May 02, 2024
Disabled voice needed on review panel
Māori disability advocate Huhana Hickey says an independent review of disability support needs tangata whaikaha on board so it can reflect lived experience.
Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced she’s picking a three person independent review panel to investigate the two-year-old ministry and the financial risk of providing services to more than 100,000 people.
Dr Hickey says tangata whaikaha have their lives ruled by non-disabled peoples.
“Disabled people ourselves, our voice is often stifled by the non disabled, by parliamentarians who are not in parliament with disabilities, by the whole of society. So what we do need is our voice needs to sit on that panel front, center and in the middle,” she says.