Hon Tariana Turia

Minister of Disability issues

Hui Taumata: Te Piringa; National Maori Disability Network's Annual Conference; Kairau Marae, Taranaki

There are three very important reasons why it is absolutely appropriate to be here at this marae, and here at this time, as we officially launch the Hui Taumata for Te Piringa – the National Maori Disability Network’s Annual conference.

150 years ago, on the 17th March 1860, the first shots were fired in what is now known as the Taranaki Land Wars. Exactly three months ago, on the 16th March 2010 speakers from around Te Atiawa joined with other Taranaki hapu and iwi, to come to this marae, and to speak of the injustices committed against Maori during this time.

At that hui, the bishop of Taranaki, Philip Richardson, spoke of the strength and warmth of the welcome, he acknowledged the generosity of the korero, a korero which focused on truth and peace; and he encouraged everyone to hear the stories, telling them we cannot go into the future without knowing the past.

The second reason, brings the history forward to June 2003, in the historic Court of Appeal decision on the case, Ngati Apa vs Attorney General. The decision opened the way for the High Court to declare that Maori common law rights in the foreshore and seabed still exist, and for the Maori Land Court to declare land to be customary land.

Fast forward seven years and finally, this very week, we have finally reached a point where the Government has announced our intention to repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act of 2004.

And the third reason that this is absolutely the right time to be gathered in hui, is of course what we know in Whanganui and Taranaki as Puanga – which signals the start of the Maori New Year.

Puanga is the star which features in the sky just prior to Matariki and shows itself with the new moon of the first month of the cold season, Pipiri.

Pipiri is literally a term to describe when our people started to come together - or to piri back to their kainga after spending their time gathering kai in preparation for the cold months ahead.

It seems, therefore, that the signs are all right for Te Piringa – to come together, to shelter under the mantle of this association, to become reinvigorated and inspired about the journey ahead.

The time is right to be focusing on our pathway ahead; the priorities we must set for ourselves. It is a time for peace, for optimism, for restoring the essence of who we are.

It is, therefore, so exciting to be able to be with you today, and to share with you the passion I have for whanau ora and for hearing from you what will truly make the difference for disabled persons and their families?

As I think about time, I remember that it has been nine years since the New Zealand Disability Strategy was launched in 2001. The New Zealand Disability Strategy and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, guide government’s actions towards disabled persons. The vision they articulated is still just as relevant today.

And so it is also appropriate to think about the progress we have made in achieving the vision of a fully inclusive Aotearoa where people with impairments can say, “we live in a society that highly values our lives and continually enhances our full participation”.

As you might be aware, all Government departments are required to report annually on the progress they have achieved in implementing the Disability Strategy. An independent review released in August 2008 found that departments have undertaken a significant level of activity – but that this activity tended to focus on agencies gaining a greater understanding of disability issues.

There is probably no-one better than the Chair of this organisation – Tania Kingi – to tell you that progress will never be achieved if we just focus on building up agency capability and overlook whanau with disabilities.

Tania has an important role in the national group, the Kia Tutahi Standing Together Steering Group, which I have established to oversee the development of a relationship agreement between the community, voluntary sector and the Government – and so I want to mihi to you, Tania, for the vital contribution you make not just to that forum, but through the example you demonstrate in Te Roopu Waiora Trust of investing in whanau haua as the architects, the designers and the drivers of their own destiny.

I began talking about the stars being in alignment – and I really believe that to be the case, for Te Piringa to establish the direction you want to take in taking up the opportunities for innovation, for collaboration and for working together.

In Budget 2010 we announced the investment of three million dollars in a campaign to change attitudes and behaviours towards disabled persons and their whanau.

We all know that negative attitudes have been consistently identified as the biggest barrier to disabled persons being able to access the same opportunities as other New Zealanders.

Alongside the attitudes campaign, Government is investing $2.34 million to help promote, protect and monitor the rights of people with disabilities.

As part of the investment in monitoring, the Government has committed $750,000 to resource a network of disabled person’s organisations to monitor disabled people’s experience in living their life.

This is such an important part of moving forward – hearing the stories in order that we can appreciate what we need to do next, and to identify the strengths and challenged ahead.

We have been working really hard on developing a new model of disability supports which focuses on greater choice and control by disabled people and their families. My greatest hope is that we can extend the access to individualised funding and begin to implement local area coordination-type services; to bring together a greater alignment of disability supports.

And I want to share a fantastic initiative that I saw recently in a trip to Adelaide. While I was there I spent some time with a group which promote themselves as creating circles of friends for people who have disability.

The whole inspiration for the Circles initiative is to create meaningful and supportive relationships – things that make all our lives worth living.

The initiative is essentially about building and strengthening the personal networks of a person who has disability to form a Circle of Support.

At its barest form, this group is driven by the expectation that if asked, people might be pleased to make time and agree to look out for the person with a disability.

One of the stories was of a man with cerebral palsy, who was supported by his family and his Circle of Friends who were all just a phone call away. It was really important to him that he was independent and his privacy was respected, so during the hours between 7pm and 7am he would be on his own, but with everything that he needed in immediate access.

The Circles initiative is about helping people to build an inclusive lifestyle in the home and community of their choice.

And I can’t help thinking how it fits in so well with another Budget initiative which was the $1.5 million allocated to promote housing designed to create lifetime design standards – that is to take into account the particular needs that make everyday life so much easier.

The Circles concept really interested me because I saw so many connections with the types of things we are trying to do here with Whanau Ora; with individualised funding; with local area coordination.

The genesis of the idea is about supporting dreams and initiatives from as simple as going to the movies and having a swim in the sea to as complex as travelling overseas or meeting someone and falling in love.

In essence, this is exactly what whanau ora is about. The opportunity to fall in love again – with ourselves.

Whanau ora is about investing in whānau engagement, innovation, capacity and capability building.

We start from the belief that we can do this – it is about our aspirations to be self-managing, to be resilient; to know that our whakapapa is our greatest source of strength.

Whanau ora restores to ourselves the capacity to take responsibility for our own. We will do this through the development of an outcomes framework with a research, monitoring and evaluation regime.

I want to make it quite clear that Whanau Ora is an approach – it is not about providers protecting their patch, or about pilot programmes. It IS about the transformation that is based on outcomes determined by the whanau.

And it will be supported by the integration of existing contracts to encourage a focus on outcomes rather than attention being diverted into numerous activities.

There will be 20 providers or provider collectives in the first year, which have a track record in using the whānau ora concept, selected to deliver the approach at the coalface.

Just last week we opened the Expression of Interest process which is calling for applications from providers and provider collectives in two waves. The first wave closes on 7 July 2010; the second wave closes on 2 August 2010.

At the same time, Regional Leadership Groups will be established from 17 July 2010 to lead strategic change for Whānau Ora within their region. Nominations for representation on the groups across ten regions closed on 23 June 2010 and will be announced 16 July 2010.

I hope that I’ve been able to plant a few seeds here today, that you will take and nurture and grow in your own way. And I want to leave you with a final thought that came from my recent visit to Australia – in visiting the Community Living Project. That project starts from the basis of encouraging a community in which we are all valued. Thy shared a word of caution which I think is useful for us all to reflect on:

We need to be cautious that we do not fall into thinking that it will be us that will change the world. We may well hope to have a generous, motivating, thoughtful and helpful presence alongside people, however, their world shouldn’t have us at its centre, nor should it crumble without us.

In the long run, our success can only ever be measured by the security, intimacy and embrace that the people we serve find amongst their own family and friends and in their own lives in our community.”

ENDS

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