The Greens say all school kids should be given free lunches from the federal budget. Photo: James Coleman.
The Greens have pledged to use their influence in a minority government to get free meals for kids in schools right across Australia.
The crossbench party has released an $11.6 billion four-year plan, costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, that would see every public school funded to provide nutritious lunches every school day to every student.
Announcing the policy on Tuesday (15 April), Greens leader Adam Bandt said the estimated figure amounts to less than the budget currently spends on fossil fuel subsidies.
“In a wealthy country like ours, no kids should go to school hungry,” he said.
“Peter Dutton wants free lunches for CEOs, the Greens want free lunches for school kids.
“Under Labor and Liberal, one in three big corporations pays no tax while parents struggle with the cost of living.
“The Greens will tax big corporations and billionaires so kids can get free lunch at school.
“If you’re worried about the cost of living, we can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result.”
The Greens have also committed to a budget investment of $85 million annually to expand existing free breakfast programs in schools across the country.
The free meals push was announced in the Brisbane electorate of Griffith, currently held by Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather.
Since his election in 2022, the Greens’ electorate office there has served 40,000 free school meals across a weekly breakfast program in four public schools in the electorate, funded by Mr Chandler-Mather’s MP salary.
The Greens want to see that program expanded to include all public schools in Australia and be funded by the federal budget.
They say teachers in the Griffith electorate have reported that on days with free school breakfast, students are more focussed on learning and are better behaved.
They say the current pilot has been effective in alleviating pressures related to the cost of living, and the school meals have been shown to improve kids’ attendance, classroom attention, cognition, academic performance, social skills, nutrition, and overall health.
Mr Chandler-Mather said the meals are also a significant preventive action for youth crime, keeping vulnerable kids in school and out of the youth justice system.
“This is what politics should be about – leaders putting their money where their mouth is and making a difference in ordinary people’s lives,” he said.
“My team and I run a free school breakfast program for two reasons. The first is that while we fight for the changes we need in Canberra so that everyone has what they need to live a good life, we believe it’s important that we do everything we can to support people in their everyday lives in the here and now.
“The second is to demonstrate that if we can serve 40,000 free school meals out of just our electoral office and an MP’s salary, there’s no reason that the Federal Government couldn’t roll a program like this out right across the country.
“Since my election in 2022, we’ve built the program up into four local public schools and hope to grow with an additional two local schools before the end of the year.”
Greens education spokesperson Penny Allman-Payne said the boost for families would be funded by making big corporations pay their fair share of tax.
The Greens have previously announced a ‘Big Corporations Tax’ they say frees up $514 billion across the decade to help fund dental into Medicare, free and universal childcare and free school lunches.
“A universal program of school lunches in every public school will ease the cost-of-living burden on families, improve the health and well-being of our kids, and help level the playing field for our most disadvantaged students,” Senator Allman-Payne said.
“As a former teacher, I know that kids learn better on a full stomach. This will improve attention and behaviour in the classroom and enable kids to engage and get the most out of school.
“Imagine sending your child off to school each day knowing they’ll receive a nutritious lunch – one that you didn’t have to pay for and prepare each morning.
“Every child deserves a free, world-class public education, and that’s what the Greens are committed to delivering.”
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
