29/05/2026
Today's Budget makes disabled people's lives more restricted, harder to live in their own communities, and less visible to the rest of the country.
The Government is calling it a record investment. The numbers tell a different story β a Disability Allowance baseline in long-term decline, a one-off return of underspent money repackaged as a lift, community-based supports squeezed, and a quiet cut to the small ministry whose job is to advocate for disabled people inside Government.
26.9% of disabled children are already living in material hardship β more than double the rate for non-disabled children. The median disposable income for disabled households is $45,693, compared with $56,485 for households with no disabled people. Against that backdrop, this Budget makes ordinary community lives harder to live, not easier.
At CCS Disability Action we are sitting with whΔnau every week who are choosing between trips to medical appointments and trips to see family, between running essential equipment and heating the house, between food in the pantry and a school excursion for their child. These are kitchen-table decisions, made by people who are doing everything right and still falling behind.
π We are asking the Government for three things:
1. Lift the Disability Allowance in line with the actual cost of being disabled.
2. Rebalance Disability Support Services toward flexible, community-based supports.
3. Reverse the cut to Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People and resource it to do its job.
A country that narrows the lives of one in five of its people is a smaller country for all of us. We can choose differently.
π Read the full op-ed by our Chief Executive Mel Smith (link in comments).
β‘οΈ Share if you agree.
Image description: On a light green background is a circular photo of dollar bills. Underneath in green is the headline: Budget 2026 risks further isolating disabled people. Image has rounded corners, a white border, and the CCS Disability Action icon in the top left corner.
