Deaf MP makes history with translated speech

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Deaf MP makes history with translated speech | POLITICS News

Green MP Mojo Mathers made history in Parliament today after her maiden speech was translated live into New Zealand sign language.

Thirteen other Green MPs also had their speeches translated in honour of Mathers as the first deaf person in Parliament.

The move comes off the back of claims that Parliamentary Services are discriminating against the Green Party MP by refusing to pay the $30,000 needed for an in-House electronic note taker.

In her speech, Mathers highlighted how she had no concept of the difficulties that lay ahead of her as a deaf MP.

"I just wanted to speak out in defence of our water and our environment and be heard."

Mathers noted the issue of funding, saying while the electronic notetakers do an excellent job, it is not reliable enough for her to do the job she was elected to do.

"I made the point yesterday that funding for electronic notetakers and equipment should not be coming out of my support budget, which all members receive, because no MP with a disability should be expected to fund their participation in the House in this way."

Mathers compared this to the $1 million spent a few years ago on upgrading the audio system in the chamber so MPs could hear better.

House Speaker Lockwood Smith has accused the Green Party of politicising the issue and attributes this to the party's inexperience.

However, Smith has agreed to discuss extra funding with the Parliamentary Services Commission next month.

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman told Smith the party would continue to go public with the issue.

"If he wishes to resolve the issue quickly then I would invite him to bring the meeting forward."

Labour disabilities spokesperson Clare Curran said the debate highlights the wider issues for the hearing impaired community.

"Being deaf should not be a barrier to participation in our democracy as a Member if Parliament, nor should it be a barrier to following parliamentary discussion and debate."

Mathers also called for Parliament TV to be captioned so all New Zealanders have full access to political debate.

 

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Deaf turn out for their MP

Deaf turn out for their MP - Politics - NZ Herald News


Without words or even sound, members of the deaf community cheered Green MP Mojo Mathers as she made her history-making official introduction to Parliament.

Ms Mathers delivered her maiden speech with assistance from a sign language interpreter in the chamber - a first for the House.

"My election on the Green Party list under MMP means that the hearing-impaired, deaf and people with disabilities have representation in Parliament by someone who shares with them many of the same experiences and challenges that they face," Ms Mathers said.

"It is a huge honour to be representing this community in the House, and I take this responsibility seriously."

The public gallery was filled with deaf supporters, who were joined by MPs in applauding Ms Mathers by waving their hands - the sign language equivalent of clapping.

The MP spoke about the difficulties she had faced because of her disability.

"I was 2 years old and without speech when teachers at my kindergarten picked up that I was profoundly deaf and I was provided with large aids that I wore in a harness strapped onto my body."

Without help from an "amazing and totally dedicated" mother, as well as support throughout her childhood, including three years at England's Mary Hare School for the deaf, Ms Mathers said she would never have caught up with her peers.

"I believe that it is the right of every child with a disability to have the access to the level of early intervention and quality education that I had, so that every child can reach their potential," she said.

Ms Mathers also touched briefly on the controversy that erupted this week over the funding of a note-taker, who provides the MP with an instant transcript of parliamentary debate.

Speaker Lockwood Smith has said the note-taker should be funded from Ms Mathers' support budget, but the Green Party argued that other MPs do not need to dip into their budgets to participate in Parliament, and making Ms Mathers do so would amount to discrimination.

"I am hopeful that Parliament will ... move quickly to resolve this, so that I can get on with the work that I was elected to do," she said.

Ms Mathers said she wanted improved access to information and communication services for the deaf, hearing and vision impaired, such as improving captioning and audio description of TV, DVDs and internet.

"Until recently, New Zealand had one of the lowest rates of television captioning in the developed world. Even Uganda had higher rates than us."


Ms Mathers called for captioning of Parliament TV.