Humanity Platform

 This year is drawing to a close and only one word can describe it:  unprecedented .  Every year I set myself an army of goals but in 2020 I quickly realised that I needed to adjust my expectations.  The first sign of the potential apocalypse this year was the Australian bushfires.  Just as the smoke had cleared came the first news of COVID-19 and the pandemic that would sweep the world.  I immediately jumped to calm leadership mode. I knew because of my disability I had to keep my family and myself safe but I also wanted to help those suffering. So I dramatically increased my social media presence posting uplifting messages.  I felt that just the pictures weren’t cutting through enough so I moved to Phase 2 of my plan which was to create a series of videos drawing on my life living with a disability and the lessons it has taught me.  To keep myself calm during the peak times of stress in the pandemic I turned to literature. I started 2020 by reading Ryan Holiday’s Ego is the Enemy and

 Celebrating International Day of People with a Disability is something I’ve been looking forward to for months because this year I have made it my mission to focus on great community leaders with a disability.  My social media feeds in 2020 are full of people I have decided to model myself after.  This all started when I learned about Amberley Synder, a kick arse rodeo cowgirl who hasn’t let her disability stop her. Apart from her awesomeness on the rodeo circuit her motivational speaking blew me away.  Then I started to hear about Kyle Maynard, a wrestler and MMA fighter with a disability. Kyle is proof that there is a fighter in all of us.  Then of course no list of great leaders with a disability would be complete without talking about my man Dylan Alcott who continues to smash it on the tennis court, in the media, and as an entrepreneur.  Being a poet, public speaker, political activist, and professional actor, I of course cannot forget the leaders with a disability that are killi

It is right that there has been an extraordinary focus on the coronavirus in 2020 but it is still important to pay attention to social justice.  Many governments around the world, including Australia, have been using the pandemic as cover to shift focus away from important social justice, humanitarian and environmental work. One glaring example of something our government has tried to get passed is the cut to the number of refugees we will accept each year just so they can save the budget 1.8 billion dollars.  This policy does not make any sense considering one of the key indicators for getting the country out of recession is population growth. We should be taking in more refugees not less.  This decision by the Morrison government is exacerbated by yet more cuts to foreign aid.  Social justice for refugees is something we must continue to fight for and if you have any doubt about this you should watch the ABC series Stateless. A story inspired by true events that took place in 2004 wh

When I started working with the Disability Services Commission (DSC) Capacity Building Team we had the daunting task of making complaints sexy and I believe we succeeded. I was very proud to be a part of such a unique organisation because Victoria was the first state in Australia to have a separate disability complaints body.  This allowed people with disability's voice to be separated from the crowd and amplified so we could be heard out loud.  The DSC and I were able to make people with disabilities and disability service providers see that complaints were a positive thing and not a negative.  It was incredibly gratifying to see the amount of complaints going up each year. I know that sounds weird to say but to me it meant people with disabilities were speaking up more.  The Disability Service Commission didn't just use pretty words, the culture within the office was also inclusive as a matter of fact for the first time in my life I felt truly equal with all my DSC colleagues

In my years as a disability sexuality advocate I have been taught the importance of making sure disabled people of all sexuality backgrounds are represented. This is what has made me a LGBT+ ally.  Every year I am asked to speak to disability organisations, universities, and more about the topic of sexuality; and although I do not know what it’s like to be a part of the LGBT+ community, my disability has given me an insight into some of the negativity around sexuality that exists in our society.  I have been told: 'How dare I be attracted to an able bodied woman? Shouldn’t I just stick to my own type?’  In my life I have had many friends with disabilities from the LGBT+ community and a number of them have been told that their disability has made things complicated enough, why would they want to add the extra complication of being gay on top of it?  Sexuality is not a choice. It is simply a fundamentally human instinct and disability or not we all deserve the right to express our se

This year's R U OK? Day is more important than ever before.  Mental health is something that should be talked about on a regular basis and with current statistics indicating that anxiety has increased up to 40 percent due to COVID-19.  Having someone check in is a simple way for us all to help each other.  On a personal note, I know that I have stopped a panic attack a day during the COVID-19 crisis thanks to the support of my family.  It is time we get rid of the stigma attached to mental health.  People don’t look at me funny when I take pain killers for my pain. So in my opinion the same curtesy should be extended to people seeking treatment for mental health conditions.  This R U OK? Day take the time to ask just one person if they are okay because you never know if you might be the person who helps them climb out of their snakes and ladders mind.  My Snakes and Ladders Mind How fast my thoughts make my head run until I think my brain might start to unwind. This is the beginnin

Victoria once again is a leading light in disability services with the establishment and opening of the Disability Worker Commission on the first of July 2020.  The Commission will receive and investigate complaints about disability workers.  VDWC will focus on complaints and breaches of disability standards and code of conduct by support staff while the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission focuses on complaints about disability service organisations and NDIS funded supports.  "People with a disability have a right to strong safeguards for services they rely on. That's why we're building a stronger, safer disability sector in Victoria." said Dan Stubbs, Victorian Disability Worker Commissioner.  In my thirty-seven plus years living with a disability I have seen, heard, and experienced the best and worst of disability care. In the current health crisis and with recent high profile abuse and neglect cases, it is more important than ever that people with disabilities ar

