Luxon moves on, Labour tries to sink knife deeper
Moving on from last week’s demotion of two Cabinet ministers, it is understood Prime Minister Christopher and the Government plans to spend a week back at Parliament talking about education policy.
But last week’s sudden demotion of two Cabinet ministers – Melissa Lee and Penny Simmonds – for under-performance (though Luxon refused to describe it as such) will not be easy to leave behind.
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins was yesterday getting ahead of the Government’s plans for the week, picking at the sore which Luxon has sought to cauterise.
Hipkins joined the party’s finance spokesperson and Mana MP Barbara Edmonds in Porirua yesterday afternoon for a public meeting – organised by Labour – to keep up the pressure on the Government’s troubled handling of a decision to trim back the funding available for the respite carers of disabled people.
“We’ll continue to fight for this. This is a big and active community who deserve to have their voices heard,” Hipkins said.
The demotion of Simmonds, who had the disability issues portfolio taken from her, appeared to do little to ease the frustration over a curbing of the funding at the Mana College school hall.
“The week of the announcement, I was constantly in tears worrying, ‘How are we ever going to make it work?’,” Rebekah Corlett, a parent of a disabled child and advocate, told the audience.
The flexible funding allowed for her daughter, who loved nature and music, to have a more fulfilling life, while also giving Corlett “a bit of respite for me as well”. “Nothing extreme ... no overseas holidays,” she said, referencing comments from Simmonds about how the funding was being spent.
Cyrus Dahl (Waīkato Tainui), who has cerebral palsy, said he was “mad at the changes”. The 16-year-old communicated through an alphabet board and with the help of his mother, Kris. “They took away our right and choices.”
Hipkins said the Government and its new disabilities issues minister, Louise Upston, should apologise to the community and reinstate the full flexibility of the funding. “They’re still fighting, they’re still having to fight on a daily basis to get the support that they deserve.
“The disability community is one of those communities that finds themselves subjected to a lot of rationing, disproportionate to many other communities, who find that an increase in demand results in an increase in funding.”
Luxon last week said his Government had put more money into Whaikaha-Ministry for Disabled Communities, and would do so at the May Budget. But it would also be seeking “good financial discipline” at the organisation, and would be reviewing its financial management.
The return to Parliament after a twoweek recess will also bring with it questions about the Government’s policy response to a struggling media sector.
Luxon last week said this was another area of increased “complexity”, leading him to give Paul Goldsmith the media and communications portfolio, and demote Lee.
Goldsmith, days into the job, has yet to explain what the Government might do, in the wake of the closure of Newshub, though Luxon has said the “levers” the Government can pull are limited.