Kath O'Driscoll, Lismore
On September 23, 100 people attended a "Karaoke against the cuts" protest against the NSW Labor government's "reforms" to disability services. The action was part of a state-wide protest, which included rallies on September 22 in Wollongong, Armidale and Port Macquarie. In Sydney, 3000 people protested outside state parliament.
The reforms include millions of dollars of cuts to the Adult Training, Learning and Support (ATLAS) program and programs for school-leavers with disabilities.
"The new funding levels set by the NSW government are just too low — they're trying to force people back into group settings, rather than concentrating on meeting an individual's goals", Perry Libeau from RED Inc, one of the services organising the campaign along with Family Advocacy, told the Lismore rally.
According to Libeau, the cuts will mean that "people with a disability get less hours of support, putting pressure on carers and further isolating these young adults. The Carr government is wrong if it thinks that it just has to ride out the storm and people will give up. People with disabilities and their carers are not going to simply capitulate and give up the small gains they have made in recent years."
Young people with disabilities, their family friends and support workers denounced the cuts and sang pop classics such as "The First Cut is the Deepest" and "We're Not Gonna Take It".
Libeau said the protest was a healthy way for the young adults to advocate for themselves and that it left them all feeling empowered and "10 foot tall".
Matthew Wiggins, who has Down Syndrome, travelled from Lismore to Sydney with a group of young adults from the Northern Rivers, hoping to present NSW Premier Bob Carr with a heart that he and his friends made.
"Once he has a heart again we are sure he will change his mind about cutting our funding", Matthew said. "It's very important to fight back."
From Green Left Weekly, September 29, 2004.
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