Search

Improving the availability of quality information about New Zealand’s disabled community will lead to better decision-making by government agencies, Statistics Minister Craig Foss and Disability Issues Minister Nicky Wagner say.

The Ministers today opened consultation on the development of a Disability Plan to ensure government agencies have the data necessary to make informed, evidence-based policy decisions.

Disability Issues Minister Nicky Wagner today departs to the United States to support New Zealand’s candidate for election to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, engage with international experts on the employment of disabled people, and discuss emerging international border security trends with Homeland Security.

Disability Issues and Customs Minister Nicky Wagner will tonight travel to Europe to address the 31st session of the Human Rights Council’s meeting on the rights of disabled people in Geneva, as well as meeting with Disability Issues and Customs counterparts in London and Brussels.

Ms Wagner will meet Justin Tomlinson, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People, and disability employment experts in London, as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on Disability, Catalina Devandas-Aguilar, in Geneva.

Disability Issues Minister and Customs Minister Nicky Wagner will travel tomorrow to the United States to attend the Conference of States Parties (COSP) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. COSP is the annual meeting for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD).

“New Zealand is considered a world leader in disability issues. The Conference of States Parties is the pre-eminent annual disability-related event, and is an opportunity to promote New Zealand’s achievements and discuss ideas on the world stage,” Ms Wagner says.

Customs Minister and Minister for Disability Issues Nicky Wagner will travel tomorrow to Australia to visit her counterparts and foster trans-Tasman cooperation across both portfolios.

“New Zealand Customs and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service enjoy a strong relationship and work collaboratively to ensure effective border management in both countries,” Ms Wagner says.