State Member for Wallsend, Ms Sonia Hornery MP, will today move a Notice of Motion in the NSW Parliament, calling on the Premier to work with her to address food insecurity issues in the Wallsend electorate.
In a recent report, it was revealed that in the last 12 months, more than 4 million Australians (18% of the population) have been uncertain where their next meal is coming from due to cost of living pressures and underemployment.
Currently one in seven children go to school without the most important meal of the day, breakfast, and teachers estimate that the average student loses more than two hours a day of learning time when they come to school hungry.
Ms Hornery will be asking the Premier to work with her to address this growing crisis.
Quotes attributable to Member for Wallsend, Sonia Hornery
“With basic necessities becoming more and more expensive, it is tragic to see the increasing number of local residents falling into food insecurity.”
“Many are forced to make difficult decisions around whether to “heat or eat” and two in five local residents have not paid bills in order to have enough money to buy food.”
“Hunger in our area is reaching crisis point, and the fact that young people and children are particularly vulnerable is not acceptable.”
“Increasing housing costs and rents have forced people to the fringes of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, to be able to afford to live, but with that comes additional costs of getting to work.”
“Petrol prices have skyrocketed and with changes to public transport it is now more expensive and takes much longer to get to and from work, which adds extra child care or OOSH costs to the family budget.”
“I will be asking the Premier to work with me to address this growing crisis.”