Just last week, the chief executive of Foodbank received a phone call telling her that federal government funding to her organisation would be cut almost in half.
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That’s $320,000 taken away from Foodbank with little notice.
And it comes just as the organisation prepares for Christmas and the extra need and stress that will come with it.
Every month, Foodbank feeds more than 700,000 Australians.
And this federal government funding provides the bedrock of its services and offerings.
Put simply, Foodbank is the link which connects the food industry’s surplus food and the welfare sector which provides it to Australians in need.
In providing this crucial link, Foodbank is Australia’s largest hunger relief organisation, providing approximately 67 million meals a year to more than 2400 charities and 1750 schools.
It helps hungry families, it provides meals for children at school, and it delivers food in the aftermath of bushfires and natural disasters.
Right now, Foodbank is distributing food parcels to those suffering from the drought. This cut puts all that at risk.
It was only earlier this year that Foodbank announced that, through a partnership with the Ballarat Foundation, it would establish regional Victoria’s first food distribution centre here in Ballarat.
This distribution centre will greatly expand the capacity of food relief charities and groups in Ballarat.
Everyone in Ballarat knows the good work that our food charities do in supporting those in need.
This distribution centre will make them even more effective in getting food, particular fresh fruit and veg, to those who need the community’s support.
Without this centre, of the 1.7 million tonnes of food that Foodbank distributed throughout regional Victoria last year, only 100,000 of that came through the Ballarat Grampians region.
This is in contrast with the Bendigo and the Loddon region, which received more than 500,000 tonnes of food.
This centre, and the expanded work of Foodbank, will help address that disparity and get more food to the struggling families of Ballarat.
According to a shocking report from Monash University and Ballarat Community Health that was released earlier this year, about 1 in 8 Ballarat residents experience food insecurity.
It is organisations such as Foodbank and the charities they work with that can and do address this need.
It is organisations such as Foodbank and the charities they work with that can and do address this need. For the Morrison government to slash funding for this organisation, which does so much good for so many, is nothing short of disgraceful.
For the Morrison government to slash funding for this organisation, which does so much good for so many, is nothing short of disgraceful.
It beggars belief that a federal government which for years was determined to give some $17 billion to the big banks cannot find $320,000 to give towards Australians in hunger.
As the Morrison government announces this cruel cut, the Ballarat community is uniting behind the Feed Ballarat Appeal and next weekend’s Run for a Cause, all raising funds for Foodbank’s new distribution centre in Ballarat.
We in the Ballarat community know how important Foodbank and the services it provides are.
We know how Foodbank helps those in need, and we know that it should be properly funded.
I am proud that soon after the government’s cruel cut was announced, Bill Shorten wrote to the Prime Minister calling on him to reverse his decision.
Ballarat and Labor both know that Foodbank needs this funding, and Labor will return this funding if it wins government.
The federal election won’t be until next year, though.
Scott Morrison and his government should immediately accept their mistake and reverse their cut urgently.
Catherine King is federal member for Ballarat and opposition spokeswoman for health and Medicare.
