Labor’s $8-a-day free lunch menu stacked up against supermarket prices

We’ve crunched the numbers on Labor’s $1.4bn free school lunch election pledge to see if the Premier’s $8-a-meal mock menu holds up under Queensland’s current supermarket prices.

Nicola McNamara and Mikaela Mulveney

3 min read

October 19, 2024 - 5:27PM

Premier Steven Miles tested out his free school lunch mock menu at Meals on Wheels in Cairns. Picture: Adam Head

QLD Votes

Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD Votes. Followed categories will be added to My News.

We’ve crunched the numbers on Labor’s $1.4bn free school lunch election pledge to see if the Premier’s $8-a-meal mock menu holds up under Queensland’s current supermarket prices.

Premier Steven Miles unveiled his new $1.4bn free school lunch menu this week, including spag bol, mini pizzas, and burgers.

Labor has promised to roll out their latest cost-of-living initiative across all state primary schools by Term 1, 2025 if Labor is re-elected next week.

With each lunch budgeted at $8, the program has been estimated to save parents $1600 per child each year.

We’ve crunched the numbers on Mr Miles’s mock menu, using current supermarket prices to put Labor’s $8-a-meal budget to the test.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FULL WEEK 1 BREAKDOWN

The mock menu includes one snack and one lunch item per day, with snacks including fresh fruit, muffins, and vegetables.

Proposed lunch items include burgers, wraps and sandwiches, along with pasta, noodles, and mini pizzas.

Premier Steven Miles has unveiled a mock menu for the free lunch initiative which would be rolled out to all state primary schools by Term 1, 2025 if Labor is elected. Source: Supplied.

Our price estimate for week one’s meal plan comes safely under budget each day of the week, with the combined cost of snacks and lunch items ranging from $3.35 to $5.70 a day.

The Courier Mail’s calculations may vary slightly from the actual cost, depending on variations in recipe and ingredients.

Mr Miles said the mock menu had been drafted by nutritionists from Health and Wellbeing Queensland.

“Parents will know all of the sneaky ways you can get your kids to eat veggies, and that’s embedded into these into these menus,” he said.

“A lot of it’s hidden away, so that spaghetti bolognese is actually full of veggies, that meat patty on the cheeseburger is full of veggies.”

Our total estimated cost of Mr Miles’s week one menu came to just under $24 a head for the week – cruising well under the $40-a-week allowed for.

But there remains some mystery as to how Labor’s $1.4bn package will cover costs of delivery and additional staff.

Premier Steven Miles campaigning at Meals on Wheels at Barlow Park in Cairns. Picture: Adam Head

“I think most of our schools would be capable of delivering meals like this now with additional staffing, and that’s built in, built into the costings,” Mr Miles said.

Mr Miles said some schools may initially outsource production to a local Meals on Wheels, cafe, or NGO.

He confirmed last Sunday that the funding forecast was calculated on the assumption of a 70 per cent take up rate by students.

Families will have the option of opting in for the program on select days or every day.

If all students opted in for the free lunch every school day, the program is estimated to cost more than $2bn.

Mr Miles has labelled the “investment in our state’s future” as the biggest reform to the state’s education system since prep was introduced in 2007.

“High food prices are one of the biggest pressures families tell me they’re under. And that means, right now, too many kids are going to school hungry,” he said.

“(This) will put money back in the pockets of Queensland parents and relieve pressure on parents on busy school nights.”

See the full week one meal breakdown:

MONDAY - $5.66 per serving

Snack:

Watermelon - $7.70 ($0.96 per serving)

Lunch:

Spag bol - $18.79 total (Serves 4, $4.7 per serving)