Journalist Red Nicholson wrote a great article in The Spinoff in response. He succinctly explained how patronising and disrespectful this kind of stunt is.
"Our wheelchairs are not gimmicks to help you realise how good you've got it."
It's a photo opp, ingenuine.
Organisations have historically utilised this kind of tactic when they 'do' Disability Awareness Training. It's known as Simulation Training. This is when you try to simulate a disability by, for instance, using wheelchair or blindfolds or earmuffs.
Most disabled people would tell you, however, that what they want is for others to be aware of the need to treat disabled people with respect and recognise their mana.
It's a simple concept that can be realised by simply talking to people in a way that is mutually considerate, without being patronising. I have no doubt that everyone involved in the minister's gig had the best of intentions, starting with the initial idea which came from the Spinal Cord Injury Trust.
But if disabled people had been consulted, this would never have rolled out (pardon the pun). Where was her key adviser on disability issues? The Office of Disability Issues, are they the disability lead? Questionable.
I have always been anti the idea of disability simulation training. Maybe the reason is that you can't really simulate cerebral palsy. You can't use ear muffs or blindfolds or googles or wheelchairs to do this.
Maybe you could take vintage barbiturates as Leonard de Caprio did when he played the lead in In the Wolf of Wall Street - they took effect all at once, resulting in cerebral palsy type symptoms. I don't think that me being smashed on barbiturates would result in any transaction of mana.
What is effective is disabled people explaining the difference between a disabling environment and a non-disabling environment in the context of people's attitude or their physical surroundings.
The Minister of Disability Issues plays an integral role in the sector. This office is the interface between central government and the disabled population. The first Minister of Disability Issues was Ruth Dyson, briefly followed by Lianne Dalziel and then Tariana Turia. After Turia came the duffer of Ministers of Disability Issues, Nicky Wagner, who tweeted @nickywagner: "Busy with Disability meetings in Auckland- rather be out on the harbour!" when she was meeting with a disabled advisory group.
The disabled community has been looking at their new minister to see what kind of mark she will make.
I really hope Minister Sepuloni will get sound advice on the really big issues facing disabled people in New Zealand and take some bold actions. Geoffrey Palmer recently made a speech calling for a review to address the discrepancies between ACC and the support offered for those with a disability through the Ministry of Health.
Now this is one of those big issues.
I can tell you from personal experience the disability support one gets from the Ministry of Health compared to ACC is like comparing night with day, black and white or Donald Trump and Barack Obama. I know disabled people who waited well over a year for an electric wheelchair, but when I fell over and broke my shoulder one appeared in two weeks.
Let's hope our Minister for Disability Issues gets advice from the horse's mouth and not it's backside. Don't be a duffer. It's time to be bold and be genuine.
Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust - Disability A Matter of Perception. A Whangarei based disability ad'vocacy organisation.
