In the spotlight today
Disability News – 2009-05-22 12:03:51.466
UnitedFuture – Disability News
Issue 1: May 2009
Welcome to the first of our Disability Sector Newsletters!
UnitedFuture are back in Parliament and back in government, with Peter Dunne filling the role of Minister of Revenue and Associate Minister of Health.
One of our top priorities in this parliamentary term is to be an effective advocate and voice in Wellington for those who often struggle to be heard, people with disabilities and organisations and groups up and down the country who provide support for them.
Judy Turner announced as National Disabilities Spokesperson
Peter Dunne is very pleased to announce Judy Turner as UnitedFuture’s National Disabilities Spokesperson.
Judy was a Member of Parliament from 2002 until 2008 and has been UnitedFuture's deputy leader since 2005 and was the Party Whip in 2007/08. She is now the party’s President. As an MP her major portfolios included Social Services, Education, Health & Disabilities and she also sat on the Social Services select committee.
Judy has a particular interest in helping improve areas such as Child, Youth and Family (CYF), a better Family Court system, support for those with disabilities, supporting community organisations and NGOs like Plunket, and has consistently pushed for more help and recognition for issues where males are disadvantaged, like education and health.
Judy reflects on the new government’s direction on disability issues:
“Recently I represented Peter Dunne and UnitedFuture at an Auckland Disability Service Providers network meeting. My reason for traveling to Auckland for this event was because the newly appointed Minister of Disability Issues, Hon Paula Bennett was speaking, and I was keen to hear if she was ready to make any fresh commitments to this sector. Her speech was predictably light on content but strong on tone. I don’t think anyone doubts for a minute that she wants to make progress, but she doesn’t hold the government purse strings and there was no hint of any new money for new initiatives. The proverbial elephant in the room is “funding”. There just isn’t enough available to close the blaring gap that currently exists for support of those who did not become disabled as a result of a trauma, compared with those receiving ACC support. One in five New Zealanders live with a disability. That is a sizable slice of voters and I will be doing all I can in the next three years to encourage them to flex their collective muscle and to become a political force to be reckoned with. Let’s not let the ‘R’ word (Recession), become a convenient excuse to slacken off in our efforts to make sure that these New Zealanders get the chance to realise their dream of living an ordinary life.”
We want to hear from you!
What are the issues that affect your organisation? How can government be more responsive to the needs of your organisation and the people you serve?
Contact us here: judyturner.ohope@xtra.co.nz
unitedfuture.org.nz