Posts by Rosemary McDonald
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This thread has reminded me of this....http://www.cpag.org.nz/assets/PROCEEDINGS%20of%20the%20Forum%2010%20September%202010%20Final%20(2).pdf
Rethinking welfare for the 21st
century: Forum Proceedings
Report from the forum held 10 September 2010,Five years on....
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Access: Social media, disability…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Sharing some more disability activism around social media
And why not?
Just got off the phone from the Office for Disability Issues asking why the latest incarnation of the Disability Action Plan contains no reference to Funded Family Care or the Part 4 amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act 2013.
Silly me...I just don't seem to understand what the role of the ODI is.
The Office for Disability Issues was established in July 2002 to provide dedicated support to the Minister for Disability Issues.
I drew the person's attention to the Post made here on PA a year ago about Funded Family Care.
The post that was mentioned in the IHC Newsletter, who thought it relevant to highlight the fact that..In another post on the same Public Address Access disability blog, a carer who is eligible for payment describes his/her experience. But s/he has chosen to remain anonymous in case of repercussions. In the comments section the disabled adult who is now the employer of the parent carer, under the scheme, describes the experience and why they have both chosen not to reveal their identities because of fear of future cut backs to the support they receive...
Bold mine.
http://www.ihc.org.nz/hot-issues/ihc-hot-issues-january-2015/
Now, I don't know about anyone else...but I think it is pretty shit that in 2015 disabled New Zealanders with very high support needs and their chosen family carers are frightened to speak out because they fear a backlash from the Misery of Health Disability Support Services (joke) or the Government.
PLODS, the lot of 'em.
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Speaker: The Spirit Level, in reply to Hilary Stace,
No Widows’ Benefit any more.
So, if you're feeling the spirit of giving coming upon you and you're not sure of worthy recipients...here's a widow and her poor wee boys who need a helping $ or two...backed by Our Leader no less...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11561132
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11561837
"He did an awful lot of fundraising for charity. If he hasn't managed money well - let's argue that for a moment - he won't be the first superstar (in that situation)... But he looked to me like a guy who gave enormously. Maybe it's time for us to give back."
But, in relation to the hoipolloi...
Prime Minister John Key says drug dependency is a major contributor to poverty in New Zealand, as a damning new report claims that one in three Kiwi children are living in hardship.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11561896
I will crawl back under my rock of cynicism now... -
Up Front: Reading Murder Books, in reply to TracyMac,
My favourite contemporary detective writer is Laurie King
Yes. A shameless fan. I own (because I have to) all the Kate Martinelli books, Folly, Birth of a New Moon and O Jerusalem. The other Mary Russell books are on the 'list of what to look for' at the second hand bookshops.
I have a weakness for Faye Kellerman...the family folksy Decker series, the off beat Moon Music and the rather depressingly gripping Straight into Darkness..set in late 1920s Munich.
Wanting to remain in Sweden after re reading the Millennium series (and , and shouting us a new copy of the 'Spider Web!) I've just enjoyed Kristina Ohlsson's Unwanted.
Anything by Mo Hayder...for the truly macabre...start with Birdman.
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Access: Is New Zealand Fair and Square?, in reply to Marc C,
So there is virtually NO discussion about poverty and many other “bio psycho social” aspects causing poor health, as that is not politically wanted. Low pay, poor job conditions, lack of suitable, decent work for those that do it, particularly persons with disabilities, those do not seem to be priorities.
Marc....there is discussion, and in the most unlikely of settings.
Just the other evening I was chatting with the owners of a very nice motorhome parked in a very upmarket part of Auckland.
This quite elderly fellow was almost ranting about how the "poor"" are treated by this government. He was not only referring to those not in work, but to those working poor that the government has thrown under the bus of national economic advancement. He remembered unions talking about how it serves the rich to have the poor fighting each other for the sweepings from their overladen tables...
