Hutchison Paul: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Hutchison Paul: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:629;Page:1803] 
11.  
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Port Waikato) 
 to the  
Minister for Disability Issues 
: Can she confirm that as Minister for Disability Issues her role is to be an “advocate for disabled people”? 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for Disability Issues) 
: 
 Yes and I am proud of significant achievements in this sector since the Labour-led Government came into office. It was the first Government to recognise the need to address disability issues through such measures as the establishment and implementation of the New Zealand Disability Strategy. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: Does she consider that the auditing systems currently in place to monitor disability services with regard to quality of life need improvement in light of recent concerns around Focus 2000 that involve deaths maltreatment understaffing and poor-quality services; if not why not? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I am yet to see any auditing process that does not offer opportunities for improvement. 
Dave Hereora 
: Has the Minister received any reports at Government level concerning advocacy for people with disabilities? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Yes I have received a number of reports although none are from the 1990s because there was not any advocacy then for disability issues. However I have received a recent report that regards advocacy for disabled people as too PC and divorced from the mainstream. That report concerned comments made by the PC eradicator and anti-advocacy campaigner Wayne Mapp. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: Did she receive a letter from Standards and Monitoring Services on 8 July 2003 notifying her that the board unanimously decided that the Ministry of Health designated audit agency approach is “completely incompatible to enhancing the quality of the lives of individuals who use services” and why has she done nothing to heed their warnings when every day “abuse” is going on? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I do not have a recollection of receiving a letter on 8 July 2003 but if the member says I did then I would certainly take his word for it. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: Did she receive a second letter from Standards and Monitoring Services on 1 November 2004 which stated: “You should be aware of the huge levels of dissatisfaction in community residential services.” and why has she as the advocate for the disabled stood silently by amidst revelations of untimely deaths maltreatment and abuse? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Again I take the member’s word that I received a letter from Standards and Monitoring Services on 1 November 2004. That would be the first and I assume the last time I would ever be accused of standing silent while the abuse of any disabled person continues. That member knows that that accusation is wrong and frankly I expect to receive a higher quality of question from him than I get from his colleagues. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: What does she intend to do about improving quality assessment when on 25 February Lorna Sullivan who is an executive member of the Assembly of People with Disabilities said: “We see day after day providers that have got their compliance audit hung on the wall where people are neglected where people’s lives are being wasted people are degraded—just systemic abandonment.”; or does she think that what Lorna Sullivan said is untrue? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
 I have never disregarded anything that Lorna has said to me on the many occasions over the last decade that I have spoken to her. Lorna’s views are very well represented in the document I launched  
To Have an Ordinary Life 
 which shows the difference between compliance with a contract and the aspiration of many disabled people to live a far better quality of life than that. So what the member is talking about is not systemic abuse at all; it is opportunities that have not been taken under the current contracting model. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: I seek leave to table three documents. The first is a letter from the director of Standards and Monitoring Services dated 8 July 2003 stating that the Minister’s audit agency approach is completely incompatible with enhancing the quality of lives. 
Document not tabled. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: The second document is from the director of Standards and Monitoring Services dated 1 November 2004 stating that she should be aware of the huge level of dissatisfaction in community residential care. 
Document not tabled. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: The third document is a transcript from Radio New Zealand where Ms Sullivan points out the great concern of systemic abandonment and neglect in the disability sector. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: At the member’s request I seek leave to table a transcript of an interview between Dr Wayne Mapp and Mr Sean Plunket of  
Morning Report 
 on Radio New Zealand where Mr Mapp says: “That’s the fundamental problem with giving power to minorities and what you essentially have to do is”— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection.