[ Last Updated 12 September 2006 ]
Short Description
"Good afternoon and welcome to this momentous occasion. Today marks a technological revolution for New Zealanders - a day when the right to telephone access for people who are Deaf or have hearing or speech impairments is finally recognised."
Author
Hon Ruth Dyson, Minister for Disability Issues
Rau rangatira maa, tenei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te ra. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
[Distinguished guests, greetings to you gathered here for this purpose today. Greetings once, twice, three times to you all.]
Good afternoon and welcome to this momentous occasion. Today marks a technological revolution for New Zealanders - a day when the right to telephone access for people who are Deaf or have hearing or speech impairments is finally recognised.
With the rapid rate of technological advancement, it is easy to forget what a significant invention the telephone was in the late 1870s. As well as changing the way the whole world has done business since, it provides an indispensable means of building and maintaining social connection.
Today, family and friends are but a phone call away - in most cases no matter where you - or they - are. It is something that we as individuals and as a society take for granted. Unless, that is, you are Deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment.
In that case, you have been excluded from the benefits that the immediacy of telephone communication provides. This constraint affects a significant number of people.
Today's launch of New Zealand Relay is as significant for these New Zealanders as the day that Thomas Watson first heard Bell's voice over the wire.
- It means independence - no longer having to rely on family and friends to make calls for you.
- It means greater access to business and employment opportunities – how can you ring up about a job if you haven't got suitable telephone access?
- It means inclusion and greater participation in the community - it is hard to be involved and maintain friendships without being part of a network of personal contacts.
We expect most of the estimated 7000 New Zealanders who are Deaf or have a significant hearing or speech impairment will potentially want to make use of the relay service.
Of course, the benefits will be two-way. By including New Zealanders with disabilities in our communities, we enrich not only their lives, but ours as well.
Hearing people will now be able to phone Deaf friends and family. Employers and businesses will benefit from access to a more diverse workforce. And the relay service will make it easier for all of us to stay connected, thus contributing to a more vibrant, cohesive and successful society overall.
Acknowledgements
New Zealand Relay is the culmination of years of effort by many people. After the invitations to this launch went out, I received a letter from Margaret Coutts - a life member of the Christchurch Deaf Club and New Zealand Deaf Sports Association, and vice president of the New Zealand Deaf Association – apologising for not being able to be here today.
Margaret asked me to acknowledge that the first relay service was started in Christchurch about 25 years ago by her husband, the late Morris Coutts, and that the ongoing campaign for a national service has been carried on by the Deaf community right up until now.
In particular, I want to commend the efforts of Victoria Manning and Kim Robinson, who championed the case for a relay service through the Human Rights Commission. Their leadership and determination convinced the commission that access to the phone was a right for Deaf and disabled people, and added weight to the government's efforts to get the telecommunications industry to set up a relay service.
Other acknowledgements:
- Other individuals in Deaf community;
- Paul Swain
New Zealand Disability Strategy
Ensuring that disabled New Zealanders can fully participate in society is a key principle of the government's New Zealand Disability Strategy.
New Zealand Relay promotes a number of the strategy's objectives. It upholds and promotes the rights of disabled people, and supports the development of effective communication by them.
The significance of the service cannot be overestimated. That we have got to this point tells us that we have sown the seeds of a society that indeed highly values the lives of deaf people and those with hearing and speech impairments.
These are exciting times. Last week I launched the Advance Centre for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Tertiary students, the first of its kind in New Zealand. The centre aims to provide these students and tertiary education institutions in Auckland a "one stop shop" from which to access resources and services.
The New Zealand Sign Language Bill currently before Parliament is another monumental landmark. By making New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand's third official language, alongside Māori and English, our government recognises that Deaf people make up a distinct and dynamic cultural group of New Zealanders.
We recognise that New Zealand Sign Language is central to Deaf culture and is essential for effective daily communication and participation in society. And we acknowledge the efforts of the Deaf community once again to make their vision of an inclusive society into a reality.
Conclusion
In closing, I'd like to leave you with a quote from Alexander Bell. He said:
What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.
The achievement of the New Zealand Relay is something we can all be extremely proud of. It marks the end of a long struggle by many individuals and the Deaf community as a whole. You have known exactly what you want and you have been fully determined not to quit until you find it.
Congratulations. Your efforts have paid off. And now it is my great pleasure to launch New Zealand Relay, and to call on David and Chris from Sprint Relay to help me make the inaugural calls.
Thank you.