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I'm posting this partially to acknowledge progress and to thank all who made it happen, but also to encourage those who get discouraged and think that one individual can't change anything big.
In 2018, I received my Census code in the mail. I'm totally blind and had difficulty performing OCR on the code, so I asked the Census Help Line if I could have the code texted to me. They first said that would be fine, but then said they couldn't do it for "security reasons" a standard phrase that is often used to fob people off.
After I issued a media release, being interviewed by several. media organisations and the Minister being asked to comment, a senior official from Statistics NZ actually came to our house on a Sunday afternoon to read me my code, which was absurd.
I started a Parliamentary petition. I appeared before a Select Committee. The Committee was sympathetic. I got a personal apology from the Minister sent to me as an inaccessible PDF image so they had to send it a second time. But in the end, I got a commitment that yes, blind people count and this debacle would never happen again.
Here we are in 2023 and its census time again. This year, I went to the fully accessible website, completed a fully accessible form to get my code texted to me, and have now completed the fully accessible form. I know this wouldn't have happened had I not taken a stand.
So when you think you can't change things for the better, please don't sell yourself short. Each of us have the ability, and I maintain we have the duty, to make good change in the world.
Thank you to all those involved in Government at all levels for getting it so right this time.