Source: Opportunity Party
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By Qiulae Wong
To support communities well, leaders need to listen well first.
The Disability Support Services (DSS) Bill is frustrating the resource-stretched community it is supposed to support. The broad opposition to the Bill reflects that this community has not been listened to.
Good government starts with good consultation. Only then can it design simple legislative frameworks that deliver the practical support individuals and communities need. It’s not rocket science.
This bill’s MP-in-charge is the Minister for Disability Issues, Louise Upston. She says its purpose is to provide ‘clarity and stability to the system’. That sounds positive, but an analysis of the Bill by Carers New Zealand – the peak body for family carers of disabled Kiwis – says the realities of the Bill will mean the opposite. They say ‘the Bill as drafted contains significant problems that will harm disabled people, their whānau, and the family carers who support them.’ Carers New Zealand’s top five concerns with the Bill are:
· The Bill was introduced quickly and without proper consultation
· Clause 8 creates “care without limits”
· Family carers deserve fair employment rights now, not later
· Too much is left to Ministerial discretion
· The Bill does not uphold the Treaty of Waitangi
We agree and Opportunity’s submission on the Bill says as much. We have done our best to make a submission that reflects the voices representing those directly impacted by this Bill.
Voices like the national director for Parents of Vision Impaired New Zealand, Dr Rebekah Graham, who described the Bill as incredibly unfair on adults with disabilities.
Or disability advocate Jane Carrigan, who concluded that all ‘this piece of legislation is doing is limiting remedies for those people with the highest needs.’ She’s talking here about the Government passing legislation to limit or remove the ability for Kiwis to file legal claims against the Crown when it fails to fulfil its responsibilities.
The submission also reflects the voice of Victoria Coleman, a fulltime carer for her own severely disabled son, who is so worried about the impact of the Bill she has started a petition against it and garnered more than 10,000-signatures.
It is one thing to criticize, it is another to offer alternatives and opportunities. So here’s ours.
My very first job out of University was supporting accessibility advocate Minnie Baragwanath in a campaign to change attitudes and behaviours towards people with disabilities in New Zealand. Minnie’s point was simple. Let’s reframe how we see disabled people – not as a cost on society, but as sources of opportunity for greater innovation. She would often point to how Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone to empower his wife and mother (who were both deaf) – enabling greater participation in society and widespread economic benefit.
1 in 6 New Zealanders currently live with a disability. If you include ageing-related access issues, 1 in 4 of us will live with an access need in our lifetime. If we design society to work for disabled people, we design it to work better for all of us. Like Minnie, Opportunity party sees disability-related social, health and economic costs as a mountain of unfulfilled opportunity.
That’s why we commit to actively listening to disability and accessibility advocates. Regarding the DSS Bill, you’ll see that sections from our submission closely match those of Carers New Zealand, and many other submitters.
Crafting simple legislative frameworks requires care in its design and passage. In my view, and in the view of thousands of others, the responsibility for that care has been shirked, and I am proud to stand with those calling it out.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/07/07/whos-listening-to-our-disability-advocates/