Speech: New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Conference

It was about this time, 78 years ago, that the earth shook, and life would never be the same for Napier again.

At 10.45am on the 3rd February, 1931, a quake hit the town lasting two and a half minutes. In two and a half minutes the seaside resort was completely decimated.

Rivers changed course, great gaps appeared in the road swallowing cars and causing the tramlines to buckle and twist, the cliffs of Bluff Hill collapsed on to the road, and 256 people throughout Hawkes Bay would lose their lives.

And yet out of the ashes, Napier rose like the Phoenix to become world-famous as the Art Deco city of the world.

In the midst of colossal challenge the people of this city came together to create new opportunities. They demonstrated resilience, courage and vision as they rebuilt their city to engender a new pride in the place they called home.

Of course resilience, courage and vision are qualities that for many disabled peoples are the qualities needed every day, in the desire to live an ordinary life.

Napier, therefore, is a remarkable place and it is a remarkable time to be gathered together at this Disability Information Event of the Year – the Movers and Shakers Forum of 2009.

It is a chance to regroup as the landscape moves around us, with the rippling effects of recession forcing us all to work smarter as a matter of necessity.

It is a good time to think about how we can work together with a focus on outcomes.

These two days provide us with a space to think about how we work with disabled peoples rather than for and on behalf. The programme lends itself to take the occasion to consider have disabled people can enjoy increased control and choice over what they do.

Changing times also create a unique opportunity to review our strengths, to look differently at what we do, and look for improvements.

And that means all of us.

I have always been a strong supporter of the ‘nothing about us without us’ way of working.

I was proud to take up the role as Associate Minister of Disability Issues because of the support throughout Aotearoa, to ratify the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – and the foundation we have within the New Zealand Disability Strategy to make a world of difference.

You might remember the last line of that Beegees crooner, “it’s only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away”.


We need all these words to lay the pathway forward, to make sure we can improve the lives of disabled peoples, to ensure frontline services are there when needed, and to support families to help themselves.

That is part of why I am here. I want to know we have the right words there to make the difference.

I want to share a little story. Five years ago when the Maori Party first came to Parliament, everyone thought we’d be a one-story wonder. They even said that after the foreshore and seabed legislation, what would we do?

Our answer was simple. Every issue is a Maori issue. Whether it be educational achievement; land utilization; rates; tourism – we have an interest and we choose to participate.

I imagine that for disabled persons, much the same would apply.

The Federation has a vital role in helping us all to find the right words.

And as my first official opportunity to talk in my new role as Associate Minister I want to firstly congratulate the incredible example that the New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Centres gives to many other social services.

The network that you have established with the Deaf Association of New Zealand; People First; DPA New Zealand; Enable New Zealand; Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination Association; Carers New Zealand; and the New Zealand Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux is exactly what I believe is required in these times.

It’s about the spirit of co-operation; working together on the issues that unite us; while also having the space to work on the issues that distinguish us.

I was delighted to see that your website carries the slogan, ‘Knowledge is Power’. I absolutely agree – and would add to that, ‘and enthusiasm turns the switch on’.

To gain that enthusiasm, we need to know what entitlements there are, what is the full extent of the information we need.

That information will be vital also to support the household management, personal care, and whanau involvement in your lives.

I have a passionate crusade to ensure that individualized funding arrangements are in place, to enable disabled persons better choice to access more flexible services.

The Inquiry into the Quality of Care and Services Provision for People with Disabilities made a clear recommendation that Government should direct relevant ministries to ensure that funding is provided in a way that allows people with disabilities more choice about their day-to-day living arrangements. They should have better access to supported independent living and individualized funding.

I am very interested in hearing from you about these recommendations. To me, the opportunity for disabled persons to be able to employ their own carers and live a more independent life with the appropriate support package in place is an absolute priority.

I am also keen to hear from the Federation about the extent of your commitment for Local Area Coordination type processes, along the lines of the model in Western Australia.

The Inquiry recommended the existing needs assessment and service coordination agencies should be transformed to ensure there is no duplication of service, and that the focus is on meeting the needs of individuals rather than those of service providers.

I agree with every part of this recommendation, but I would change one word – individuals. I believe we must all stay focused on our principle goal – it’s not about better services, better government, better agencies – important as that is. It’s about supporting disabled persons and their families to live the life they want.

In many ways, this is what the Federation is doing in practice – ensuring disability information and referral services meet the needs of your community by each of the centres coming together, for the collective good of your clients.

Your priority is on disabled people having ready access to the knowledge about where they need to go and for what to order for them to have control over their lives.

And so I want to congratulate you for the two key developments that will be launched at this conference:

Þ The launch of the Information Consultant qualification framework, which I understand is the first recognized qualification for the sector; and

Þ The redeveloped WEKA website, What Everyone Keeps Asking, to provide a more user friendly service for disabled peoples and their families.

Your families trust you to help them achieve the outcomes they aspire towards. At Government level we must show that same trust to ensure we change society from being a disabling society to an inclusive society.

The Disability Strategy sets an objective to ‘foster an aware and responsive public sector’. This means that services must do all they can to ensure disabled persons and their families are able to access the quality of information available.

And I take very seriously the report of the independent review into the recent tragedy at Hutt Valley DHB which gave even more impetus into the need for training and protocols to be put in place to ensure people with disabilities are able to have their disability support needs met.

That must include, as a priority, working in partnership with disability providers and people with disabilities to ensure the health sector is able to improve their competence to care for people with disabilities.

There are challenges everywhere I look. Indeed my first and enduring impression of the disability sector is just the level of complexity that seem to characterize the way in which we respond.

But if I return to the symbol that Napier provides for us all.

Out of the complexity and the challenge; I know for certain that the resilience, the courage and the vision that disabled persons and their families live with every day, will help to create a truly inclusive society. And then we shall see them living not just ordinary lives, but extraordinary lives – and that will be the success we can all celebrate