(Wellintong, Xinhua, 07.05.08) New Zealand
Governor-General Anand Satyanand has accepted an
international disability award on behalf of New Zealand
at a ceremony attended by United Nations
secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in New York, it was
reported on Wednesday.
Satyanand accepted the Franklin Delano Roosevelt
International Disability Award and announced New Zealand
would seek election to the UN Human Rights Council next
year.
The award was given by the World Committee on
Disability and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Institute.
It recognized New Zealand's effort to improve the
rights and lives of people with disabilities.
New Zealand's Disability Issues Minister Ruth Dyson
said this success owes much to the initiatives that have
been introduced under the New Zealand Disability
Strategy, which has been developed as a partnership
between the Government and disabled people and their
representatives.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/
(By Rebecca Todd, The Press, 17 April 2008)
Canterbury University graduate Jonathan Darby faced more
challenges then most when setting out on a university
career. The 28-year-old was born with spina bifida and
has been in a wheelchair since he was a little boy.
But his disability has never held him back. Eight
years after rolling into his first university class, he
has the degrees to prove it.
Darby graduated with an LLB yesterday afternoon and
also has a BA and business diploma under his belt.
Completing a degree provided extra challenges for him,
such as getting around campus and keeping energy levels
up for late nights studying, he said.
"There's always more to your day then just a normal
person."
Despite not being very academic at school, he always
wanted to go to university and Canterbury had been great
in accommodating his needs.
He has been overachieving since he was young. At 17 he
completed a gold Duke of Edinburgh Award, which included
physical activities such as tramping.
Canterbury University held two capping ceremonies
yesterday and will hold another two tomorrow.
More than 1500 students are receiving degrees,
diplomas and certificates.
Source: www.stuff.co.nz
Whether multiple sclerosis sufferer Melanie
Trevethick wins or loses her legal appeal, she will have
succeeded in highlighting "huge inequities" in the health
system, disability advocates say.
Ms Trevethick, founder of the Equity for Illness
campaign, went to the High Court at Wellington this week
to try to revive her claim seeking the same benefits for
people disabled by illness as those disabled by injury
and covered by ACC.
She argues the two-tier health system breaches the
Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the
grounds of disability.
However, the Human Rights Review Tribunal earlier
ruled the case did not fit under the act.
Ms Trevethick, supported yesterday by a coalition of
non-government organisations, including the National
Assembly of People with Disabilities, or DPA, the
Cerebral Palsy Society, the Cancer Society and the
Neurological Association, said she was "challenging the
Government to honour its own objectives".
Discrimination on the basis of cause of disability was
completely unacceptable, Ms Trevethick said.
"The Health Ministry could save millions by excluding
people on the basis of race or gender but that would
cause an outcry."
DPA president Mike Gourlie said there was a
fundamental difference in philosophy between ACC - which
focused on rehabilitation and getting people back to work
- and the Health Ministry's approach, which was about
dependence.
"The Government should think about this as an
investment in human capacity and supporting people to
live independent, productive lives.
"Win or lose on the legal front, she will have
succeeded in highlighting this injustice and convincing
people there is a need for change."
Ms Trevethick's lawyer, John Miller, said when ACC was
set up 34 years ago, it was anticipated it would
eventually include people with chronic illnesses.
Opening up entitlements could be done progressively,
such as having equal access to rehabilitation for
everyone, regardless of the cause of their
disability.
If the High Court judge rules in Ms Trevethick's
favour, the case will be sent back to the Human Rights
Tribunal.
If the group loses its High Court bid, it could
consider going to the Court of Appeal, Mr Miller
said.
Source: www.stuff.co.nz
