How technology saved us from a disaster
Plus: Wheelchair rugby highlights, and Cabinet takes greater control over Whaikaha
Kia ora! After what’s been a rollercoaster of a week, I am back from the wheelchair rugby tournament in Pōneke. Despite last week’s disability funding confusion, something that brought me joy was just being around other disabled people in the Capital. Whether it was to give each other a long hug, share tears of frustration or try to find humour in just how ridiculous some of that funding situation has become and take a break to talk about other topics, it was a nice reminder of how disability solidarity and connection can sometimes make the toughest of situations a little less stressful.
The wheelchair rugby tournament was such a great event to watch! It was my first time being there and while I was snapping photos and sharing conversation with others, the passion in the air was addicting, and I got pretty into it. While I won’t be changing careers to become a professional wheelchair rugby player anytime soon, I so admire the grit the athletes had and feel that sport and recreation are such powerful ways to bring people together towards a common goal. Unfortunately, The Wheel Blacks did not qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympics, but they’ve converted me into a big fan, and I’ll be keeping a much closer eye on the sport in the future. Is there any sport or recreation you follow as a fan or partake in? Let us know by replying to this email or sending one to kiaora@thedlist.co.nz.
After changes were announced on how we can use our disability support funding (read our explainer on that here!), Cabinet has moved to take greater control over Whaikaha, now requiring any future decisions to get top level approval. Finance Minister Nicole Willis has also confirmed to Stuff that Cabinet had approved some additional funding, to tide over the ministry until the end of the financial year but declined to say how much money.
Following up from this, Newsroom reports that Whaikaha’s processes will have an external review to help improve its financial management. But Whaikaha confirmed it wouldn’t reverse its changes to purchasing guidelines while the review was being undertaken.
As disabled people, we love tips and tricks from others with similar lived experience. Continuing to explore our technology content theme, we asked you how technology may have saved you from a “disability disaster”… From Siri helping to make emergency phone calls to using a rideshare app instead of calling an ambulance, here’s how tech has come to save the the day for some people!
🙌 World Autism Acceptance Week starts April 2nd. Is there anything happening in your community you think others may like to know about? Or do you think some awareness weeks/days are “a bit naff” and something you may choose not to celebrate every single year? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this by responding to this newsletter!
💻 This week on Instagram, we asked what your working from home set up is like! Do you have a height-adjustable desk or a favourite coffee mug? How do you fill your social cup if you’ve been working from home all week? You can join the conversation over on Instagram, or reply to this email.
Signing off from my dining room table at my Three Kings flat in Tāmaki Makaurau. Hope you have a lovely, long Easter weekend - ka kite anō!
- Olivia Shivas, Editor