Disabled shafted yet again in S.A

[PhilG]

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[Squawk]

Sojourner - what did you make of the state budget - was the allocation appropriate and directed to areas of greatest need?

[Sojourner]

Hi Squawk,

What the budget did was help people get grants to purchase or replace equipment. New modern wheelchairs, widening of doors in houses things of that nature. Was wrapt to see the State Government making those grants as it will help a number of people.

I would like to see two main things happen further, one being the putting of buses on the OBahn that are able to take passengers in a Wheelchair, currently there is not any way that a wheelchair can be put on an OBahn bus. The problem with waiting for an ordinary bus is that it is Russian Roulette as only 53% of the bus fleet are able to take Wheelchairs. Even if you could get into the city, there is no garantee of getting the same bus back again.

The other are that needs attention is the Access Cab Service, currently you have all the same problems that are happening in the cab industry, yet ther are not enough access cabs, so even when cabs are booked for a set time there is no garantee that they will turn up. It is not uncommon for someone to have a 10am appointment which they have to wait several months for and for the cab to be booked at 8:30 am and it doesnt turn up, all the cab companies can really say is that they dont own the cabs they are sub-contractors, so there is little they can do about it. - I would solve the problem by having the impressions hire car company be given a contract to run the access cabs and have their drivers paid with an hourly wage and a job sheet rather than the current contractor situation.

I think that the budget was a good one for the Disabled all in all, I think that it is thanks primarally to ex Glenelg Footballer David Holst and the work that he has done setting up the Dignity for the Disabled Party. I am hoping that he has enough support behind him that the major parties realise that they have to do the right thing in order to get DFD preferencing.

Still I dont think the folks that work and promote public education in S.A are to wrapped up in the budget though!..........

[Diddy]

I just read the title of this topic and immediately thought of this guy. Sometimes I don't like myself.

[redden whites]

Brilliant Diddy