Labour pledges to scrap controversial Disability Support Services Bill

Labour says it will scrap the controversial Disability Support Services Bill if it gets into power at the next election.

People with disabilities, carers and advocates gathered at Parliament on Thursday to handover a petition against the bill.

Organised by New Plymouth mother and disability carer Victoria Coleman, the petition garnered 16,458 signatures in five weeks.

The bill is currently before select committee, after public hearings began last week.

The community is concerned it will strip them of their rights and funding, despite disability minister Louise Upston saying it won't change any current arrangements.

Labour's disability issues spokesperson Priyanca Radhakrishnan, speaking to the crowd gathered outside Parliament, called it a terrible bill, and said Labour would get rid of it.

"Disability communities have long fought for self-determination through the principle of 'nothing about us without us', and it is hugely disappointing to see the government do the exact opposite again," she said.

Radhakrishnan said the bill ignored the reality many families faced, while stripping disabled people of the choice and control they deserved.

"It also ignores complex circumstances, including abusive situations, potentially locking disabled people into unsafe arrangements.

"It also hands the minister sweeping powers to cut disability support without proper safeguards, consultation or transparency. New Zealanders have already seen the harm those decisions can cause, and it should never be allowed to happen again."

Act Party disability spokesperson Laura McClure told RNZ she, too, had heard people's concerns.

While she had been assured the intent of the bill was not to change current care arrangements, she said she understood people's concerns.

She accepted submitters were worried future ministers or governments could use secondary legislation to increase the burden on families, and said that was a legitimate concern the select committee should look at.

Outside Parliament, Tim Coleman, Victoria's husband, told RNZ he was worried about what the bill would mean for both his children - Levi, aged seven, who has a disability, and Millie, aged five, who does not.

He worried what it would mean for Millie's future, if the responsibility for Levi's care fell on his her, as his closest family member, after their parents were gone.

"She might have to quit her job, and she might have to be the sole carer."

Katie Thomas, mother of two boys and a fulltime carer for her older, teenaged son, agreed. "Without the certainty of what my eldest son might be eligible for or ineligible for in the future, that puts a lot of burden on a six-year-old child to have to carry."

The cost of living was already high for families, she said.

In response to reassurances from the minister that the intent of the bill was not to remove any resources, she said; "If the intent is not, why put it into the bill as it stands? [...] It's pretty explicit."

"Please go back to the drawing board and do a much better job - one that all of us can be proud of."