A Rebecca White Labor Government will provide free, healthy lunches for all children in the state’s primary schools – improving kids’ wellbeing and saving families thousands of dollars a year.
Tasmanian families are drowning under the cost of living, and Labor’s free school lunches program will save families with two children up to $4,000 a year.
It will also take a massive load off parents’ shoulders – enabling them to kiss goodbye to lunchboxes and the dreaded morning routine of organising and packing food for the day.
We also know that two thirds of teachers have reported seeing students coming to school hungry. Labor’s free school lunches plan will support children’s development and learning, concentration levels, behaviour and school achievement.
The program will proceed in a staged rollout, with each stage of 20 schools to cost approximately $6 million per year.
Labor’s top priority is taking urgent action on the cost of living. Today’s announcement is another positive measure to support Tasmanians, and follows our commitments to:
- Ensure Tasmanians pay Tasmanian prices for Tasmanian power
- Expand access to affordable childcare so more parents can go to work and pay the bills
- Abolish unfair energy charges for renters and improve household energy efficiency
- Never impose the Liberals’ GP tax
It’s time for a better future and the only way to make that happen is to elect a Labor Government.
Fast facts: Labor’s plan for healthy school lunches
- A Labor Government will provide universal, free, healthy school lunches at every Tasmanian government primary school
- It will save two-children families up to $4,000 a year
- The program will roll out to all schools by 2030, with funding to be in addition to existing school budgets
Rebecca White MP
Tasmanian Labor Leader
Josh Willie MLC
Shadow Minister for Education and Early Years
