In positive news, ADL handed over an open letter to Minister Collins at a National Party public meeting last Friday (August 24th). The Minister responded to our questions by confirming that she does not intend to close Auckland Disability Law. She also publicly acknowledged the need for disabled people across New Zealand to be able to have access to specialist legal services.
ADL had a very productive meeting with Minister Turia on Thursday, who is supportive of the need for the services of Auckland Disability Law.
Ongoing support has enabled ADL to demonstrate the clear need for specialist disability services and has kept this on the agenda, and ADL thank everyone for everything they have done to send that message to the Ministry and the Minster so far.
The next step is to meet with the Ministry of Justice to talk about the shape of those future services. We will keep you updated on those discussions, and will be calling for the Ministry to involve disability community in those discussions.
The latest media on the issue is this interview from One in Five on Sunday night: http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/oif/oif-20120826-1906-one_in_five_for_26_august_2012-048.mp3