It has been interesting to watch the development of the pandemic and how people are reacting. This is definitely my generation being put to the test. Previous generations have dealt with the Vietnam War, the Depression, and World War II. In World War II in particular the world came together to defeat evil. After that test, the decade of the fifties was the most prosperous decade in years. I would like to think that the pandemic is teaching us the resilience, unity, and selflessness that past crises have taught previous generations. Marcus Aurelius once wrote something like this "it is the bees' job to swarm and make the honey, so too it is a human's job to make humanity better". In the past month, I have undergone a coronavirus test and, for the first time in my life, I am happy that something turned out negative. Getting to the testing centre however proved to be the biggest test of all. When I contacted the Covid-19 Hotline they told me that a taxi would not

The past few months there have been some horrifying incidents that affect the entire disability community. The tragic and unnecessary death of Ann-Marie Smith is a major indictment on disability care. Her situation should not occur in 2020 and the fact that the ironically named Integrity Care has only received a fine is just a disgrace. No matter how big the fine is it does not equal the price of Ann-Marie's life. Just as the disability community was coming to terms with one tragic death, the appalling neglect of little Willow Dunn came to light. Where were the agencies that were supposed to be protecting her? My anger reached boiling point when I read the story of the two Brisbane boys with Autism who were found locked in their house in filthy conditions despite neighbours reporting the neglect of the twins to authorities no action was taken. As a further demonstration of current attitudes towards people with disabilities, I was forced to add my voice to the outrage over t

This post is in memory of Ann-Marie Smith; a woman with cerebral palsy who tragically and unnecessarily died recently. May she rest in peace. I Cry and Am Not Heard Groups of people go out with binoculars in search for that one rare bird Yet I cry and am not heard. Causing pain with a cane was outlawed years ago Yet I feel the bite day and night.  My soul is not dirty but I wait and wait to be clean; You're standing right there but I am not heard or seen. I do not ask for much even though I miss human touch. All I need is what's fair, just one person to care. I hear you call me Ann-Marie Smith, I am not heard. I listen to you whisper Tessa but I am not heard. You shout Tony but I am not heard. I am many people with disabilities, I am not heard. How many times have people with disabilities been told, 'It's different than it was back then, it will never happen again'. It's 2020; you have a vision of understanding and care

Due to surgery I literally have metal in my spine but each day I mentally replace it with bamboo so I can be more flexible if something goes wrong. Having a disability means that a lot of things are physically out of my control. This gives me a unique perspective in times of crisis. This is what I have learnt. When I need to stay calm, I visualise myself travelling a dirt road with Jesus, Seneca, and a Zen monk because they say modelling behaviour is what you become. The green reed which bends with the wind is stronger than the mighty oak that breaks in the storm. ~ Confucius For me, even the simplest task can be a cause of frustration but instead of breaking and giving up I will stop, become one with the moment, breathe, and try again. This method has led to a simple success like opening my front door and my greatest success of opening night of a play. I have learnt these methods through an amalgamation of Christian, Stoic, and Zen traditions. If you are interested in f

I have a compulsion in my life that is I need to write poetry. People often ask me how do I stay so positive with the crap that goes on in my life? The answer; I turn it into poetry. When people read my poetry they hear the darkness of my soul but what they don't realise is that each word on the page punches some light even if it's the tiniest hole. There are many definitions of poetry but one I like best is language that shows your soul truth. With that in mind I encourage everyone to put their soul truth down on the page for UNESCO's World Poetry Day. Poetry in Pain Pain show me your poetry. Poetry show me the purpose of my disability. There is poetry somewhere in my tornado mind. If I just keep calm, the truth I will find. Wheelchair whisper poetic words or does my disability mean I will be forever taunted by the freedom of the birds.  Sometime my body is as rigid as plastic It is sarcastically fantastic when my muscles go spastic. When I

On screen and stage I have worked with some amazing leading ladies and in my real life my leading lady is my wife. I wasn't going to write a post of International Women's Day this year but three events shocked me enough to change my mind. First I went to see the movie Bombshell which depicts the sexual harassment culture that took place at FOX News. As I was watching it I felt incredibly uncomfortable because as a man with many female best friends, not to mention a stepdaughter, I wanted to scream at the screen "No woman should have to deal with that shit!". Second, I was shocked and horrified to hear about Hannah Clarke's murder and the subsequent response from Bettina Arndt. I know not all men are violent but when another woman attempts to brush violence under the rug it sends a bad message. There are no excuses for violence against women. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse my blood tipped over the boiling point when I learned about th

Valentine's Day is a day set aside for expressions of love and it has got me thinking if I was able to expand my love for my wife to the entire planet and everyone else did the same, then the world would be a better place. Every recognised religion has as its core tenant 'love thy neighbour'. Something we all would do well to remember. I have been thinking of writing this Valentine's Day blog since the end of last year and I was pleasantly surprised when Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar 2020 speech echoed my thoughts for this blog. If you haven't seen the speech yet, I highly recommend that you come back to this blog post after watching it. I was also inspired by Garth Brooks song 'People Loving People' which has as its premise putting love first; "the enemy of everything that is evil is people loving people". I have always had a secret obsession with cheesy romance movies and novels but now I think that it is time for me to invite Cupid's A

I was going to start the New Year setting out my 2020 vision but this plan has been blinded by the smoke. It frustrates me that the government had a report predicting an event like this year's fire season down to the very year and yet they are still trying to convince the public that this was an unforeseeable event. This report clearly states that the increasing effects of climate change correlate to the extended fire seasons and yet successive governments adamantly oppose the idea that worsening bushfires are due to the growing climate emergency. When are governments going to realise that letting our environment burn also leads to them having to burn their precious money? The Smoke Choke I go for a walk and cannot see in front of me.  Is it fog? Or is it smog that obscures the oncoming car? I never thought that bushfire smoke could travel so far. I had a clear 2020 vision but with all this smoke making my eyes sting, I cannot see a thing.  I try not to l