Premier Steven Miles reveals Labor’s $1.4bn free school lunch menu

Premier Steven Miles has unveiled what will feature on the lunchtime menu for primary school students next year if Labor is re-elected. How do you rate it? VOTE NOW

Steven Miles has revealed what will feature in Labor's $1.4bn free school lunch menu.

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Bolognese pasta, burgers and chow mein will feature in Labor’s $1.4bn free school lunch menu, but its unclear how many staff would need to be hired to deliver the service across the state.

Premier Steven Miles on Friday 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 a week from tomorrow.

Lunches have been calculated at $8 each, with the $1.4bn package to cover delivery and pay for additional staff to rollout however, the government does not know exactly how many staff it would need to hire to roll out the program.

“In some cases, that might mean initially outsourcing the production to a local Meals on

Wheels or a local cafe or another NGO, but I’m very confident that we can deliver meals right across the state,” Mr Miles said.

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

But pressed on exactly how many staff had been factored into the funding modelling, Mr Miles would only say it “will depend on the model” of delivery for each school.

The Premier taste tested the menu, which features rotating snack and meal options, with children at the Meals on Wheels facility in Cairns where he announced he would double annual funding for the charity service to $700,000 if elected.

Steven Miles's mock free school lunch menu.

Meals include a vegetable bolognese pasta, mini pizzas, fritters, quiche, beef chow mein noodles and a beef burger with cheese.

There are also a range of snacks, including selection of fruits, muffins and vegetables and dips.

Mr Miles said the draft menu had been designed by nutritionists from health and wellbeing Queensland, with all meals packed with fresh fruit and vegetables.

Premier Steven Miles cools up a storm at a Meals on Wheels in Cairns. Picture: Adam Head

“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,” he said.

“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.

“The feedback from the kids was really positive, too.”

Originally published as Premier Steven Miles reveals Labor’s $1.4bn free school lunch menu