Seeflow

Do Deaf votes count? Yes!

Your vote is a powerful thing. We are all equal in one simple way – we each have a vote, and it is a powerful thing. It’s time to speak up, how? Vote at the election.

The 2014 General Election is taking place on Saturday 20 September, so make sure you remember to vote!

The General Election is your opportunity to have a say on who you want to run New Zealand for the next three years. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain for the next three years! Painful!

At the General Election, you have two votes – a party vote, where you vote for a political party which gets included in a nationwide percentage; and the electorate vote, where you vote for a standing candidate in your electorate to represent your area.

You can vote from anywhere in New Zealand, but if you will be outside your electorate on Election Day, you can vote beforehand.

For more information on the 2014 General Election and getting ready, head to the Electoral Commission’s website. There are plenty of great resources in NZSL. The Electoral Commission have done a great job of starting to make sure the information you need is in NZSL, including their ‘Your vote is a powerful thing’ campaign. View in NZSL!

A TV commercial made with everyday Kiwis, talking about voting – In NZSL:

So no excuses, use your power and vote on September 20th!

Health information in NZSL!

Do you know there’s a great New Zealand website full of free information to help you and the people you care about stay well, and even better, it now contains NZSL translations!

HealthEd, which is run by the Health Promotion Agency and the Ministry of Health, has a large range of resources on various health topics; some of which are now available in New Zealand Sign Language, such as:

Immunise your child on time explains the benefits of immunising your children against disease. View in NZSL!

Ageing Well – is information about health issues relating to how the body changes as we get older, and some tips for making this easier. View in NZSL!

BreastScreen – explains the process of screening for breast cancer, how it works and what to do. View in NZSL!

Time to Quit – if you smoke and want to quit then this resource is for you! It contains all the facts you need to know about smoking and how to get support to quit for good. View in NZSL!

Prostate Cancer – there are two separate resources explaining what prostate cancer is, what symptoms to looks for so you can catch it early, and what the treatments can be. View in NZSL – quick guide or View in NZSL – more information.

Tattoos and piercings – if you’re thinking about getting a tattoo or a body piercing then this is important information about how to make sure the process is safe and healthy and what you want to do. View in NZSL!

The HealthEd website includes a welcome video in NZSL explaining how to find the NZSL resources. Just look for the NZSL symbol to find out more.

HealthEd is the place to find NZSL information to help you and those you care about to stay well!

Auckland’s Unitary Plan

The vision for Auckland is to become the world’s most liveable city, and to turn that vision into reality, the Unitary Plan has been drafted for proposal.

The proposal covers things such as explaining what type of houses can be built where, and what the maximum heights are for particular zones. It offers consistency, as it replaces the current 13 district and regional plans into one single plan.

Auckland Council is dedicated to make this Plan as accessible as possible, including NZSL, making it easy for Deaf people to participate.

They also have translated two factsheets into NZSL, for the Kelston and Middlemore areas.

NZ Disability Strategy Implementation

Towards an inclusive and non-disabling New Zealand

In December 2013, the Minister for Disability Issues published her annual report on the implementation of the NZ Disability Strategy.

This report looks back at what happened during 2013 in New Zealand with regards to implementing the NZ Disability Strategy.

Several aspects are covered, ranging from living in the community to raising awareness, from supporting & empowering disabled Pasifika and Maori to the Christchurch Rebuild. There is also mention of services that benefit the Deaf community, such as Video Remote Interpreting (VRI), plus the Government’s establishment of a working party to ensure children using NZSL have access to the educational curriculum.

For the first time, the Minister’s report is accessible in a variety of formats, including NZSL, and Easy Read.

And, the Minister has laid a challenge for you all, for 2014! To find out what her challenge is, take a look at the report.

2013 Citizens Initiated Referendum

This year between 22 November and 13 December, New Zealanders get to vote in a Citizens Initiated Referendum.

We get to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on this question: “Do you support the Government selling up to 49% of Meridian Energy, Mighty River Power, Genesis Power, Solid Energy and Air New Zealand?” 

Your voting paper will be sent to you in the mail, so you must be sure that you are enrolled and your address details are correct. You can only vote if you are enrolled before voting starts on 22 November.

Further information on the referendum in NZSL can be found on the Electoral Commission website.