Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
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Mojo set to make history - politics - national | Stuff.co.nz
She's named after the Muddy Waters song "Got My Mojo Working" but she's never heard the blues classic.
Mojo Mathers is poised to become New Zealand's first deaf MP.
The Christchurch-based mother of three is number 14 on the Greens' party list and its candidate for Christchurch East.
The latest Fairfax Media-Research International poll released today puts support for the Greens on 12 per cent.
That would give the party 15 seats in Parliament, taking Mathers with them.
The 45-year-old was born profoundly deaf after oxygen was cut to her as newborn baby during a difficult birth.
A lip reader, she explains having the unusual name of Mojo has helped her because it is easy for her to pick up when people are talking about her or trying to get her attention.
A mathematics and conservation ecology graduate, her interest in politics was piqued when she moved to Coalgate, a small village in the foothills of the Canterbury plains.
A large dam was being planned at her back door to help covert the local area into intensive dairy farming which would have impacted on the local community.
Mathers became their spokeswoman and managed to stop the dam being built.
She admits going into the debating chamber would be a "big thing".
"I'll probably need a combination of electronic note taking, which basically they already do with the Hansard (Parliament's official record).
"So I would need some sort of laptop or screen coming directly to me at the desk.
There would be some situations in Parliament where she would also need a sign language interpreter.
Sign language is New Zealand's third official language and for several years there have been interpreters in Te Reo; the second official language.
"I was not brought up with sign language, I was brought up oral, but in the last four years I have found it very useful for some situations."
Mathers said she was also aware of the importance of having sign language in Parliament to enable the wider deaf community to access political debate.
The National Foundation for the Deaf estimates there are more than 700,000 deaf and hearing impaired people in New Zealand.
It's the third time Mathers has stood for the Greens but with the party polling at record levels, this election she has a real chance of getting into Parliament.
"There's been a real excitment from the deaf community.
"They know that quite often real change for a community doesn't happen until there is direct political representation for them."
She's named after the Muddy Waters song "Got My Mojo Working" but she's never heard the blues classic.
Mojo Mathers is poised to become New Zealand's first deaf MP.
The Christchurch-based mother of three is number 14 on the Greens' party list and its candidate for Christchurch East.
The latest Fairfax Media-Research International poll released today puts support for the Greens on 12 per cent.
That would give the party 15 seats in Parliament, taking Mathers with them.
The 45-year-old was born profoundly deaf after oxygen was cut to her as newborn baby during a difficult birth.
A lip reader, she explains having the unusual name of Mojo has helped her because it is easy for her to pick up when people are talking about her or trying to get her attention.
A mathematics and conservation ecology graduate, her interest in politics was piqued when she moved to Coalgate, a small village in the foothills of the Canterbury plains.
A large dam was being planned at her back door to help covert the local area into intensive dairy farming which would have impacted on the local community.
Mathers became their spokeswoman and managed to stop the dam being built.
She admits going into the debating chamber would be a "big thing".
"I'll probably need a combination of electronic note taking, which basically they already do with the Hansard (Parliament's official record).
"So I would need some sort of laptop or screen coming directly to me at the desk.
There would be some situations in Parliament where she would also need a sign language interpreter.
Sign language is New Zealand's third official language and for several years there have been interpreters in Te Reo; the second official language.
"I was not brought up with sign language, I was brought up oral, but in the last four years I have found it very useful for some situations."
Mathers said she was also aware of the importance of having sign language in Parliament to enable the wider deaf community to access political debate.
The National Foundation for the Deaf estimates there are more than 700,000 deaf and hearing impaired people in New Zealand.
It's the third time Mathers has stood for the Greens but with the party polling at record levels, this election she has a real chance of getting into Parliament.
"There's been a real excitment from the deaf community.
"They know that quite often real change for a community doesn't happen until there is direct political representation for them."