Jonny Wilkinson was in the office this week, despite an accident and accompanying black eye, because he knows he is fortunate to have a job - unlike 48 per cent of disabled Kiwis. Photo / NZME
Jonny Wilkinson was in the office this week, despite an accident and accompanying black eye, because he knows he is fortunate to have a job - unlike 48 per cent of disabled Kiwis. Photo / NZME
OPINION: A Different Light
Have you ever found yourself singing a song either out loud or in your head when something bad had happened, to remove and distance yourself from reality?
Britney Spears' Oops I Did it Again floated through my mind last Sunday morning as I managed to go'A over T' over my bedside drawers and land headfirst on the bathroom tiles.
I know, I know, you have heard it all before from me. Tell me about it. Falls seem to be a recurring incident for me at the moment. I got an instant lump on my forehead the size of a very large hen's egg and a graze to boot.
A few days later, as I am writing this, I have a pronounced black eye. It reminds me of Frankenfurter's eye shadow from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yet here I am at work.
Why? Because I want to be. I am fortunate enough to have a job, unlike 48 per cent of disabled Kiwis who are not in work - and not because this is a choice.
So when National leader Christopher Luxon said at his party conference three weeks ago that people on the Jobseeker Benefit - including those with a disability - would be sanctioned if they didn't work with a job coach and participate in a job plan under his programme, Welfare that Works, I was somewhat surprised.
Firstly, I was surprised that the National Party (or any other major party) would use the feature "disability" in any kind of campaign. Usually, we are invisible. Secondly, disabled people don't need a stick or a carrot to get to work, we just require some support and employers with an open mind. After all, employment is the most common way society recognises the value in an individual.
Employment doesn't just bring home the bacon in an economic sense, it brings inclusion, participation and - most of all - mana. In times of high unemployment disabled people are the last cab off the rank, the last cohort to be targeted to be assisted into jobs. Usually in times of higher unemployment we still remain invisible. In this context Luxon's Welfare that Works policy has put a welcome focus on the issue of disability and unemployment.
Britney Spears' Oops I Did it Again was on Jonny Wilkinson's mind this week, after another accident. Photo / File
This week the Green Party's social development spokesperson, Ricardo Menéndez March, carried on the media discussion by accusing the Labour Government of doing exactly what National is proposing to do with their new welfare policy: dealing out sanctions to disabled people's benefits when they aren't towing the line in seeking work. I find it somewhat refreshing to see disability being used as a political football, especially when it comes to unemployment.
It looks like the days are gone when governments just accept that disabled people will be unemployed. The next step is not to focus on carrots and sticks but to focus on practical supports, educating employers and helping employers realise that disabled people can make a valuable addition to their workforce.
Don't get me wrong: disability and employment can be a complex issue. There needs to be a range of options for people including social enterprises that actively provide opportunities for disabled people.
Taimahi Trust is one such organisation providing training in horticulture and hospitality for young people with disabilities. I am looking forward to going to their fundraiser, a wine quiz and tasting event on September 14. It's an occasion not to be missed - I just hope my face is back to normal before then.
Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust - Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangārei based disability advocacy organisation.
