By Elliot Crossan
March 18th is an infamous date within the disabled community. One year ago yesterday, Whaikaha — the Ministry of Disabled People — suddenly announced sweeping changes to flexible funding without consultation. Now-former Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds caused outrage when she tried to justify her actions by claiming in Parliament that parents and carers of disabled children were misusing funding.
Further devastating changes have been announced since. Funding for equipment and housing modifications for wheelchair users was cut. A programme designed to top up the pay of 900 disabled workers to the minimum wage was scrapped. In August, the government removed responsibility from Whaikaha for frontline services.
The government is waging war on the disabled community. The results have been devastating — an outcome which was entirely predictable, given the funding and services being cut are essential for disabled people to live good lives. Incomes, support networks and mobility have all been negatively impacted. Far too many in the community are struggling with mental health problems as a result.
As a parent of a disabled child put it in Awhi Ngā Mātua’s community survey, released yesterday:
“These changes have done more than just cut funding; they have shattered long-term security, disrupted family continuity, and instilled fear where there should be confidence. The cost of these decisions will not just be financial—it will be measured in lost opportunities, eroded futures, and deepening inequality for generations to come.”
To add insult to injury, the government is now holding a community consultation which the D*List’s Henrietta Bollinger describes as having “the obvious intention to limit both who can access flexible funding and how it can be used.” Bollinger writes: “The options on offer and the narrow scope we are being consulted on seem like invitations to advise the Government on which of us is asking too much from life.”
The community is not satisfied. An open letter has been published by Awhi Ngā Mātua, signed by dozens of community groups, calling on the government to:
- Apologise to disabled people and their whanau;
- Ensure access to adequate mental health services;
- Develop support services that work alongside disabled people, parents and carers.
This war on the disabled community is part of a class war. It is not an accident; it is not ignorance; it is not incompetence. It is the deliberate policy of a government which is advancing the interests of the top 1% at the expense of the 99%.
The Coalition is pursuing what economists call “fiscal austerity.” In simpler terms — Finance Minister Nicola Willis is trying to balance the government’s budget by cutting spending. According to Treasury figures, if adjusted for population growth, Willis is implementing the most savage spending cuts in the nation’s history.
Yet there is no government debt crisis that is provoking the Finance Minister to slash spending. Yes, debt went up during Covid — but we still have low government debt as a share of our economy compared to similar countries. Nothing is forcing Willis to cut spending to disabled communities.
Even if there was a debt crisis, there would be an easy solution. The government could tax the rich to pay down the debt. A 2023 investigation by Inland Revenue found that the 311 wealthiest families in Aotearoa collectively held 85 billion dollars in net wealth, yet paid less than half the tax rate of the average Kiwi household.
If the rich paid the same tax rate as everyone else, the government could afford to expand funding for disabled communities. There would be no need for cuts. A wealth tax could ensure that Whaikaha was fully funded, and allow the implementation of the Enabling Good Lives approach recommended by disability experts.
Yet this government is doing the exact opposite — cutting disability services in order to fund tax cuts for landlords and property developers. If Willis’ cuts were actually about reducing debt, would there really be any spare money for her to dish out tax cuts to the rich?
These cuts are part of a war on working class people across Aotearoa. The Coalition’s austerity approach is not confined to disability funding. Other areas that are affected include:
- The health system, which is heaving under the pressure of fresh cuts in the wake of decades of underfunding;
- The free lunch programme for low-income schools, which David Seymour has gutted;
- State housing, which is being sold off at the exact moment that it has become “nearly impossible” to get into emergency housing thanks to government changes;
- The welfare system, where the ‘traffic light’ benefit sanctions are driving the poorest people in Aotearoa into further hardship in the midst of a recession and rising unemployment.
The list could go on. Higher rates of poverty, homelessness and inequality will be the enduring legacy of this class war.
The disabled community is on the front line of each of these struggles. Poor access to healthcare, housing and benefits hits disabled people disproportionately. But make no mistake: it is the whole working class that is under attack from this Coalition.
It is no coincidence that the government is prioritising the interests of the wealthy above all else. National, ACT and NZ First all benefited from record high donations from big money interests in the last election.
The same agenda of prioritising profit over people is being played out in all areas. The Fast-track Bill and the repeal of the ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling both allow fossil fuel corporations to expand production in the midst of a climate crisis. The government is threatening to partially privatise the health system, meaning that communities will be forced to pay even more for basic health services. Again, the disabled community will be hit the hardest by further restricting access to healthcare.
The Treaty Principles Bill, as well as being a racist attempt to rewrite Te Tiriti o Waitangi, is another part of this agenda. Rupert O’Brien’s article in the Spinoff last year explains how the Bill is an attempt by the ACT Party to remove the barriers to privatisation and deregulation that the Treaty presents.
It is far too easy to feel depressed and powerless right now. We have a government that is prioritising the wealth of the top 1% over basic human dignity for the majority of society.
But we are not powerless.
There is a reason why the government is launching attacks on all fronts simultaneously. The aim is to confuse and distract the opposition. If every community is focusing purely on its own struggle, with Māori mobilising for Te Tiriti, climate activists fighting the Fast-track legislation, trade unions trying to prevent the rollback of workers’ rights, beneficiary and homeless advocates sounding the alarm about poverty, and the disabled community reeling from cuts to vitally-needed services, then each group can be overwhelmed in isolation.
This is what the Coalition wants. Luxon, Willis, Seymour and Co. want us isolated, fighting each battle on our own, writing petitions and submissions that they will ignore.
But we know the richest people in Aotearoa have more wealth than they could ever possibly need. We know that money could be used to reverse the cuts. So what would happen if we brought communities together to stand united, as the 99% against the top 1%, to demand that everyone in society is given the health, housing, education, incomes and support services that every single one of us deserves?
It is time to build a mass movement in the streets, in workplaces and across our communities to oppose the government’s austerity agenda. A mass movement to put people and planet before profit, to honour Te Tiriti, and to assert that we all have the right to live good lives. Existing movements need to stand together — because we have power when we stand in solidarity with each other and refuse to be divided.
If we’re going to build a better society that works for everyone, then we have to take back the wealth that is being hoarded by the wealthy few. We need mass protests, mass strikes and mass resistance to stop this coalition of greed.
This is a class war — and it’s time for the working class to start fighting back.
Elliot Crossan is an ecosocialist writer and activist from Auckland. He is the Chair of System Change Aotearoa. You can subscribe to Elliot’s Substack page to read more.
