Blind People – Our Voice, Our Future: Speech
Hon Tariana Turia
Minister for Disability
Issues
Saturday 6 October 2012; 2.25pm SPEECH
Speech to
the Association of Blind Citizens of New Zealand
(ABCNZ)
Annual Conference: Blind People – Our
Voice, Our Future
Victoria Hotel;
Dunedin.
[Delivered by Rose
Wilkinson, Executive Officer of ABCNZ, on behalf of the
Minister]
A month or so ago, one of the daily newspapers ran a feature on one of our remarkable Paralympian champions who had just been treated to a triumphant welcome home parade celebrating her heroic efforts in London.
This young sporting hero had returned from the Paralympics with a bronze, two silvers and on the final day winning gold with a time that broke the world record by three seconds.
One might think that
such incredible success could be somewhat overwhelming but
not for this young legend. She told the adoring press,
"I'm just Mary, Hutt Valley girl, who really loves
swimming and just happens to be blind. Being blind doesn't
define me as a person. Sure, it takes me a bit longer to
do some things, but not a whole lot longer to swim a race."
Your conference today is driven by the theme,
Blind People: Our voice; our future.
And so
it seems appropriate to lead off my kōrero with you today,
thinking about the voice of today – Mary Fisher - and her
peers – the generation that will help to shape our
future.
Despite her extraordinary achievements, Mary
describes herself as just an ordinary girl with ordinary
fears.
She loves the colour purple; she likes to do
the quizzes at the pub on a Tuesday night; she was pretty
nervous about leaving home but now she’s having great fun
– much the same as any other 19 year old.
Indeed she
could be a perfect poster girl for the disability catch-cry
– to seek an ordinary life.
Today we can celebrate
that the world in which we live has seen a significant
revolution in attitude from the grim age of the twentieth
century.
Many in this room may recall a time in which
disability was regarded under the framing of a medical model
– a problem which indicated there was something
‘wrong’ with a person and society needed to help to
‘fix’ the problem. Some of these magic solutions were
in fact more disabling and discriminatory than today’s
generation could ever comprehend including segregation from
society; institutionalisation; and attitudes that could
cause enduring harm.
But through these dark times, people
with disabilities forged the way ahead through enabling
their voices to be heard.
Their expectations were
aired - both of what they expect of society, and more
importantly, what they expect of themselves and their
representative organisations. Together, organisations like
ABC, walk alongside of people with blindness and visual
impairment, and have achieved great gains in promoting
independence and participation.
And so we come to
this conference today, thinking about the ways in which we
can build on the momentum created by the voice of disabled
persons, in organisations which have been established for
support and advocacy.
As you will be aware, the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities recognises the vital role of disabled
people’s organisations, in connecting government agencies
with the reality of the lives of disabled persons.
Two
particular priorities are the implementation of the
convention (article four) and monitoring (article
33).
One of the ideas I’d like to encourage your hui to
talk about is the potential of coalition organisations to
come together to present a united view on priorities. I
believe that your message to Government can be stronger when
it is in conjunction with other organisations, than
separately working on your own.
This worked
successfully during the United Nations negotiations where
agreement was reached on issues by disabled persons’
organisations working together before talking with
governments.
I see there being every opportunity in the
current environment to develop stronger collaborative
approaches – I have already seen such collaboration coming
through in the monitoring work. I know that Blind Citizens
New Zealand is a key member of the Convention Coalition
which has been working together to monitor the rights of
disabled people.
The Government has formally recognised
the Convention Coalition, the Human Rights Commission and
the Office of the Ombudsmen as equal participants in the
independent monitoring mechanism for New Zealand’s
implementation of the United Nations Convention.
I
understand that the independent monitoring mechanism has
been working well, with all three parties learning from and
better understanding each other. It is a great formula for
the type of shared talking that we need to see in all
quarters – and may well be a model for other sectors to
emulate. When it comes to the crunch social change comes
down to the quality of our relationships – how well we can
build community; how committed we are to each other.
I
expect that you will continue to sustain and strengthen your
voice, while at the same time looking at the range of
collaborative initiatives that might occur both within the
disability sector, and outside such as with employers or
fund-raising agencies.
I am aware, of course, that
fund-raising is difficult across the NGO sector. I have
asked the Office for Disability Issues to examine how the
voice of disabled persons can best be supported in today’s
climate, including whether the funding currently provided by
government agencies can be more effectively used.
In this
process I am keen to ensure we listen to disabled people and
consider their future needs. I want to be quite clear that
my priority is in making sure that public funding results in
actual improvements to disabled people’s lives and is not
eaten up in administrative overheads, or unnecessarily
duplication of competing agencies.
The key in making a
difference is the focus on accessibility.
The Government has provided funding to Be. Accessible to work with businesses about the value of being accessible, and also to Lifetime Design to promote the value of accessible housing to the building industry.
These are really
critical developments, which will also be strengthened by
some of the work we are doing in the Christchurch
Rebuild.
Under building regulations new or altered
buildings will have greater accessibility. Two particular
highlights are:
• An advisory service for older
people on how to make homes more accessible by taking into
account the lifetime design standards;
• And an
online repository for information about accessible
buildings, aimed at designers, architects and builders.
But of course the issue of accessibility is not just logistical – about ramps and elevators. It is also about something felt; it is about combatting isolation or fear; confronting prejudice; modelling acceptance.
And that’s why I am so proud of the Think Differently campaign which is doing some great work in promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people.
It might be about access to information – how can we ensure that the directions on prescriptions are able to be followed by blind people? Are there alternative formats including Easy Read? Is there adequate computer technology for enable access for blind and low vision people to Government websites?
I understand that the Electoral Commission will be talking with you about your information in planning about how to make voting more accessible, as well as preparations for the next general election – and I would hope also that there is preparation for the Māori Electoral Option which kicks off next March.
You will all be aware that the Māori population is disproportionately affected by impairment (the overall prevalence of vision impairment and blindness in Māori aged 45 to 74 years is twice that of non-Māori) so accessibility must also include focus on inclusion and I would hope that your relationships with Ngā Kapo o Aotearoa will reflect that as well.
I want to briefly talk about a concept which is the heart of the Disability Action Plan for 2012-2014; and that is Enabling Good Lives.
The Enabling Good Lives
approach was developed by the disability sector in
partnership with government agencies. It is about building
up the capability of disabled people, their families and
communities – instead of just relying on specialist
disability services.
It is also about dismantling the
funding silos and simplifying the system so that disabled
peoples can plan accordingly.
There has been some Enabling Good Lives work in Christchurch, Wellington and the Waikato. It might be a focus say on an inclusive education system building on the vision of the Ministry of Education’s Success for All – Every School, Every Child. That plan has targets in place to ensure schools include and support disabled students – and we hope that the Ministries of Health and ACC will come along with this plan and share strategies to better integrate support for families.
Basically Enabling Good Lives is about
making support more flexible – learning from disabled
peoples themselves. As another example, post-earthquake in
Christchurch, there has been the idea of creating tags for
Disability Assist Dogs, including guide dogs. These tags
will clearly identify dogs as Disability Assist Dogs and not
pets – and will hopefully mean it will be easier for their
owners to be reunited with their dogs in the case of an
evacuation or disaster situation.
Another example where
we are learning directly from the advocacy and advice of
disabled persons is the talking ATMs, and audio-description
on TV.
Finally, I want to commend the contribution you
have made to the Disability Employment Forum.
I see this
Forum as a really important means of getting more disabled
people into paid work. It is particularly great to see the
focus on providing opportunities for work experience and
internships to connect disabled youth with the labour
market. I welcome the emphasis on encouraging government
agencies to become exemplar employers; and the engagement
with employers to build inclusive employment practices.
I am reminded of an answer that responded to the
frequently asked question – can there be anything worse
than losing one’s sight? The reply was – yes; losing
your vision.
As an organisation you have become advocates
of disability justice – to embrace difference; and to
promote accessibility. You have a vital road ahead, in
helping to prepare the way for a world of access and
inclusion; to enable your vision to be seen by all that
follow.
I return again to the inspiration of Mary
Fisher. When she described what it was like to swim for
gold, she replied, “When I swim I just have the feel of
the water. It feels like freedom”.
In doing so,
she changed perceptions just like that – from a focus on
disability; to instead be impressed by the very obvious
ability that enabled her to experience the glory of an
international champion. It is a vision that all of us can
emulate.
Tēnā tātou katoa.
ends