Michael Sukkar MP

COALITION COMMITS $50 MILLION TO FOOD CHARITY SERVICES

THE HON MICHAEL SUKKAR MP
Shadow Minister for Social Services
Shadow Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness
Manager of Opposition Business
Federal Member for Deakin

SENATOR DEAN SMITH
Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury
Liberal Senator for Western Australia

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

28 March 2025

COALITION COMMITS $50 MILLION TO FOOD CHARITY SERVICES

A Dutton Coalition Government will provide $50 million to help food charities, like Foodbank, SecondBite and OzHarvest, expand their services, including school breakfast programs, to support Australians struggling under Labor’s cost-of-living crisis.

This funding comprises:

• $20 million in the first year (2025-26), to provide immediate support to Australians in need, with $10 million for the three national food relief charities and $10 million for other charities providing food support; and
• $10 million each year from 2026 to 2029, to further support the three national food relief charities.

Under the Albanese Labor Government, Australians are experiencing the worst collapse in living standards in history. Real household disposable income has plummeted by 8 per cent, and the price of everything has soared by more than 10 per cent since the last election.

To put Labor’s cost-of-living crisis into perspective, nearly 2 million Australian households of all age groups and demographics have experienced severe food insecurity in the past 12 months; 30 per cent of households with mortgages and 46 per cent of renting households are being forced to skip meals just to keep a roof over their heads; and even working Australians can’t afford the basics, with more than half of the households seeking food relief having at least one person in paid employment.

As a result, Australia’s food relief sector has been calling on the Labor Government to provide an urgent and dramatic increase in funding to respond to the unprecedented levels of demand for food relief, including from Australians who have never previously relied on that support. However, the calls for funding have fallen on the Government’s deaf ears.

Unlike Labor, we have listened to the sector and know Australians need increased support now.

Only a Coalition has a plan to fix Labor’s cost-of-living crisis and get Australia back on track.

Ends