Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I rise today to support the motion, moved by the member for Lindsay, acknowledging Saturday, 3 December as International Day of People with Disability. I thank her for bringing this very important motion to the House.

It was 1992 when the United Nations first proclaimed International Day of People with Disability, and they did so to promote better understanding of disability issues and to support the dignity and the rights of people with disabilities. Twenty years ago, the Australian government followed suit. I would like to make reference to the fact that over four million Australians have a disability—that is one in five Australians—so reaffirming our support for them and also reaffirming our support to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals is absolutely critical to the way we deal with this very important issue, as is, of course, this House's reaffirming of its support for the NDIS and the work that it hopes to achieve for people with disability in Australia.

I want to go to Karni Liddell, Australia's most successful Paralympian and 2016 patron of the International Day of People With Disability, who says, 'The most disabling thing about having a disability is other people's assumption about what we can and cannot do.' She says if people with disabilities can shine on the sporting stage, then they should be able to experience basic human needs and desires such as fulfilling careers and relationships, travelling, being fit and healthy and living away from their parents.

Australia came fifth on the medal tally board of the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio this year. One of the gold medals of the games belongs to Nazim Erdem, a successful wheelchair rugby player who has competed in four Paralympics and, I am very proud to say, is one of my constituents. I had the pleasure of meeting Nazim this year before he took off to Rio. At the age of 20, Nazim's life changed forever when he broke his neck in a diving accident. Nazim was told that he had a spinal cord injury and would never walk again.

Nazim says a spinal cord injury changes your life forever. He says that you do not know what your future is going to be like but he wants to show disabled people all the possibilities. Through his work with Spire, the Spinal Injury Resource and Support Network, he mentors and supports those with spinal injuries and helps them adjust to their new life. He says, 'You can go back to sport, to work; you can have relationships—whatever you want. You just do it a little bit differently.'

He does say that after every Paralympic Games that he has attended, there is a lot of attention on the athletes and that attention gets bigger and bigger with each games. The media attention highlights their successes, which means they then have to work even harder. Their training regime becomes more intense. They attend lots of training camps. The point is that Paralympians deserve the same accolades and attention as other athletes receive. People with disability do want to achieve what everybody else wants out of life, and they should, of course, be given the opportunity to do that.

I want to say a few words about a very good friend of mine and a constituent, the wonderful Janet Curtain, who, for some time, worked in my office. When Janet came to work for me, I realised how restrictive life could be for a disabled person. The truth is that, in our office, we did not have the ability to deal with or accommodate a person in a wheelchair. There were no disabled toilets and, of course, in order to be able to allow Janet to move freely within the office or actually enter the office that had been assigned to her, we had to remove the door. It sounds very primitive, but there you are. I am happy to say that my new office is totally fitted out for people with disability.

I want to quote Janet, because she is a very warm and passionate advocate. I asked her the other day what it is that she would like me to say to the House. These are Janet Curtain's words: 'For me, international disability day is not only celebrating people's abilities, tenacity and determination to live their lives the way they choose, but, even more so, celebrating how far society has come in its awareness of differences and diversity where people are not defined by their disability, but are seen for the people they really are.'

In my electorate, we have found lots of fun ways to celebrate International Day of People with Disability, and I look forward to being able to share some of those events: at the bowling centre in the Watergardens; at the Broadmeadows Aquatic and Leisure Centre, a disco night is planned. I look forward to getting back home and visiting with them.

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