His daughter was working as a caregiver, and jumped in when we talked about a Living Wage. Out of loyalty and concern for her long term clients she was being paid minimum wage, despite having completed Level 3 qualifications. She could go and work for another contracted provider for $18 per hour....not all people are totally self serving.
The discussions we have here need a wider audience. We need a MSM that will regularly publish articles about the reality of life today for those struggling to make ends meet.
I believe that the baby boomers, in the main, will be surprising allies. We need to tap into this undercurrent of disaffection that is evident, as I said earlier, in the most unlikely of settings.
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And..a section of the submission prepared for the Domestic Violence and Disability Working Group in February 2014 recommends...
Recommendation 11:
New Zealand must end the provision of Minimum Wage Exemption Permits25 and
put in place alternative measures to ensure that all disabled people in paid work
are paid at least the statutory minimum wage available to non-disabled people,
with employers supported appropriately to encourage the employment of
disabled workers.Disabled people have expressed concern about the Minimum Wage
Exemption Permit. Some disabled people are paid less than 10% of the statutory
minimum wage and hundreds are paid less than a quarter of the minimum wage.
This locks disabled people into low paying jobs, often tied to disability service
providers, with no financial independence to enable them to escape from abusive
situations. -
Access: Is New Zealand Fair and Square?, in reply to Hilary Stace,
CARGILL Enterprises creates high quality durable products using skilled staff ...
So...how do we find out if these "skilled staff" are paid at least the minimum wage?
exploitation.....definition..
the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work.
"the exploitation of migrant workers"
synonyms: taking advantage, making use, abuse of, misuse, ill treatment, unfair treatment, bleeding dry, sucking dry, squeezing, wringing; More...Somehow, we accept this.
Why?
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Speaker: Judith Collins and the…, in reply to Deborah,
But we also need to be very careful about how we treat people whom we have used the power of the state to incarcerate. The state has extraordinary power over prisoners, and we need to be very sure that power is exercised responsibly. Otherwise we become complicit in brutalising prisoners.
It would be very easy to get into an us and them slugfest here...and who has the time or the inclination?
But...the State also exercises its power still to incarcerate disabled people. Or refuses funded supports to those it considers 'too high needs' to live in their own home. So those people are left in a very vulnerable positions. Small wonder they feel like the lowest form of life in our community when they are told by the Ministry of Health...you are not entitled to funded care, while Corrections quite happily spends twice the amount per criminal than it would cost to support that disabled person to live free.As for being brutallised...to save me a swag more typing...read my little update on Te Roopu Taurima O Manukau...here http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/access-disability-abuse-its-not-ok/?p=352922#post352922
We, as a community, are already complicit in brutalising disabled people.
The really, really sad thing is that while there are truly committed and voiciferous advocates for prisoners...there is a distinct lack of the same for the disabled.
Why? Probably, IMHO, shitloads of government $$$ have gone into funding various 'disability advocate organisations' on the proviso, seemingly, that they do very little in the way of actual advocacy.
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Speaker: Judith Collins and the…, in reply to Sacha,
Prisoners get more investment in gaining employment. Better a crim than a crip, apparently.
In terms of 'acceptable' government expenditure for daily upkeep, most definitely. No problem spending over $100,000 per year per prisoner. I guess a disabled person would have to pose a threat to the community to warrant such an investment.
Now there's a thought.
And, and, there is much less of an outcry when a disabled person is denied their rights, neglected, abused or even killed while in 'care'.
It would be interesting to survey employers and see whether they'd be more (or less) inclined to employ a crim rather than a crip.
It may come down to a willingness to see crims being reintegrated into society, whereas some disabled have never been fully integrated.
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Speaker: Judith Collins and the…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Heard that Serco was also about to be given a contract to provide ‘care’ for some of our most severely disabled adults, until the prison mess made the media.
Please, please tell me they were not going to hand over the care of some of the TRT clients?
Those people have suffered enough already...