Alliance Party agrees with CCS Disability Action over Rodney Hide building access comments

Alliance Party Media Release – For Immediate Release – Friday, February 6th, 2009

The Alliance Party has come out in support of CCS Disability Action’s comments regarding Act Leader and Local Government Minister Rodney Hide’s statements on TVNZ’s Close Up programme that a Christchurch businessperson should not insert building access into his business premises as required under the Building Act.

“The Act Party have long been regressive in their views on disability issues but this takes the cake,” says the Alliance Party Disabilities spokesperson, Chris Ford in response to Mr Hide’s comments that he had very sympathy with a Christchurch business owner who wanted to side step access requirements due to being ‘too costly’.

“The Act Party did not support the original passage of the New Zealand Sign Language Act, Disabled Persons Employment Promotion Repeal Act or the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities Act or other policies enacted by the Labour-Alliance and previous Labour-led administration which came under the aegis of the New Zealand Disability Strategy,” says Mr Ford.

“Therefore nothing should surprise us about the Act Party’s demonstrably poor attitudes towards disabled people. They regard any progressive extension of human, civil and political rights to disabled people and other groups as a potential cost to business and the community. On the other hand, the amount of discrimination and prejudice that still exists in our community towards disabled people and those with mental illness creates far greater costs to our society in terms of higher unemployment, underemployment, lower incomes, poorer educational outcomes and terrible health status for disabled people. This creates barriers to the wider participation of disabled people and those with mental illness within society which creates a continuing impost on the state in terms of having to carry e.g., continuing benefit payouts to those disabled people who wish to work but find it difficult to get it due to discriminatory attitudes and poor workplace access.”

The Alliance Party stands, alongside other progressive parties, as a defender of the rights of disabled people to access their communities and this includes the right to access the physical and built environment in terms of e.g. offices, shops and community amenities. On the other hand, parties of the New Right including National and Act are no friends of the marginalised within our community and would love nothing but to dismantle the legislative provisions that, while not perfect, have given greater freedom to disabled people to participate within society and this includes, most importantly, building legislation.

“For me as a person with mobility impairment, these comments signify that the New Right are just nineteenth century rejects who see disability through the prism of Tiny Tim from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. They would rather make disabled people and those with mental illness the objects of pity and charity rather than see us as citizens with the right to engage in community life along with all other New Zealanders. Mr Hide’s comments are just symbolic of this view,” said Mr Ford.

The Alliance Party has also challenged National’s new Disabilities Issues Minister, Paula Bennett to show the same mettle that she displayed in a West Auckland car park recently and get stuck into this portfolio (as so far she hasn’t made any statements in this area according to the Beehive website) and actively distance herself and National from Mr Hide’s comments.

ENDS

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