Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

With the cost of living dominating the current political discourse, it is not surprising that so many charity organisations are seeing a spike in the number of people who each day turn to them for help. Often, these are people who have never previously had to rely on charity to get by. According to Foodbank, Australia's largest charity food provider, 3.7 million households ran out of food in the last year. Foodbank's website states that, last year alone, it sourced enough food for over 92 million meals.

I therefore noted with interest the 2023 Salvation Army annual report, which highlighted the extraordinary level of community services provided across Australia by the Salvos. Those services included the provision of nearly $25 million of financial assistance, 1.2 million nights of accommodation, 1.63 million meals to people who accessed homelessness services, nearly 820,000 crisis beds to people who experienced homelessness, housing for 3,000-plus people, $8.3 million of financial assistance to those impacted by a disaster and assistance to 12,000-plus people with addiction. These services are in addition to regular church services—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:27 to 16:39

I was saying just before the division that these services are in addition to the regular church services, funerals, aged-care accommodation and financial counselling that's provided by the Salvos. As a visitor to the Salvation Army centres in my region, I see firsthand the many and valuable community services that all of those centres provide.

There are, of course, other not-for-profit organisations that are similarly helping individuals and whole families make ends meet by providing food, clothing and even cash to pay for household utility bills or other essential needs. Time doesn't permit me to acknowledge them all today, but only last week I attended the reopening of the upgraded Pathway Community Centre at Modbury North. The centre operates as an arm of the Clovercrest Baptist Church led by Pastor Mike Stevens. For years, it has provided food parcels, clothing, and financial counselling to people in need. The recent stage 1 upgrade was a direct response to the growing need for its services, with the centre now providing around 140 food parcels per day. Further upgrades to the centre are in the pipeline.

The Pathway Community Centre partners with other groups, churches and schools to distribute food beyond the store front and relies heavily on a band of committed volunteers. I want to give my sincere thanks to both the Salvos and the Pathway Community Centre teams for making a difference to people's lives. I often ask myself this question: what would we do without them and all of the other welfare charity groups?

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