Last night the Parliamentary Services Commission met to discuss funding for deaf MP Mojo Mathers. The result? Deadlock, with the PSC unable to agree on where the money should come from.
Mojo is currently being funded out of the Speaker's budget, so she can finally do her job. But surely we can do better than this. We've had laws outlawing discrimination against the deaf and requiring employers to make reasonable accommodations for almost twenty years now. On something so fundamental, which affects an MP's ability to do their job, you'd expect Parliament to have its shit together by now. And you'd be expecting them to be trying to set a good example for the rest of us.
But apparently, that's all too difficult. And so our Parliament sends a message that discrimination against the deaf is OK. Good one guys, you're making me really proud to be a New Zealander.
