May 01, 2024
Disabilty review masks fundng shortfall
A Māori disability advocate is questioning a review of the disability support system.
Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the independent review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of services funded by the Ministry of Disabled People-Whaikaha.
The ministry now spends about $2.3 billion a year on services for 50,000 disabled people and equipment modification for about 100,000 people.
Lawyer and tangata whaikaha Huhana Hickey says the real issue is underfunding.
“If they allowed the ministry to grow because it’s still a very new ministry and worked on the stuff that’s been taken out and bringing it back, then what they need to do is just find a sustainable model. Why bother with a review? Just do the sustainability around funding and then allow us to continue to live our lives as we’re trying to do,” she says.
Dr Hickey says she’ll be looking closely at the expertise of the three-member panel when it is named and whether if reflects whaikaha (disabled), tangata turi (deaf) and Māori disabled peoples.