$1m Election Access Fund gets mixed response from disabled people

Tuesday, 19 July 2022

Timothy Young said the Election Access Fund was a good initiative but would like to see wider funding for disabled people.

A $1 million fund to support disabled people participating in parliamentary elections is open for feedback. However, it’s already had a mixed response from disabled people.

The Electoral Commission wants input from the disability community to help design and develop the fund.

“Costs could include things like paying for sign language interpreters or accessible transport to events or meetings. They are costs that non-disabled candidates do not face,” chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne said.

At this stage, the proposed fund can only be accessed by disabled people seeking selection or standing as a candidate in a parliamentary general election or by-election, not local body elections.

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The select committee has considered the possibility of extending it to local elections in the first review of the Election Access Fund Act 2020.

Timothy Young is a wheelchair-user. He ran in the Hamilton East ward for city council in the 2019 local body elections.

Timothy Young, a wheelchair-user who ran in the Hamilton East ward in the 2019 local body elections, said it was a good initiative but would like to see wider funding.

“Disabled people are disproportionately in a lower socio-economic group so that’s one of the major barriers in my opinion,” he said.

Young said disabled people have been discriminated against their entire life which means they can’t build enough wealth to participate beyond their extra costs of having a disability.

“There needs to be general grants just for people running, not even to do with the extra costs of having a disability,” he said. “There needs to be a grant that helps put disabled people on an even playing field.

“That’s the main systemic barrier that’s perpetuated – disabled people don’t have the time or resources to even contemplate [running as a candidate], they’re just trying to keep up with general life.”

As a wheelchair-user, some of the accessibility barriers he faces includes footpaths with lips, steep footpath gradients, bus stops without shelters and inaccessible public toilets.

“There’s probably 15 to 20 barriers I could go through,” he said.

“Every day, when you’re trying to get place to place, you are encountering these barriers. Without the actual lived experience, the intricacies and importance of these issues are never brought out … they are hardly ever made a priority.”

When running for council, he also faced further accessibility barriers, with candidate-speaking opportunities held in venues that weren’t accessible.

And he was invited on a bus tour for candidates to learn about projects happening in Hamilton, but he couldn’t get on the bus.

Outgoing Green MP Mojo Mathers speaks about the importance of inclusivity in Parliament.

“It’s just non-stop all the time. I’m always trying to play catchup,” he said.

Young said it’s important for people with lived experience of disability to run in general and local body elections because they have a different lens to many issues, and the grant would still benefit disabled people.

“It’s a good start, and it’s bringing awareness to the issue that disabled people have more barriers than the general population.”

Young said he didn’t plan to run as a candidate for the next local body election because he was busy with work and his PhD.

But he hasn’t completely ruled it out for the future.

Former Green Party MP and Aotearoa’s first Deaf MP Mojo Mathers said she was delighted the fund was being set up and thinks $1m is enough to cover support for disabled people.

“I think it will be sufficient given that historically very few disabled people have stood as candidates,” she said.

“My hope is the existence of this fund will help encourage more disabled people to put themselves forward as candidates and for political parties to support them through the process.”

Mathers, who is profoundly deaf, needed access to transcribing or NZ Sign Language interpreters at candidate forums and panels.

However, an interpreter was an expense she couldn’t afford to cover herself, often relying on volunteers to handwrite questions at candidate forums.

“I worried that if I asked my campaign team to do extra fundraising then this would act as a disincentive for electorate campaign teams to select disabled candidates should they have access needs.”

She said it’s important disabled people participate in parliamentary elections because Parliament makes decisions that affect everyone.

“Too often the voices of disabled people are not heard by decision makers and disabled people miss out as a result.”

“I believe that it is essential for disabled people to be at the decision-making table and directly contributing to the decisions that affect our lives and that of disabled people and their families throughout New Zealand,” she said.

People in the disability community can provide feedback on the Election Access Fund via a survey on the Electoral Commission’s website. Consultation closes on August 14.