We are building an Aotearoa where disability is valued and disabled people and whānau can live with dignity and autonomy, and the support we choose. The Green Party will fully implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in a way that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi, invest in disabled leadership and advocacy, prioritise the marginalised disabled communities most likely to be left behind, and create strong systems to ensure accessibility and equity.
Vision
Disabled people and whānau thrive in caring communities.
Values and Principles
Guided by the framework Te Pae Māhutonga, here are the foundations for our disability policy.
- Mauriora: Learning and being grounded in our whakapapa and culture(s) is our inherent right. Decolonisation is our priority. We honour indigenous, collective, and strengths-based understandings of disability and the language chosen to reflect them.
- Waiora: Our wellbeing is bound up with te Taiao. Disabled leadership and wisdom are key pillars of environmental and climate justice. Our interdependence is key to the thriving of all life. We think intergenerationally in service of our mokopuna and emerging generations.
- Toiora: Disabled people are trusted and empowered to enhance our wellbeing and that of our communities. We address the inequitable conditions which result in disabled people disproportionately living in poverty, precarity, and experiencing violence and abuse. Being safe and a sense of belonging are crucial to disabled people's wellbeing.
- Te Oranga: We challenge ableism, along with systemic forms of violence, conflict, oppression, and discrimination. These hurt everyone but especially disabled people. We recognise and advocate for the inherent value and full inclusion of disabled people and the disability community individually and collectively. This often involves substantially shifting mindsets, government priorities, and ways of working. Disabled lives and wellbeing come before profit.
- Ngā Manukura: While recognising the diversity of experience within our community, we affirm that embracing disability and disabled leadership can powerfully help counter prejudice, stigma, and shame, and lead to better collective outcomes. We honour the wisdom of our disabled elders and ancestors while creating space for rangatahi leadership.
- Te Mana Whakahaere: Upholding disabled people's self-determination individually and collectively is key to our liberation. Decisions are made directly at the appropriate level or in the appropriate sphere by those affected. We advocate for ways of working where "nothing about us without us" and honouring Te Tiriti go hand in hand.
Strategic Priorities
The Green Party’s strategic goals include:
“A more connected, compassionate and equal Aotearoa”
Actions in this policy that will help achieve this include:
- Fully implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (1.1)
- Resource marae, hapū and iwi, and kaupapa Māori organisations to provide whānau hauā and tangata whaikaha with accessible pathways to te ao Māori and our whakapapa. (1.13)
- Provide easily accessible and timely income support to meet all disability-related living and medical costs, regardless of relationship status and cause of disability. (3.4)
- Ensure that we are all housed in safe, accessible, affordable housing in the community of our choice, while phasing out institutional group home settings and ending involuntary detention. (3.11)
- Centre the design and evaluation of disability services on the Enabling Good Lives approach (3.3)
- Uphold legal capacity for everyone, moving from legal capacity assessments to rights-based systems of supported decision-making. (5.1)
Connected Policies
Disability spans most policy areas, including Housing and Sustainable Communities, Transport, Education, Household Livelihoods and Workforce, Health, Justice, Immigration, and Climate Change. We honour the guidance in the Te Tiriti o Waitangi Policy. Disabled people are part of every community, so this policy should be read together with our policies that focus on other marginalised or prevalent groups that are represented in our diverse community, including Rainbow, Women’s, Seniors, Communities of Colour, Tagata Moana, and Rural Communities policies.
