Your biggest D*livery yet 😘 💌
Plus: Our chill community spot for you at Waitangi 👋🏼
Mauri ora!
In this week’s delicious edition:
We’ll be at Waitangi! Will you? ☀️
Calling audacious artists of Ōtautahi and climate champions of Tāmaki 🎨 🌊
Accessible Auckland Pride events 🎉
Can you believe it’s February this weekend? 🫣 That means Pride is just around the corner and we’re excited to announce a series of collab events with Auckland Pride this year. Keep reading to find out more ⬇️.
While our first NZSL classes for the year lead by Monica Leach have been underway, the D*List crew have been preparing for our stall at Waitangi next Friday. We’ll have a marquee at the Te Tii marae until 5pm on Waitangi Day and we’d love to see you there!
We’ll have seating under the shade, cool water, sunscreen, face masks and our stickers and new zine for you to enjoy. We’ll be neighbours with Kim Robinson, and Eddie Hokianga who will be providing free ringatohu Māori sessions which we absolutely rate! ⭐️
If it’s your first time there, it’s good to be prepared logistically. Thankfully our access guide for Waitangi from 2025 still applies to this year’s layout, so you can refer to it in your travel plans. The 2026 programme is available here.
🚍 If you need transport support Te Ao Mārama Aotearoa and Parafed Northland has organised free accessible shuttles from Bledisloe Domain and Waitangi Golf Course to the Treaty Grounds from 9.30am-3.30pm on both Thursday 5 and Friday 6 February. Both shuttles will drop off at the Waka Gate, but on Friday you can also get dropped off from the Hobson Memorial Gate. More info:
The mobility van has a wheelchair hoist (max. weight 350kg)
Separate golf carts are available for people who can access them
Free parking is available at Bledisloe Domain (near Haruru Falls). Parking at Waitangi Golf Course is recommended for wheelchair users. Both carpark areas have grass and gravel surfaces
Contact for accessibility queries: Patti Poa 021 295 9307
Contact for driver on 5 & 6 Feb only: Andrew Nand 027 661 1909
Call or text Andrew for transport from either Bledisloe Domain or Waitangi Golf Course to one of the drop off points. Please advise if you are a wheelchair user and need the hoist
Depending on traffic there may be delays. This is a community service – please always be respectful to the driver
🏫 The Government has announced funding for two new specialist schools for students with high needs, RNZ reports. One will open in 2027 at Queen Elizabeth College in Palmerston North, and the other will open next to Ngākōroa School in Drury, South Auckland in 2028.
While Education Minister, Erica Stanford said that “the debate about inclusion is over”, committee member of the Inclusive Education Action Group, Dr Jude MacArthur was disappointed in the announcement:
“We know from decades of research and many reports in New Zealand that we have historically underfunded inclusive education in this country, and that there really is a desperate need to ensure that what resources we do have available are not tied up in segregated settings for a small number of children, but rather are readily available to support all children and their families and teachers in their local school.”
🎧 The National Library of New Zealand is expanding its audio book collection, reports The Press (paywalled). Print disabilities librarian, Felicity Benjes, said that a former service user’s donation allowed the library to address the lack of NZ literature in audio form.
While text‑to‑speech technology increases accessibility, synthetic voices cannot match the richness of human narration — especially in NZ literature, where te reo Māori is often woven throughout the text.
Six new narrated audiobooks are now available from local libraries via Wheelers ePlatform and Overdrive (aka Libby). These include:
• Dawn Raid by Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith, narrated by Irasa Siave
• How to Bee by Bren MacDibble, narrated by Romy Hooper
• Mission Girl by Fleur Beale, narrated by Waimirirangi Lee‑Reiri
• Gold! by Pauline Cartwright, narrated by Vida Gibson
• Castaway by Bill O’Brien, narrated by Jesse Park
• Stop the Tour! by Bill Nagelkerke, narrated by Arlo Gibson
🧏♂️ “Do you have an interpreter you can bring with you?” is a question that David Brown receives more than he’d like. Between being a busy dad and taxi driver for his three sport-loving sons, Brown finds himself in awkward situations when interpreters don’t get booked for medical appointments.
Unfortunately, the biggest barrier for me is the people: the people within the health system who think lip-reading is an equitable way to access healthcare, that if my child can hear, then asking for an interpreter as a Deaf parent is invalid, or that, as my wife lies in her hospital bed receiving emergency treatment, surely she could just interpret for me?
🪩 In our partnership with Auckland Pride, we’ve compiled a list of free/low cost accessible Pride events happening throughout Tāmaki Makaurau in Pēpuere for you to enjoy. From embroidery classes, to drag shows, book clubs, and fitness classes, we’ve got you covered! 🙂↕️
🕰️ Throwing it back two years ago, our partnership with Auckland Pride began in 2024, with our Deepen* project led by Pelenakeke Brown and Beth Awatere. Check out Definition: An initmate visual poem with Henrietta Bollinger and Risk: A visual poem by Ruby Solly exploring the intricacies of indigenous, disabled pride.
⌨️ Jobs, jobs, jobs!
Able is hiring full-time caption producers based in Auckland, (applications closing Monday 9 February)
Wellington Deaf Society is hiring a community and events coordinator (applications close tomorrow 5pm)
And we’re hiring in three new roles at The D*List! Apply now 📝
🧑🏽💻 IHC Media live sessions are back for 2026 and invites people with learning disabilities to join in these free sessions on dance, te reo Māori, drawing, music.
🍃 Auckland Council is launching a new Disability-Led Climate Adaptation pilot with $150,000 to fund disabled-led climate adaptation projects. Want to learn more? Tune into the the webinar on February 11 at 12.30-2.30pm. NZSL interpretation and live captioning available. Register for the Zoom link.
💫 Toi Ōtautahi is calling for audacious artists to present creative projects Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre and can pay $3000-5000 in artist fees and materials. It might be a gig, a dance work, comedy, theatre, an exhibition or activation or something cross genre. They’re encouraging disabled artists to consider this opportunity and are interested in projects that explore contemporary issues (identity politics, the body, environment, technology, social or political critique) in a fresh way.
🌈 If you’re a parent and part of the rainbow community, you are invited to participate in this 15 minute survey as part of the Inclusion through Difference study about how you and your whānau navigate child-focused services.
That’s all for now. Hei tērā wiki! 😎
Eda
hope you had a good January 🙏