By Debbie Ward, National Disability Leadership Advisor, CCS Disability Action
Published 23 October 2026
CCS Disability Action and the Disability Resource Centre (DRC) hosted two ‘Meet the Candidates’ evenings in Hawke's Bay this week. Both were pitched to the disability community and both were well attended, mostly by disabled people and whānau.
I came away encouraged by some things and troubled by others.
What was encouraging
The turnout at both events was great. Disabled people and whānau showed up in numbers, asked hard questions, and refused to let candidates stay in the abstract. In Hastings one person asked whether Members of Parliament receive any disability-related training or induction when they enter Parliament.
Every candidate on the panel – across all parties – said no. One suggested it might make a good Private Member's Bill for the next Parliament. Every person there acknowledged that MPs enter Parliament with no formal grounding in the barriers disabled people face, the legislation that governs our lives, or the community they are asked to represent. Nobody in the room seemed surprised.
It was the most honest moment of both evenings.
The events were accessible, moderation was steady, and candidates were available for one-on-one conversations during breaks and afterwards.
Where candidates struggled
Across both evenings, the same pattern showed up: aspirational commitments with the specifics left out. Several candidates named housing as a priority but didn't say how many accessible homes their policies would produce. One party pledged to create a large number of new jobs, with nothing said about how disabled people would be protected from discrimination when applying for them. Support worker pay rises were promised by more than one party, with no mention of whether the contracted amounts paid to providers would rise to match.
These are important details as they're the difference between a policy and a promise.
Transport came up in both towns. One candidate's response focused on roading investment and a new four-lane expressway between Hastings and Napier. Roads matter but a new highway doesn't help a disabled person who can't get on a bus. Or who pays $80 to $100 each way for a taxi or mobility vehicle, even with the Total Mobility subsidy applied. Transport access for disabled people isn't infrastructure in the road-building sense. It's whether you can get to work, to a medical appointment, to your community.
The Opportunity Party candidate told us their party doesn't have a disability policy. Instead, they have a disability position statement. It's a deliberate choice, she said, because they want to keep engaging with the disability community throughout their term if elected. I understand the intention. But a position statement doesn't tell a disabled person what a government will do or by when. It asks them to keep waiting and keep trusting. The disability community has a lot of experience with that.
What disabled people in Hawke's Bay are asking for
The questions from the floor across both evenings were more grounded than some of the answers they received. People asked about housing that meets universal design standards. About what the Disability Support Services system will actually look like. About transport that works for them. About whether they'll have a genuine say in decisions that affect their lives, or whether consultation will again come after the decisions are already made.
One exchange in Hastings has stayed with me. The conversation had turned, as it often does, to economic growth as the framework for everything. One candidate pushed back: “People are the economy.” She’s right. Disabled people make up around 17% of our population. Many of us want to work, to start businesses, to spend our earnings in our communities. The barriers that stop us from doing those things aren’t just a problem for disabled people. They’re a loss for everyone. Removing them isn’t charity. It’s what a functioning economy actually requires.
I want to acknowledge all the candidates who came to these evenings. I hope it was as informative for them as it was for those in the audience.
Napier – candidates who attended
Ikaroa-Rāwhiti electorate:
Haley Maxwell – Te Pāti Māori
Heather Te Au-Skipworth – Green Party
Napier electorate:
Katie Nimon – National
Te Kira Lawrance – New Zealand First
Roy Boonen – Green Party
Alex Hedley – Labour
The Act candidate for Napier was invited but did not attend.
Hastings – candidates who attended
Ikaroa-Rāwhiti electorate:
Heather Te Au-Skipworth – Green Party
Tukituki candidate:
Catherine Wedd – National
Roy Boonen (standing in for Mark Longworth) – Green Party
Dan Scott – Labour
Rachel Ward – Opportunity Party
The Act candidate and the New Zealand First candidate for Tukituki were invited but did not attend.