Improve food security and nutrition through expanded access to emergency food relief and initiatives to increase community food resilience.
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27%
Increase in the number of households experiencing food insecurity in the past year. Source: Foodbank (2023), Hunger Report 2023
TasCOSS’s election asks:
- Increased and sustainable funding for the School Lunch Program.
- Review the level of demand for emergency food relief and fund the investment required to support emergency food relief agencies to meet demand.
- Legislate minimum dietary standards for food relief.
The information in the table below is gleaned from candidate and party responses and policy announcements during the campaign. Neither the Liberal or Labor parties chose to formerly respond to TasCOSS’s election platform, however we conducted our own analysis of their publicly available policies. Our election tracker is provided as a guide to inform members, and we encourage you to undertake your own research on candidate and party policy positions. All candidate and party responses received are available in full here:
- Tasmanian Greens
- Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN)
- Kristie Johnston MP (IND, Clark)
- David O’Byrne MP (IND, Franklin)
- John Tucker MP (IND, Lyons)
- Sue Hickey (IND, Clark)
- Tamar Cordover (IND, Franklin)
- Greg (Tubby) Quinn (IND, Bass)
| Party | Headline Announcement(s) | Source/Further Information |
|---|---|---|
| Funding the School Lunch Program | Liberal — $14.6 million to double school lunches program to 60 schools, including upgrades to school kitchens, canteens and additional staff Labor — Free school lunches at every government primary school by 2030 Greens — Provide funding to assist public schools to deliver breakfast programs Kristie Johnston — Supports expansion and ongoing funding for the School Lunches Program David O’Byrne — Supports an increase in funding the School Lunches Program JLN — School lunches should be free or subsidised Tamar Cordover — Supports a fully-funded school food program | Liberal policy Labor policy Greens policy JLN election website TasCOSS election platform responses |
| Increased investment in food relief to meet demand | Liberal — $1 million increase to emergency food relief funding, $200,000 to develop a Food Relief to Resilience strategy, $5 million for capital upgrades and $720,000 for statewide food vans Labor — $1 million for emergency food relief and review of Food Relief to Resilience Strategy and action plan, and funding for the Loaves and Fishes Food Procurement and Social Wholesaler Project Greens — $3 million per year for food relief programs, $2 million for five food hubs and $1.75 million per year for Neighborhood Houses Tasmania (NHT) to support food security programs Kristie Johnston — Supports a review of emergency food relief and increased funding to meet demand David O’Byrne — Supports an increase in funding and overhaul of emergency food relief Sue Hickey — Supports measures to improve food security Tamar Cordover — Supports measures to improve food security | Liberal policy Labor policy Greens policy TasCOSS election platform responses |
| Legislate minimum dietary standards for food relief | Liberal — No commitment announced Labor — No commitment announced Greens — No commitment announced Kristie Johnston — Supports legislating for minimum dietary standards for food relief Tamar Cordover — Supports legislating for minimum dietary standards for food relief | TasCOSS election platform responses |
Check out a rundown of commitments in a different policy area: