Background
Martin was born in Whanganui, New Zealand.
Martin was born in Whanganui, New Zealand.
He is a candidate for election to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the 2017–2020 term. A difficult birth resulted in a brain injury. As a baby he was sent to Kimberley Mental Deficiency Colony (later renamed the Kimberley Centre).
Apart from brief periods living with his family and a failed attempt at fostering, Martin spent his childhood in institutions as a ward of the state.
These institutions included Lake Alice Hospital (a psychiatric hospital) and Campbell Park School. In his biography, Martin describes inhumane conditions and abuse in these institutions which he would later campaign to close.
In 1972 Martin was released from care and returned to Whanganui. Over several years Martin lived and worked in the care of Immunohistochemistry New Zealand, an advocacy and care organisation for people with intellectual disabilities in New Zealand.
During this period Martin began educating himself, often through books he stole.
He became involved in activities to break down barriers for people with learning disabilities, including protests and non co-operation with carers. He organised a strike of intellectually disabled farm-workers. By the time he was in his mid-twenties Martin was playing a leading role in the disability rights organisation People First.
He held office at regional and national level and in 1993 traveled to Canada to represent New Zealand at a People First conference.
Shortly after this Martin participated in the writing of "The Beliefs, Values, and Principles of Self-Advocacy". In the mid-nineties Martin was appointed to the staff of Immunohistochemistry as a traveling advocate in New Zealand.
His role was to promote self-advocacy among people with disabilities and to build public understanding that would enable the movement of people with intellectual disabilities from institutions into the community. Martin also traveled overseas extensively for Inclusion International promoting self-advocacy.
He became a council member of Inclusion International and in 2003 was appointed Inclusion International’s representative on the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee "to consider proposals for a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities." Foreign a period Martin was the only person with a learning disability involved in the United Nations proceedings, he participated particularly in discussions around the status of families (Preamble X of the Convention) and the right of people with disabilities to live in the community (Article 19).
