Protest growing against Govt's disability cost-cutting bill

Protest growing against Govt's disability cost-cutting bill

From The Hoon by Bernard Hickey

June 9, 2026 · 15 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the growing protest against the New Zealand Government's Disability Support Services Bill with guest Victoria Coleman, a carer and advocate.

This evening I spoke with I spoke with Victoria Coleman about the Disability Support Services Bill , which will gazump a court ruling that parents working as carers are full-time employees of the Government. Victoria works full time as a carer for her son, who has autism, Down Syndrome and two rare bowell disorders. She is campaigning against the Bill and has launched a petition against the bill. “It will wipe out 40 families’ court cases. They are extinguishing live court cases They have used that as a smokescreen for an almighty power grab. So they’ve gone, we’ve got this massive fiscal risk, let’s wipe that out, but let’s also grab all the power we can get over these vulnerable people.” Victoria Coleman Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thekaka.substack.com/subscribe

People in this episode

Host: Bernard Hickey

Guest: Victoria Coleman

Topics covered

  • disability rights
  • government policy
  • advocacy
  • court cases
  • carers
  • autism
  • Down Syndrome

Keywords

  • disability support
  • cost-cutting bill
  • court ruling
  • carers
  • petition
  • advocacy
  • autism
  • Down Syndrome

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Government

Places: New Zealand

More episodes of The Hoon

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Hoon podcast page.