Greens demand Labor commit to making all NSW beaches fully accessible

Less than 20 beaches in NSW currently offer accessible features. Today in Parliament, Abigail gave notice of a motion urging Labor to allocate funding to make all NSW beaches accessible to people of all abilities, neurodiversity, and ages.

Abigail said:

I give notice that on the next sitting day I will move:

(1) That this House affirms that all people of all abilities, neurodiversity and age deserve to enjoy the beaches that NSW has to offer, from the minute a person arrives at the beach, to the minute they get down into the water.

(2) That this House notes that:

right now, the vast majority of beaches across NSW are significantly inaccessible for many people, with less than 20 out of more than 890 beaches having accessible features;
according to analysis by Accessible Beaches Australia, less than 2% of the almost 12,000 beaches across Australia are accessible to people with disabilities and mobility challenges;
key elements of an accessible beach include accessible parking, wide clear pathways, ramps with handrails that are compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, beach matting, alternatives to matting, beach wheelchairs available for free hire, accessible bathrooms and change rooms, accessible showers and shade areas, accessible drinking water facilities, adequate and compliant signage, and sand and erosion management;
currently, the responsibility for funding beach accessibility lies solely on individual local councils and surf life saving clubs, with support from state and federal governments limited to small amounts of ad hoc general grants programs;
people across the community have advocated for the NSW Government to provide dedicated funding for beach accessibility to make all beaches fully accessible, including para surfing world champion Joel Taylor, community members and local councils;
several countries have significantly invested in making their beaches accessible, including Greece which has nearly 200 accessible beaches and a national plan to achieve full beach accessibility at all 287 of their beaches; and
investing in accessible beaches would significantly benefit not only those with mobility needs living in NSW, but would also serve to benefit tourists who visit NSW and wish to enjoy our beaches, as well as local businesses surrounding our coastal areas.

(3) That this House calls on the NSW Government to:

commit to provide dedicated funding for beach accessibility, to ensure that people of all abilities, neurodiversity and age can access NSW’s beaches; and
develop a staged plan in consultation with people with lived experience of mobility needs, disability advocates and peak organisations to make all NSW beaches fully accessible.

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

No matter who you are or what you do, everyone has the right to share in the wellbeing of our country.

But at the moment the essentials so many of us need – a place to call home, food on the table, and everyday essentials like electricity, internet, medicine and water – are simply out of reach.

Instead of supporting us, our government is choosing to prop up huge corporations with massive subsidies, and to give away our collective wealth through record tax cuts for the wealthy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to live paycheck to paycheck or trapped in the dehumanising bureaucracy of our existing welfare system.

Now, in the midst of a pandemic, and following quickly on the heels of the bushfire crisis, more of us than ever before are experiencing what it’s like to lose our jobs, be without a home, or worry about where the food for our next meal will come from.

It’s time for us to choose to prioritise the wellbeing of everyone.

And that’s exactly what the Universal Wellbeing Payment will do.

It’s a regular payment made to each of us to ensure our minimum standard of wellbeing. No means testing, no bureaucracy, no strings attached.

It’s the amount you’re owed simply for being a participant in our society.

It means you are free to live your life and contribute to society as you see fit, whether you’re a carer, an artist, a student, a parent, an entrepreneur – you can get on with what you need to do, knowing that you will always be supported regardless of your income.

It means that we’re choosing to structure our economy for the benefit of all of us, not using our collective wealth to prop up the interests of big business and the wealthy few.

It means you will always have what you need to live a good life, no matter what.

The Universal Wellbeing Payment is for everyone. Help us make it happen.

For more information, head to universalwellbeingpayment.com.au

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Greens demand Labor commit to making all NSW beaches fully accessible

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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