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This year's federal election will set a new precedent, with two blind Labor candidates preselected to run in the seats of Higgins and Kooyong in Victoria.
Vision Australia manager Tony Clark was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when he was 19. He has been chosen to run for the seat of Higgins, and Steven Hurd, who became blind due to rubella when he was six months old, has also been chosen to run for Labor in the seat of Kooyong.
The pair face political and logistical challenges in the leadup to the election, but believe their preselections will lead the way for people with disabilities to be represented in Parliament.
Tony Clark has already helped other blind people by helping to pioneer electronic voting, giving blind people the chance to cast a secret ballot for the first time.
‘If you think about it, there are about one in five Australians that have a disability, but how many parliamentarians can you think of who have a disability? The answer will come up pretty close to zip,’, Mr Clark said.
Visit The Age website (external link) for a full article on Tony and Steven.
Vision Australia manager Tony Clark was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when he was 19. He has been chosen to run for the seat of Higgins, and Steven Hurd, who became blind due to rubella when he was six months old, has also been chosen to run for Labor in the seat of Kooyong.
The pair face political and logistical challenges in the leadup to the election, but believe their preselections will lead the way for people with disabilities to be represented in Parliament.
Tony Clark has already helped other blind people by helping to pioneer electronic voting, giving blind people the chance to cast a secret ballot for the first time.
‘If you think about it, there are about one in five Australians that have a disability, but how many parliamentarians can you think of who have a disability? The answer will come up pretty close to zip,’, Mr Clark said.
Visit The Age website (external link) for a full article on Tony and Steven.
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