People pay to shut councillors up

People pay to shut councillors up

Wellington City councillors, renowned for their verbal spats, were staying strangely quiet this morning.

As part of Shut Up Day, run by the Deaf Association of New Zealand, Mayor Mark Blumsky and councillors were reduced to talking in sign language between 8am and midday. Mr Blumsky said yesterday it was about time councillors shut up and at the same time earned money for a good cause.

“Though I do find this extraordinary, it’s possible [that] some people might be tired of hearing myself and the councillors rabbiting on.”

It wouldn’t be easy, he said. “For a normal person keeping silent is easy, but for a councillor it is practically impossible. I have someone sponsoring me $50 an hour. I think he does not believe he has to fork out $200.”

Council spokeswoman Trina Saffioti said that to help councillors stay quiet on Shut Up Day, the association gave pointers on using sign language.

Councillors practised using sign language to understand the difficulties deaf people faced, watched silent films, and took part in a sign language quiz.

Laughing was allowed and councillors could “speak” for one minute every hour, she said. People could sponsor councillors $10 an hour to keep quiet, or make a donation at Wellington City Council, PO Box 2199, Wellington.

Photo Captions: SIGNING UP – Cr Mary Varnham and Mayor Mark Blumsky practice ‘talking’ in sign language on Shut Up Day to raise funds for the Deaf Association of New Zealand.

Can you help?

NZSL story – Taonga source: Tony Walton

From New Lynn to Avondale: A Necessary Move

Tony served as President of the New Zealand Association of the Deaf from 1999 to 2003. At the time, the focus was on supporting Deaf youth – not relocating. But when asbestos was discovered in the ceiling of the New Lynn building, with removal costs estimated at $600,000, a major decision had to be made. With support from a funder willing to underwrite the risk, the building was sold and a new location was secured. The Avondale office officially opened in November 1999.

NZSL story – Taonga source: Tony Walton

Tony Walton on Building a More Accessible Deaf Aotearoa

Tony reflects on his involvement with the New Zealand Association of the Deaf (now Deaf Aotearoa). In 1989, during the World Deaf Games, New Zealand had only two or three qualified NZSL interpreters – a serious shortage. NZDSA was strongly sign-based, while the NZAD board leaned more oral. After the Games, Tony joined NZAD as a delegate to learn how it worked, eventually becoming President. His focus was on Deaf youth, leading to the creation of Friends of Young Deaf (FYD), better Māori engagement and involvement with more NZSL interpreters. One key goal was to have 13 interpreters nationwide, giving every major town and city access. Interpreter pay and access were limited back then – very different from today.

No one has been tagged in this article. Can you identify anyone? Click here.

Taonga source:

Wellington Deaf Society

Reference number:

SignDNA – Deaf National Archive New Zealand, A2000-003

Bibliographic source:

Unknown, 2000

Author:

Bernie Napp

Copyright status:

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Note:

This item has been transcribed and/or OCR post-corrected. It also has been compressed and/or edited.

If you liked this, you might also like...

article – Taonga source: Taranaki Daily News

Lobbying pays off for deaf community

Three years of lobbying for more support has finally borne fruit for the Taranaki deaf community. An office of the Deaf Association opened in New Plymouth this week, to provide needs assessment, information and some interpretation services for deaf people.

article – Taonga source: Wellington Deaf Society

Job Advertisement: Sign Language Interpreter

Applications are invited for the above position based in the Wellington Welfare Office for the Deaf. Interpreting work will include areas such as welfare, court, political meetings, medical, etc. Application giving full curriculum vitae and a VHS video tape of yourself of no less than 15 minutes presented in sign language.

Wellington Deaf Society

article – Taonga source: The Press

Deaf field officer for Christchurch

A field officer for the deaf, Mr David Chilwell, a former president of the Christchurch Deaf Club, has been appointed in Christchurch as a result of a grant from the Lottery Funds Board.

article – Taonga source: The Dominion

Job advertisement: Field officer for the deaf – Wellington

A job advertisement for a field officer for the deaf in Wellington, a resourceful person experienced in Social Work to assist deaf clients and carry out liaison and information work on matters relating to deafness.

publication – Taonga source: St Dominic’s Catholic Deaf Centre

Ephpheta: Easter 1983 (Vol. 6, No. 1)

St Dominic’s Catholic Deaf Centre

video – Taonga source: Attitude Pictures

Using sign language as a family

The Fergusons are an average family of five who have fun, sometimes fight but mostly get along. The main difference is that three of them are deaf, and NZSL is the first language for the whole family. How does this work in a busy household with two teens and a toddler? We spend a few days with the Fergusons and discover it works remarkably well. Especially for the eldest Zoe who is exploring advocating for New Zealand deaf youth.

Attitude Pictures

article – Taonga source: The Press.

Deaf community was home for Margaret Coutts

An obituary on Margaret Coutts who was "the mother of deaf sports", an active leader and strong positive role-model to younger members of the Deaf community. She was the first female president of the Christchurch Deaf Club, and was awarded a NZ Commemoration Medal for her contributions in 1990.

The Press.

article – Taonga source: AID Magazine

Deaf field officers – their disability is their qualification

In the past 18 months, the NZAD has opened field offices in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, and hopes soon to establish two more in Nelson and Dunedin.

article – Taonga source: The Dominion

Deaf worker soon calms the nerves

Wellington has a new worker among the deaf. Pat Dugdale, profoundly deaf, has been made field officer by the New Zealand Association of the Deaf. Her job is to provide personal social service help and to liaise with organisations, welfare agencies, commercial institutions and lawyers on behalf of the deaf.

article – Taonga source: Unknown

Silent Communication

Week in, week out, Linda's hands flutter expressively about events from the spectrum of human existence: funerals, trade union meetings, church services, antenatal classes, court cases, visits to doctor and lawyer.