems to be quite bruising all round, and there has to be a better way for both parties. Perhaps with all of us ticking along we might start to see a shift?
I am going to share this tonight. Everyone is afraid to use the A word, Austerity. That is what we have. That means the rich get richer and the poor/vulnerable suffer.
Thank you for sharing. Powerful words. 😔
I'm still processing Jonathan Mosen's recent RNZ interview, pondering how I will respond to, honour his words.
I share a few key quotes from that interview for those who missed it.
Kia kaha 🙏
"....I try and keep a gratitude journal. And as an advocate I wouldn't have survived if I didn't keep a gratitude journal because advocacy is kind of like banging your head against a brick wall. every so often the wall moves just a fraction and you're got to take the wins, so I try and keep a balance.
.......There are a lot of things that need to change [in the disabilities sector] and we can talk about the agencies and the crisis that I beleive that they face, but if we want to start making change, we've got to have disabled people in public facing roles so that those attitudes can shift, and that will help to shape public policy for service delivery and also ither accessibility related things that affect disabled people.
.........We have no members of Parliament who identify as active members of the disabilities community.
There has never been a minister for disability services who is disabled themselves.
And in 2024 it wouldn't be acceptable for a moment for there to be say a male minister for womens affairs or a pakeha minister for Māori development.
.........But we have a culture in this country that disabled people will be the people that things are done for, and frankly I'm just tired, I'm fed-up with disabled people only being visitors to Parliament.
How is it that a house of representatives doesn’t represent a group that comprises a quarter of the country's population - disabled people.
It is an enditement on all political parties that that is the case.
..........How can you go out there credibly and say employ blind people when they don't even do that themselves in those senior leadership positions.
........There has not been a blind what we would now call a Chief Executive of the blindness organisation in this country since 1923 - over one hundred years of no blind person leading that organisation.
.........And it starts with leaders, who can't just shut their laptop down and forget about blindness or walk away from blindness....
But to be fair this doesn't just apply to blind low vision nz, and the blindness sector, we have very few disabled people in leadership roles.
In my 5 years at Work Bridge, I was really the only disabled person leading a larger provider of disability support servixes, and I just don't understand why people think that's okay, particularly when you look at say the number of Māori doing geeat work in Māori development roles right accross their sector, we don't have the same thing here.
New Zealand is a signatory to the Conventional of Rights of People With Disabilities.
What we need, and the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care said this, is legislation that codifies into law our rights under that convention.
So it's more than just accessibility, it's about human rights.
If you get discriminated againts because you are disabled when you're applying for a job or anywhere else in society, that's not necessarily an accessibility issue, but it is a civil rights violation. And we do have a human-rights act here, but it's very weak and it's very focused on mediation and lets get everybody around the table and try and sing kumbyah if we can - it doesn't have teeth.
......The Labour government absolutely shafted disabled people, by instead of introducing a bill that gave enforceable accessibility standards, it just put a piece of legislation on the table that said - oh we'll form a committee to discuss disabled people.
And that right there is an example of how successive governments from both political persuasions treat disabled people. That was a contemptuous thing for the previous Labour Government to have done....."
Jonathan Mosen
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018964971/blind-and-disabled-advocate-jonathan-mosen-to-quit-nz-in-frustration
I have just been saying the same thing. It is exhausting being expected to continually provide information for free, information they have been told before, and information that is emotionally draining to have to give. And this is happening for disability services, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, environmental/conservation issues, animal welfare
and much more.
To be honest I have given up. They have the information they need in countless reports and documents. But I admire people who haven’t.
Thank you, Dr Bex, for your powerful words that so vividly capture what it’s like to advocate for people with disabilities. While I haven’t been doing advocacy for as long as you have, your experiences deeply resonated with me.
In the Dementia Community—particularly in my case, advocating for age-appropriate support and services for those with Young-onset Dementia—we share the same feelings of frustration and disillusionment.
But, like you, we’re still here, still breathing, and still climbing to the rooftops to shout for change.
Please keep going—you’re an inspiration to so many. And if you need it, don’t hesitate to take some time for yourself.
Thanks Paul, and thank you for sharing and advocating too - really appreciate the kind words and solidarity
Thanks for all you’re doing!
Advocacy is a killer under this government. Absolutely disgusting.
I hear your exhaustion e hoa. And it's the same as what hapū tell us about engaging with yet another young bright thing at council who is trying to get up to speed in 200 years of mamae and being ignored and worse. All we can do in our planning programme is teach future planners to listen and not take anger personally then do their best to change the system within which they work. but I still feel there must be a better way that allows long term progress to be retained beyond the political cycle and beyond the constant turnover in public service.
Yes, it seems to be quite bruising all round, and there has to be a better way for both parties. Perhaps with all of us ticking along we might start to see a shift?