The halls of power not for the disabled

Senior Reporter, Health·NZ Herald·

3 Jun, 2014 09:35 PM4 mins to read

New Zealand Parliament buildings in Wellington. Photo / File

Steep walkways, heavy doors and too few lifts make Parliament difficult to access.

The Beehive and Parliament Buildings are mostly off-limits for disabled people, a damning review has found, because of their steep walkways, heavy doors, and the absence of lifts and mobility parks.

In some cases, visitors or workers in wheelchairs had to take long routes and several elevators in Parliament House because a few steps blocked their path.

The review by the Government Administration Select Committee made a raft of recommendations for improving facilities for the deaf, blind, elderly or people with limited mobility.

Committee chairwoman and Labour MP Ruth Dyson said the review found problems with nearly every aspect of disability services, many of which were "simple fixes" which had been singled out before.

"If it is difficult for a person to access a place they are likely to stay away. Every submitter who commented on physical access to Parliament expressed concern about how difficult Parliament was to navigate for disabled people," the report said.

The walkways from Parliament's main gate to the public entry were too steep and wooden doors in Parliament House were "very heavy and almost impossible" for some disabled people to open.

Some MPs' offices could not be reached by people in wheelchairs, and there were no designated spaces in the public gallery for wheelchairs.

One of the most urgent requests was to install a portable lift to allow disabled people to access select committee rooms, which were blocked by eight steps. A person in a wheelchair was forced to turn around, take an elevator up in the Beehive, travel to the House, and take another elevator down.

Much of the precinct was difficult to navigate for blind or partly blind visitors because of poor lighting and obstacles.

Deaf and hearing-impaired people were disadvantaged because audio in the Chamber was poor and there was no budget to provide sign language interpreters for debates or oral submissions. The report noted that Parliament House and Parliamentary Library were listed as Historic Place Category 1 and modifications were complex or expensive.

Stairs, heavy doors 'a pain' for reporter

The Press Gallery was so hard to reach Sally Wenley didn't go there. Photo / APN

Getting around Parliament was often a frustrating, exhausting experience for reporter Sally Wenley.

The freelance journalist, who uses a wheelchair, once spent several weeks working in the parliamentary precinct for National Radio.

She recalls two major flaws - the absence of ramps and the Parliament Building's heavy wooden doors.

"Those doors - I couldn't get them open, my recorder would land on the floor, I'd be stuck in the middle, then I'd drop my notepad."

She often had to take long, circuitous routes because parts of the building were made inaccessible by stairs.

"For a select committee hearing, I was running late but I had to go down an elevator, through the basement of the building, this way then that way, up another elevator."

A 30m-long underground travelator between the Beehive and Bowen House on Lambton Quay was sometimes out of order, requiring her to push herself up a long slope.

Ms Wenley said she didn't bother working in the Parliamentary Press Gallery as it was "a pain in the ass" to reach by wheelchair.

But she accepted Parliament was a historic building and renovations should be reasonable, such as small hydraulic lifts on some stairwells.