By M Peterson

 ‘Nothing about us without us’ is a phrase used by disability justice groups and one which has been completely ignored and undermined by our government. Hundreds of people have experienced huge distress this week following on from the announcement on Monday about changes to funding for disabled people and carers which were made effective immediately, with no consultation and very poor communication about how this would impact life for disabled people. Changes that were made which remove flexibility in the use of funding have the most devastating impact on those who are already struggling. 

Despite admitting that Whaikaha, the Ministry for Disabled People, has done an inadequate job in conveying changes to disabled people’s funding, Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds has cynically downplayed the distressing impact of these changes and implied that carers have been diverting funds from disabled people for their own needs. The respite care allowance that she was referring to amounts to $3.33 per hour of taxpayer money ( around $80.00 per month) that is paid to carers to afford them a much needed 24 hour break. This respite care cannot be provided by family members living in the same household and some disabled people, for example some of those on the autistic spectrum, cannot cope with different caregivers. There has been more flexibility since covid as to how this funding can be used. Many families will use it for equipment  and activities for their disabled child and a small number of carers have used some of their funding for an occasional massage. Now, none of these options will be allowed. The funding has also been used for travel costs relating to respite needs which is now being cut. The flexibility was offered to allow people to get the sort of support that would help them in their own situation. Adding more complexity and restrictions to the existing funding models is no doubt going to result in additional costs due to the resulting bureaucratic and administrative burdens from making these changes.  

 These cuts will hurt those already struggling in a myriad of ways. As the parent of a disabled child who uses a wheelchair full-time I know that not having funding for equipment and timely service from technicians means the loss of all mobility and independence. It also creates longer term issues as people struggling to get their basic needs met will end up with health issues which could have otherwise been avoided. Some carers are struggling to get funding for equipment necessary for the overnight care of disabled whānau who are medically vulnerable. So far more than 10,000 people have signed a petition against the changes.  

The current New Zealand government is fully committed to the ideology of neoliberalism which exists purely to advance exploitative capitalism. It is eroding the fundamentals of social justice and paving the way for ongoing harm to our people and the natural environment. The most vulnerable are the easiest targets in this neoliberal assault on our community and so we are witnessing the daily clawing back of support for disabled people, caregivers and beneficiaries with no consultation given to the most impacted communities. 

The fact that so many changes have been made so rapidly is no accident. By attacking a variety of different groups in different ways in their first hundred days in office they knew that communities would be left reeling and scrambling to deal with the fallout from their corrosive policies. Rather than being able to fight the government’s agenda in a co-ordinated way much of the energy of community groups is diverted to supporting impacted families who are left in survival mode. Despite this, we need to continue to join together to fight these attacks on our communities.