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New Zealand Parliament won't pay for deaf member's equipment
Feb 14, 2012, 4:24 GMT
Wellington - New Zealand's first profoundly deaf lawmaker said Tuesday that Parliament had declined to pay for the special equipment she needs to take part in debates.
The Green Party's Mojo Mathers, who was elected in November, will have to pay 30,000 New Zealand dollars (25,000 US dollars) for an electronic note-taking service out of her office budget, she told the media.
Advocacy groups criticized the decision by parliamentary officials, saying it would leave Mathers' office with less money for her to do her job, simply because she is deaf.
'What's happening to Mojo shows that there is still a lot of work to be done for deaf people to be fully allowed to participate in society,' said Rachel Noble, head of Deaf Aorearoa, a national group which campaigns for the rights of the deaf.
Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said the money should come out of the general budget for Parliament, and not the funding of the party or member's offices.
But parliamentary officials have said there is a set budget for each member, and there were legal obstacles to giving any individual representative more money than the others.
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