Margo Kingston calls David an archivist. She started publishing his Queensland Weekly blogs on No Fibs<\/a><\/em> about 12 months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cDavid is a real time, seven day a week Queensland politics twitter reporter, daily archivist, and weekly reflector,\u201d Margo told me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Meeting David<\/strong><\/p>\n I first became aware of David on Twitter when I was covering my local electorate for No Fibs<\/em> in 2013. While David\u2019s interests are much broader than mine, they often intersected and occasionally we would share or retweet posts, but we had not met and knew nothing about each other.<\/p>\n It was Margo Kingston who suggested we should meet. David agreed, in principle at least, but explained that as he cares for a disabled son, getting out can be difficult. I didn\u2019t contact David again until the Griffith by-election in February 2014 but nothing came of that either. So I started to think that David may be a little aloof, or that he was just not interested in catching up. I lost interest.<\/p>\n David\u2019s tweeting became even more abundant during the Queensland state election, and he came to my attention once more, and again Margo suggested we meet.<\/p>\n This time David was able to get away, and we squeezed in a meeting at a local cafe during my lunch hour.<\/p>\n David took me by surprise. He is quietly spoken, but passionate and single-minded. I found that I liked him when I had not expected to. Moreover, his story moved me. I decided then that I should write about him.<\/p>\n We met again over another lunch just after the election of the Palaszczuk Government in Queensland, and at the end of a prolific period of tweeting for David.<\/p>\n Becoming an Activitist<\/strong><\/p>\n David and his family were not particularly engaged with politics. His father, a NSW citrus farmer, was a National Party voter, and as is often the case in rural towns, the family and David, followed suit.<\/p>\n The 2012 landslide victory of Campbell Newman\u2019s government should have been cause for celebration in the Marler family. David told me that there were undeniably high expectations that Campbell Newman would do something different.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBut he did the opposite,\u201d David said. \u201cThat triggered something in me and it was particularly to do with my son.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n David\u2019s son Jaden is 12 years old. He was born with the 1p36 deletion syndrome, a condition that results in severe intellectual disability. He can\u2019t walk, talk, or feed himself, and is in need of constant support. David and his partner Tanya Dennis are his full-time carers. Their lives revolve around feeding, changing, and settling Jaden, and taking him to his endless round of medical appointments.<\/p>\n Jaden\u2019s frequent waking and occasional seizures mean that someone has to be in the room with him while he sleeps: David and Tanya alternate this nightly task.<\/p>\n There is limited respite. Jaden attends a Special Education unit for about five hours each weekday and a carer sleeps over one night each week. Having a sleep-in carer allows Tanya to have a night off, but David needs to stay at home because he is the only person strong enough to lift Jaden.<\/p>\n It came as a gradual realisation to David that with the birth of Jaden his previous life and plans had changed completely.<\/p>\n All parents, David said, expect to watch and participate as their child grows and develops. While an abled child would be walking, talking and running over the same period, Jaden\u2019s key achievements have been few and slow in coming: he can now pick up objects, sit up, and drink through a straw. He communicates his needs through the changing pitch of his vocalisations.<\/p>\n David admits to frustrations over the years but says he has learned to align his expectations with Jaden\u2019s capacities, and he accepts their daily routines as normal.<\/p>\n National Disability Insurance Scheme The NDIS, David told me, finally brought the issue of disabilities to the forefront of policy discussions. Families dealing with disability embraced the scheme when Julia Gillard announced it in 2012, but many were frustrated by the responses from State Governments.<\/p>\n David said that in those early days all they were hoping was for was the Newman government to implement a NDIS launch site.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have mattered whether it had been in Cairns or Townsville or Ipswich,\u201d David said, \u201cIt would have given families hope.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But by April 2012 disability support groups felt compelled to hold a rally in Brisbane demanding Queensland government support for NDIS.<\/p>\n Jaden\u2019s story featured in a December 2012 New Ltd article <\/a>that detailed promised funding to the NDIS of $1.77 billion by 2018. David and others considered the promised funding disappointing particularly as any expansion of the funding was to be contingent on future state finances.<\/p>\n #qldpol<\/a> #auspol<\/a> #Newmania<\/a> A short film by me in tribute to the PServants who supported my #NDIS<\/a> push in 2012: – http:\/\/t.co\/8Eso91Qf<\/a><\/p>\n — David Marler (@Qldaah) December 23, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"6LdbNzGZ\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/6LdbNzGZ-300x300.jpeg?resize=252%2C252\")
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\nDavid\u2019s political engagement started through his interactions with other carers and eventually, as a campaigner for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).<\/p>\n\n