Are Auckland’s wheelchair users being taken for a ride by their mobility taxi companies?

Last week, I took a taxi from Auckland Airport to my house. It was a hoist-equipped, wheelchair/mobility taxi. The trip cost me a staggering $120. Thankfully, $40 of the trip was covered by Auckland Transport’s Total Mobility Scheme, and the remaining $80 by The Cerebral Palsy Society’s GetOutThere programme.

However, is the presence of these (admittedly, hugely beneficial) schemes the precise reason for such exorbitant prices? I decided to do a little investigation, and check out how the prices of wheelchair/mobility taxis compare with regular, ‘able-bodied’ cabs.

Check out the results!

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.

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

And you thought it was just those crazy poms who want to stop those with disabilities having babies – oh no, it’s happening right here on our front doorstep, too. An intellectually disabled woman, pregnant for the third time in as many years, is “incapable of looking after herself, let alone a baby”, according to the woman’s ‘Aunty’ (not blood-related), and should be sterilised. The BOP Times are reporting that she is currently living on the streets of Auckland, which