Protests from disability activists Ramp Up at Your ABC On Monday June 30th at 12.30pm the disability community will be outside ABC offices in Melbourne to protest against the closure of the disability site, ABC RampUp. The disability community across Australia has also taken to social media, posting selfies with their mouths taped closed in protest against the closure. Ramp Up was created in 2010 to give a greater voice to the 20% of Australians who live with a disability, as well as their families and supporters. Edited by outspoken comedian and disability advocate Stella Young, the site has been embraced by the disability community for its fearless and intelligent reporting of disability matters and for its commissioning of opinion pieces that offered fresh and challenging viewpoints from a disability perspective. “For too long disabled people in this country have been ignored and patronized”, said Ramp Up contributor and advocate Dr George Taleporos. “Ramp Up went some way towards giving disabled people a voice and allowing our viewpoint to be heard.” Ramp Up has been a place where we can speak back to the ways in which the mainstream media reduces our lives to stereotypes. It also provided a platform our perspective prospective on important social policy issues such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Now, more than ever, PWD need to have a space to heard, and to raise and discuss issues in the mainstream - Ramp Up was that space. Ramp Up was making the motto of the disability rights movement, nothing about us without us, a reality. Having Ramp Up hosted as part of the ABC brought real vibrancy to disability discourse in this country over the past three years and it’s hard to believe that all this will end today.” The ABC is blaming the government for the closure because the funding for Ramp Up was cut in this years budget. The government is blaming the ABC for not incorporating the website into their core operations, which according to the government is the commitment that the ABC made. In the meantime people with disabilities are, once again, caught in the middle. Regardless of whose fault it is, it is no longer My ABC. Protest details: Ramp Up contributors and supporters will stage a protest outside the ABC Southbank building at 12.30pm on Monday June 30 Online protests can be viewed on Facebook at facebook/saveabcrampup and on Twitter under #saveabcrampup.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 23:04:36 +0000
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