In the media

Yesterday’s Budget was a deeply disappointing one for many disabled people. Disabled people were largely invisible. 

There were no meaningful measures to address the cost-of-living crisis, entrenched poverty for disabled people, improve access to primary health care, tackle the climate crisis or strengthen transport, all of which disproportionately impact disabled people. A responsible budget would have addressed all of these. 

It is outright offensive and patronising for government to frame much needed actions to tackle poverty and support disabled people’s participation as a ‘lolly scramble’ or ‘sugar’ hit.  

Their ongoing refusal to step up and take action to address these crises means that disabled people will continue to fall further behind.  

Public Service cuts will hurt disabled people  

The massive cuts to public sector will hit disabled people hard. The likely impacts will be reduced policy capacity and accessibility, even less engagement with disabled people, weaker monitoring/accountability, and fewer staff supporting disabled people’s issues across government.  

It is particularly disappointing to see Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People being asked to cut $1.5 million over 4 years.  This cut is symbolically and structurally significant.  Whaikaha is a small ministry that has been chronically under-resourced from the start, and now Government clearly puts such little value on disabled expertise that they’re cutting their budget at a time when high-quality disability advice to government is most needed.  

Even more galling is that at the same time as Whaikaha funding is being cut, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet gets a staggering $58m increase.  

Social housing – robbing Peter to pay Paul

The changes to the accommodation supplement amount to robbing Peter to pay Paul. Disabled people are heavily overrepresented in social housing and on fixed incomes. Taking from those in social housing, to increase assistance to low-income people in private rental is neither fair nor equitable.  

A responsible government would have increased the accommodation supplement for both groups to match the need out there, not simply redistribute between different disadvantaged groups.  

Equally concerning is the framing of social housing as a transitional support. Disabled people need more than affordable housing – we need secure housing so we can remain in our communities where we have built our support networks. This is nearly impossible in private market due to rentals being largely inaccessible and negative attitudes to disabled tenants.  

While government has stated they will continue to build some social housing, the target falls far short of the minimum of 3,000 homes that needs to be built each year for at least 10 years to meet the housing need out there.   

Dropping the 15% accessibility target for Kāinga Ora housing is also deeply concerning, as it will lock more disabled people out of social housing options. 

Overall, this budget is a deeply disappointing one that continues to leave disabled people behind.