Horrifying news coming out of Indonesia. From the NZ Herald: New traffic laws passed in Indonesia require disabled pedestrians to wear signs identifying them as handicapped. AFP reports that amendments to local Traffic and Transport Law says “handicapped pedestrians must wear special and clear signs which can be easily recognised by other road users.” Politician Ahman Muqowam told the news agency that the laws were designed to protect disabled people. “This is a humanistic act. It’s for their safety on

Apologies for not posting this sooner – some of you may have liked to be involved? Hopefully you are anyway. For updates on the Hikoi’s progress, check out The NZ Herald or search Twitter. CCS Disability Action Northern Region will join the hikoi/march on Monday 25 May in support of IHI Action Group (Iwi Have Influence). This action group is leading the opposition to the establishment of Auckland Super City without reserved Maori seats as proposed by the Royal Commission

Cabinet Minister Rodney Hide’s recent comments regarding building regulations have outraged the disability community in New Zealand. On TVNZ’s Close Up programme Rodney Hide recommended that a Christchurch businessman should break the law and not follow accessibility guidelines in building regulations because it was too costly. CCS Disability Action, the largest pan-disability support provider in New Zealand, believes Mr. Hide’s comments were irresponsible and based on ignorance of critical issues in peoples lives and relegate disabled people to second class

Bloody hell. Take a look at the video below, which chronicles a guy from California who makes a living out of suing businesses who don’t comply with building regulations around the Americans with Disabilities Act. I truly don’t know what to say. Embedded video from CNN Video

As you may be aware, two of the last major acts to visit New Zealand, Westlife and Eric Clapton, have both set exorbitant pricing for the wheelchair section Auckland’s Vector Arena. Both times I was able to lobby Vector Arena on my readers’ behalf, who then in turn spoke to the promoters, and convinced them to lower the wheelchair pricing to a more reasonable level, in line with what other consumers pay. With international rock act Coldplay announcing a one-off

Not only is he a magnificent orator, and the new President of the United States (a fact I’m sure many of us Kiwis are pleased about!), he also seems to have the right line of thinking when it comes to disability. In the YouTube video below, he supports ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as a number of other initiatives relating to education, healthcare, and independent living. Let’s hope he follows through!

If you missed my interview with NZ’s Minister for Disability Issues, the Rt Hon. Ruth Dyson, or perhaps you’re still undecided as to what Labour intends to do for disabled New Zealanders if re-elected for another term, check out Attitude TV‘s Grant Sharman as he grills our first ever Minister for Disability Issues.

Well, just like with Westlife, the concert promoters for Eric Clapton’s Auckland show have come to the party over the pricing of wheelchair seating at Auckland’s Vector Arena. Previously set at $299, wheelchair seating is now available in three pricing tiers: Gold, Silver, and Bronze ($299, $199, and $99 respectively). You’ll need to call (09) 970 9700 to book tickets, and I hope it makes the concert a little more ‘accessible’ for those of you initially put off by the

Fresh from blasting the Westlife promoters for only offering wheelchair-using patrons the highest priced ticket bracket, a user of this site has emailed me about a similar situation with the upcoming Eric Clapton gig in Auckland. Vector Arena has several tiers of seating, differentiated by price depending on the quality of the seating area. Apparently, the wheelchair seating bay at Vector is deemed to be in the ‘Gold Reserve’ category, with the hefty price tag of $299/each. This presents two

Some things really baffle me. One of those things is when a teenager with Down’s Syndrome is prevented from participating in a mainstream schooling environment because he isn’t allocated sufficient support funding, and, by mere virtue of the fact that he’s disabled, is seen as “a potential danger to themselves and others”. I’ve just been reading about Wellington 16-year-old Edward Watkins, who is only attends 14 out of his 25 weekly classes in a mainstream environment – the other time