Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Meals on Wheels runs six centres in Moreton Bay, four of which are in my electorate of Longman, situated in Burpengary, Woodford, Caboolture and Bribie Island. This trusted organisation receives government funding at both the state and the federal level. The Queensland state government provides a flat rate of funding of $42,000 per annum, which works out at $5.79 per meal—which obviously decreases per meal as their client base expands—and the federal government provides funding of $10.77 per meal. To give an idea of the enormity of the work Meals on Wheels do in the Moreton Bay region, they provided 124,009 meals in the 2023-24 year. That's around 476 meals per day, and the demand keeps growing. Unfortunately, the state and federal government funding only covered the cost of 115,376 meals, which meant that extra funding for almost 9,000 meals had to be found.

But the question is: how do Meals on Wheels fund these extra meals that they provide? I'm glad you asked, Speaker! First, they do outside catering, which they managed to double last financial year, and they also receive donations. Their hardworking and diligent staff often donate many hours at no cost, and their dedicated general manager, Wendy Smith, does her best to control costs—costs that, like those of every other household, business and organisation around the country, have skyrocketed under the current government. Money simply isn't going as far as it used to. Employee costs have risen by $180,000 in the past 12 months, water costs have doubled, and electricity costs have risen by over 75 per cent, or $24,000 in real terms. In the interests of fairness, I want to acknowledge that federal funding has increased as well in that period, but simply not by enough. The raw costs of the produce have increased from $658,102 to $823,386. The bottom line is that the small increase in funding is simply well short of covering the massive increase in costs.

What does this mean practically? Well, it means that tough decisions have to be made so that this wonderful, well-respected community organisation will continue to provide its much-needed services to so many in the community of Longman. I'm sad to report that three staff will lose their jobs this week. Recipients will incur a 50c increase in meals. With the average customer receiving five meals per week, this will add another $130 per year to their budget this year. Worse still, if they can't afford that, they will simply have to skip meals and at times go hungry. From September, Meals on Wheels will no longer be operating on Mondays in Moreton Bay. That's right: they're closing every Monday.

What is the latest federal and state government response to this dilemma? Meals on Wheels received the news that, as of 1 August, funding was frozen and they would no longer receive additional federal funding for any new clients, in a cost-of-living crisis. Go figure! I spoke to Wendy, and she said they received requests from 47 new clients for meals in just the first two days of this month. Under this Labor government's decision to freeze funding for meals, these people will be given the news that Meals on Wheels can't help them. Where do these clients come from? Many are referred to Meals on Wheels by aged-care workers. Many are referred from hospital when they are discharged. So this most vulnerable cohort are being neglected due to this decision to freeze Meals on Wheels funding. It's a disgrace in a cost-of-living crisis.

So what are the solutions? First, Meals on Wheels need both state and federal governments to increase funding to at least cover the crazy homegrown inflation we have endured over the past two years and the increased demand due to more people experiencing harder times. Meals on Wheels are doing their part and trying to save costs as well. Their solution, which I fully support, is to build one megakitchen that will do the cooking for all six centres in the Moreton Bay region I've mentioned, as well as some of the centres on the Sunshine Coast. In effect, this one kitchen would do the meals for at least 10 centres, and the existing centres would become distribution points only, not meal preparation facilities. This means having to pay the costs for running, maintaining and powering one kitchen, not 10. It makes great economic sense, and I commend Wendy for her vision on how to supply more of these much-needed, lower-cost, nutritious meals.

It's not only the physical support that Meals on Wheels offers. For many recipients, the friendly Meals on Wheels volunteer delivery driver is the only person they may have contact with, and we must at all costs ensure this vital service continues.