The first chief executive of Whaikaha – the Ministry of Disabled People – says working closely with Māori will be essential to the success of the new organisation.
Paula Tesoriero was formerly the disability rights commissioner on the Human Rights Commission after a career in the Ministry of Justice as well as winning medals for New Zealand in the 2006 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the 2008 Paralympics.
“There are real disparities for tangata whaikaha Maori and those need to be addressed and in terms of who I work with, there is a lot of work that Whaikaha are already doing as a community to identify which ropu will be really important for us to work with,” she says.
Ms Tesoriero says Whaikaha intends to transform the way support is delivered to disabled people as well as work with other government agencies to improve access to housing, health and other services.
