Mathers Mojo: Address in Reply 
Mathers Mojo: Address in Reply 
[Volume:677;Page:426] 
MOJO MATHERS (Green) 
: 
 Tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. [ 
In New Zealand Sign Language 
] 
Toku awa ko toku ora. Toku awa ko toku mana. Toku awa ko toku kaha. Toku awa ko toku wairua. 
[ 
My river is my love influence strength and spirituality 
.] 
My river is my life.  
It was the desire to save a very special river the Waikirikiri that led directly to my involvement in politics. Twelve years ago I moved out of Christchurch to the village of Coalgate in the foothills of the Canterbury Plains with my former husband and three small children. The location was ideal for us close to a small country school with the peaceful Waikirikiri flowing past our doorstep and amazing views of the mountains. But shortly after moving there we found that there were ambitious plans to build a massive water storage dam for irrigation just upstream of us. If the dam went ahead the beautiful Waikirikiri would become an ugly fast-flowing canal too dangerous for kids to go swimming in. The dam would also destroy private land protected by a Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust covenant including two raised spring-fed peat bogs which pollen analysis showed to be thousands of years old. I recall standing with my husband at the bottom of our property looking upstream towards the Wairiri Valley wondering what we should do. Should we spend time and energy fighting the proposed scheme or should we resign ourselves to it going ahead?  
At that time we had a small business offering forestry management services mainly to farmers on the Canterbury Plains and foothills. We had witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of prolonged drought. But we also knew that the scheme was not about drought-proofing but about land intensification. It would allow yet more farms to convert to intensive dairying and dairy support—land uses dependent on high inputs of energy water and fossil fuels. It was clear to us that our groundwater and our rivers were at risk. So we decided to try to stop the dam and highlight to the wider public the downside of intensive farming. As part of this campaign we networked with other committed people across Canterbury all of us united by a desire to protect Canterbury’s water. Some of this fight is covered in Sam Mahon’s book  
The Water Thieves. 
It was during this time that I became disillusioned with the politics of both Labour and National. It seemed to me that neither was willing or able to grasp the seriousness of the threats facing our water. So in part inspired by the late Rod Donald who was my neighbour prior to his election to Parliament I joined the Green Party and stood as a candidate for the first time in the 2005 general election.  
When I first stood I had no concept of what huge challenges lay ahead of me as a deaf candidate and activist. I just wanted to speak out in defence of our water and our environment and be heard. But I learnt the hard way that passion and knowledge were not enough. I had to find different ways of doing politics ways of getting around the barriers posed by being deaf ways that allowed me to participate and engage effectively. I started learning New Zealand Sign Language and using sign language interpreters when I spoke to submissions to the local city and regional councils. I am absolutely thrilled that there are New Zealand Sign Language interpreters in the gallery today and I note that it is the first time in New Zealand that a maiden speech is being covered this way. I hope that this will be the start of greater recognition by Parliament of the status of New Zealand Sign as our third official language.  
I want to thank all those who campaigned to get New Zealand Sign Language Act passed into law and I acknowledge the role played by the former Minister for Disability Issues the Hon Ruth Dyson in facilitating this process. The effects of this Act have been positive for many but there is still a long way to go before the Act is implemented as it should be. For example as a mother of three children I find it unacceptable that some deaf parents are unable to attend parent-teacher interviews to discuss their children’s progress as is their right because the school will not provide New Zealand Sign Language interpreters.  
I want to acknowledge the dedicated people who campaigned for New Zealand to sign and ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New Zealand signed the convention on 30 March 2007 under a Labour Government and ratified it on 26 September 2008 under a National Government. Article 29 of the convention guarantees the right of persons with disabilities to effectively and fully participate in political and public life including the right and opportunity for persons with disabilities to vote and be elected. My election on the Green Party list under MMP means that hearing impaired deaf and people with disabilities have representation in Parliament from someone who shares with them many of the same experiences and challenges that they face.  
It is a huge honour to be representing this community in the House and I take this responsibility seriously. High on my list of goals for this Parliament is to advocate for improved access to information and communication services for deaf and hearing and vision impaired. Simple things like improving the captioning and audio description of television DVDs and the internet would enable access to our culture and to services. Until recently New Zealand had one of the lowest rates of television captioning in the developed world. Even Uganda had higher rates than us. This situation has improved recently with the introduction of closed captioning by Sky television on many of its channels a move that I celebrate as it will make a real difference for many of us.  
Although access to TV has improved full access to information around political debates and to democratic participation remain out of reach for many. We need captioning of Parliament TV so that all New Zealanders with a hearing impairment can have full access to political debates a right that we have under the convention. At the moment because Parliament TV is not captioned I am relying on electronic note-takers to follow the debate in the Chamber. Although they do an excellent job and parliamentary staff have worked very hard in getting around the technical challenges it is not an ideal solution in part because they will not always be available when a bill comes up that I need to speak to.  
I made the point yesterday that funding for electronic note-takers and equipment should be 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. To put the cost in context a few years ago Parliament spent nearly $1 million upgrading the audio system in the Chamber so that MPs could hear better. I am hopeful that Parliament will show leadership in this area and move quickly to resolve this so that I can get on with the work that I was elected to do.  
I would now like to acknowledge the love and aroha that I have had over the years from my family my friends and my supporters sustaining me through all the ups and downs of my political journey into Parliament. Many of them including my three beautiful children are here in the gallery today. Thank you all; I could not have done it without you. Your love is what gives me the strength to stand here today.  
I am also motivated by the knowledge that so much has been invested in me from my earliest years. I was 2½ 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 on to my body. Given this very late start in language development I would never have caught up with my peers had it not been for two key things. Firstly I am fortunate to have an amazing and totally dedicated mother who once she knew I could not hear spent many many hours with me teaching me basic speech and reading skills before I even started school to ensure that I would not be left behind. Secondly I have had the benefit of extensive intervention and support throughout my childhood including 3 years at the Mary Hare School for Deaf in England where class sizes ranged from six to 10 pupils and the focus was on high academic achievement. I believe that it is the right of every child with a disability to have access to the level of early intervention and quality education that I had so that every child can reach their potential.  
Although disability issues are obviously high on my agenda I do have other issues I am keen to progress particularly in the areas of food and animal welfare. At the moment far too many animals in New Zealand suffer needless and prolonged pain and suffering both on intensive farms and in experimentation. I grew up eating meat produced on our own farm but when I left I became vegetarian because I could not be sure that the meat I ate would come from animals that had been treated well. Likewise I avoid eggs from battery hens because of the cruelty and suffering involved in their production. I am delighted that the UK has banned cages for hens and I look forward to the day the last hen is released from her cage in New Zealand.  
While staying true to the Green Party kaupapa and to those I represent I pledge to work constructively and with an open mind with everyone from all sides of the House to advance issues wherever we can find common ground.