Thursday, 14 November 2024

Committees

Legal and Social Issues Committee

Inquiry into Food Security in Victoria

Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (09:37): Pursuant to standing order 23.22, I table a report from the inquiry into food security in Victoria, including an appendix, extracts of proceedings and a minority support, from the Legal and Social Issues Committee, and I present the transcripts of evidence. I move:

That the transcripts of evidence be tabled and the report be published.

Motion agreed to.

Trung LUU: I move:

That the Council take note of the report.

One of the worst impacts of the recent rise in the cost of living has been the parallel rise in food insecurity. In Victoria we have witnessed an increase in both the number of people accessing food from relief services and the volume of food being distributed by these services throughout the community. The committee heard that there are many factors contributing to food insecurity. The rising price of food is the most obvious, and we present data that shows this. The problem does not exist in isolation though. Food prices must be considered in the context of the inflation seen in other essential services, including energy and housing. Unfortunately for many Victorians the challenges caused by this rise in the cost of living have occurred at the same time as they have experienced critical financial stressors like unemployment, wage stagnation and inadequate income support.

Food insecurity has a dramatic impact on individuals and families. Throughout this inquiry the committee heard how a lack of access to adequate, nutritious and culturally appropriate food negatively impacts both physical and mental health. Some Victorians are also experiencing social isolation, withdrawing from activities due to financial constraints and the unwarranted stigma associated with hardship. That is why it is imperative for government to act. The committee acknowledged that the power in this area largely lies in the hands of the Commonwealth. This includes how corporations and competition are regulated as well as the level of income support provided to both jobseekers and those on the age pension. Accordingly, the committee has recommended the Victorian government advocate for an increase in federal income support in trying to break the link between poverty and food insecurity.

However, the Victorian government also has the capability to act. For example, it can look at increasing support for food relief agencies and those schools providing help to their students who are turning up to school hungry. The committee also believes that the government should establish a Victorian food security strategy, including appointing a minister for food. This would help to shift the Victorian approach to food security from a focus on relief to building resilience. The committee acknowledges that this is a complex and ambitious goal but believes that such an approach would best position Victoria to be able to meet our immediate and long-term food security needs.

I would like to thank the individuals and organisations who made submissions to this inquiry and spoke with us at our public hearings. The evidence you provided was both enlightening and brave in helping the committee understand this issue and identify potential solutions.

I would also like to thank my fellow committee members for their hard work and cooperation throughout this inquiry, the third inquiry that we have finished this year. Finally, can I please thank the very hardworking committee secretariat: Julie Barnes, Adeel Siddiqi, Caitlin Connally and Patrick O’Brien. I commend this report to the house.

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (09:41): I rise to speak as a member of the Legal and Social Issues Committee on the report into food security in Victoria. It was a really important inquiry that the committee undertook, dealing with an incredibly pressing issue for so many Victorians – that is, how to put food on the kitchen table. We heard some pretty devastating stories of people who were unable for a range of reasons to properly and adequately feed themselves and their families.

The committee heard of the work that is being done by some really spectacular food relief organisations in the charitable sector, helping provide food relief. There is some important work that the state government has been doing through our food relief programs to provide support to those food relief organisations but also the support that the state government has been providing through the school breakfast clubs program, which is providing an important and nutritious meal at the start of the day for schoolchildren. They are some actions that the state has taken to improve those efforts.

The committee also heard that there are broader pressures and broader issues across the economy in terms of the way that the supermarket system and competition in the supermarket system are hurting price competition for food, and that is a contributor to food insecurity. But fundamentally the committee heard that poverty is the biggest driver of food insecurity in the country and the alleviation of poverty is the way to deal with the underlying drivers and causes of food insecurity. The committee made a series of recommendations about measures that the nation should take – that it calls on the Commonwealth to take – to improve income support, to support wages growth and job security and to set up measures to better understand the drivers of poverty in this country.

I want to thank my fellow members of the committee for the collegiate way the inquiry was undertaken and obviously the incredibly hardworking committee staff, who are doing a power of work on parliamentary inquiries for Legislative Council committees at the moment.

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:43): I would like to begin by thanking the secretariat and all the staff who work so hard compiling these reports, ensuring the inquiry runs smoothly and that the experiences of what is going on out in the community are given a platform, speaking truth to power.

People have been telling us for months and months they are struggling to afford food at the supermarket check-out, and access to food is becoming more difficult for people as they face this cost-of-living crisis. The inquiry heard from people in the community experiencing poverty and hardship, food relief organisations, government departments, experts, key bodies and even Coles and Woolworths themselves. We covered a lot of ground in this inquiry with respect to policy. Clear recommendations are there that should in principle act as a starting point for government to recognise that there is a crisis of food affordability facing the community, recognise food as a human right and explore potential penalties to deter the wastage of food along the supply chain.

The inquiry has also recommended the adoption of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation Food Policies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (FoodPATH) report as a means of supporting First Nations communities with policies and resources to advance their goals and aspirations for food sovereignty. That report includes recommendations for government such as removing GST from fresh food and banning junk food marketing in all its forms, including unhealthy sports sponsorship.

However, despite the intention of the inquiry being to look at options to lower the cost of food, the report being tabled today has a duopoly-sized hole in its recommendations.

Labor and the Liberals have teamed up to block recommendations to address supermarket price gouging in the report, deflecting any accountability despite the inquiry hearing resounding evidence that governments should be doing more to intervene. People can look at the back of the report to see recorded votes on suggested recommendations that would hold Coles and Woolworths accountable and can see for themselves Labor and Liberal members teaming up to block these proposals that would make food affordable. Why would Coles and Woolworths ever lower their prices when Labor and the Liberals are giving them a free pass? I think people will be pretty disappointed despite all the evidence that Labor and the Liberals have teamed up to throw away this opportunity to finally do something about supermarkets price gouging.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:45): I rise to share some brief comments on this important report that the Legal and Social Issues Committee has undertaken on the inquiry into food security in Victoria. At the outset I would also like to acknowledge the as ever extremely hard work of our secretariat, notably Patrick O’Brien, who was ably supported by Julie Barnes, Caitlin Connally and Adeel Siddiqi. I would also like to acknowledge fellow committee members and indeed our chair Mr Luu.

It was a very, very important topical inquiry, as other members have outlined, in light of the cost-of-living challenges that Victorians are facing, and we did hear from a range of stakeholders from industry to government to affected people and, most importantly, as well – I think others would agree – food relief organisations. We heard from some very, very impressive groups, including Eat Up Australia, amongst others. Indeed we also heard about the impact of what it means to be providing free school breakfasts to all primary school students across Victoria, which is a program that this government has been rolling out across all government public schools, which is a terrific thing to see. It is a terrific thing to see the impact that is having on young Victorians.

We did hear from a range of witnesses, including the major retailers, who were extremely supportive indeed of backing in the Premier’s announcement earlier this year of introducing tougher penalties for those people who violently and aggressively assault frontline retail workers. We know that we have challenges that people have with cost of living, but there is no excuse for taking that out on the hardworking staff that stock the shelves, that man the checkouts and that otherwise serve customers. It was good to see unanimous support for what is a very strong union campaign by the SDA, which has been backed in by this state government, and to see that backed in by those retailers as well. I am very much looking forward to seeing those laws come into effect.

Motion agreed to.