Peter Dutton visits Feed Me’s Ocean Grove headquarters to highlight cost of living crisis

The Liberal leader used his voice on Tuesday to talk about the cost of living, not the upcoming referendum.

Feed Me chief executive Lana Purcell and Peter Dutton speak with volunteers at the organisation's Ocean Grove headquarters.

Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton used a visit to an Ocean Grove food relief organisation to highlight cost of living pressures, as a new report showed energy bills in Geelong and the Bellarine had spiked significantly.

Flanked by Senator Sarah Henderson, Mr Dutton spoke at length on Tuesday with Feed Me chief executive Lana Purcell and board chair Glenn Mills.

The visit coincided with the release of St Vincent de Paul Society’s tariff tracker report, which showed the average annual energy bill for dual-fuel households in the region had jumped $775 to $4140.

Mr Dutton’s focus on economic issues forms part of a concerted effort by the Liberals to promote a narrative of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese being preoccupied with the Voice referendum while everyday Australians battle spiralling costs.

“There’s a lot that’s going on in the national debate at the moment, but there’s no more important message for the Prime Minister to hear than families who are struggling, pensioners who are struggling, people who are unemployed,” Mr Dutton said.

“There are a lot of Australians who are working at the moment probably more hours than they ever have, but they still can’t balance their budget, they still can’t afford to pay their bills.

“And they’re the families I want the Prime Minister to be focusing on because I think at the moment the Prime Minister’s focus is elsewhere and it’s not on families and businesses who are most in need.”

Across its Ocean Grove, Torquay and Geelong operations and aided by 530 volunteers, Feed Me delivers food and produce to more than 2000 families each week.

An additional 2000 people visit Feed Me weekly to collect goods.

Ms Purcell, who founded the organisation in 2019, said there had been a noticeable shift over the past year in the demographic of people seeking assistance.

“We’re seeing people who have never needed to ask for help or rely on an organisation before because they might be employed, they might have a house and a car – not your stereotypical person needing relief or any help,” she said.

“But because of the cost of living, they’re pinching with money, saving anything to help feed their kids, to pay their bills.

“The type of people coming to us are different now.”

Senator Sarah Henderson and Liberal leader Peter Dutton lend a hand at Feed Me’s Ocean Grove base.

Asked to respond to Mr Dutton’s comments, the Prime Minister’s media team pointed to comments he made on Tuesday regarding an increase to Centrelink payments for 5.5 million people.

“A range of payments that kicks in in the next 24 hours and this will make a real difference to people,” Mr Albanese said.

Senator Henderson praised the work of Feed Me, which was promised $4m in funding if the Liberals were re-elected at last year’s federal election.

The Victorian Liberals also pledged $1m for Feed Me ahead of the state election.

“There’s no doubt that Victorians and Australians are doing it very, very tough – so many people are demanding the services of wonderful organisations like this,” Senator Henderson said.

Originally published as Peter Dutton visits Feed Me’s Ocean Grove headquarters to highlight cost of living crisis