Auckland, disability and the Supercity: Does anyone care?
It certainly doesn’t appear so.
Let me detail the gross under-representation of disability issues on the campaign trail so far:
- Public meetings held at inaccessible venues (read: heaps of stairs)
- No mention of disability in any of the main candidates manifestos/policies
- No reassurance that current disability advocate roles within council will exist under the new Auckland Council
Quite simply, disability isn’t on the agenda. And given that the Rugby World Cup is just around the corner, not only is it an embarrassing omission by the mayoral candidates, it’s also downright stupid. You can expect many of the visitors to our shores next year will use a mobility aid of some kind, whether it be a wheelchair, cane, or even glasses. And don’t forget they’ll be bringing family and friends with them, so by ignoring accessibility issues (let alone making them a priority!) a huge economic opportunity is being wasted.
Have you heard any of the Auckland Supercity mayoral candidates mention anything around accessibility, or disability issues?
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Simon Prast has mentioned Disability a number of times. He has Disability Issues under his manifesto on his site.
http://simonprast.com/Manifesto
So far Simon is the only candidate whose is touching base with disability issues in Auckland.
Greetings! Visiting Auckland to attend a hearing at the
high court last month we managed to score one of the mobilty parks on Parliament Street. Off course we got a ticket for parking over time….no worries, as when we explained to the officer that there were three wheelchair users attending court that week all requiring all day parking he opened up another space and left the three of us unmolested for the rest of the week. We were all hugely grateful, as to us country bumpkins Auckland is a seriously wheechair hostile place!