Food fight: Miles dismisses principals’ fears tuckshops can’t handle free lunches

The news

Labor’s $1.4 billion election pledge to give free lunches to every primary school student in Queensland has perplexed principals, who are concerned about the logistics of preparing and delivering the food.

Premier Steven Miles has promised to provide free school lunches to every state primary school student from next year if re-elected on October 26.

But Patrick Murphy, president of the Queensland Association of State School Principals,said he had fielded calls from principals concerned about the logistics of making healthy food, ensuring children’s allergy needs were met and respecting cultural sensitives.

“It’s a matter of how much time and energy does it take to effectively deliver this program, and ensuring that this doesn’t take away from the teaching and learning program of the school,” Murphy said.

He said the government should instead focus on funding all Queensland public schools to the minimum Student Resourcing Standard (SRS).

Why it matters

There are about half a million state schoolchildren in Queensland. About two in five Queensland families rely on school tuckshop at least once a week.

“There’s evidence from right around the world that feeding kids is one of the best things you can do for their learning, for their mental health, and to address obesity,” Miles said.

Labor has announced a $1.4 billion plan for free meals at Queensland public schools. Credit: davidf

According to Queensland Health, almost one third of children do not eat the recommended number of serves of fruit each day, and only 2.8 per cent eat the recommended daily serves of vegetables.

This year, the Queensland Council of Social Service reported more families were struggling to buy healthy food amid the cost-of-living crisis. And a survey by the Parents and Citizens’ Association showed that 16 per cent of Queensland families have at some point in the last 12 months run out of food, compared with the national figure of 4 per cent.

Finland, Sweden and Estonia are among countries where all students are provided with free lunch. In New Zealand, about 235,000 students get a free lunch at school through a government program.

Miles said his policy would also save parents $1600 a year per child.

What they said

Murphy said while the plan was feasible, it could be a drain on resources.

“The concerns our members have around the state is around the logistics … whether they’re in small remote schools ... or large schools in urban areas, they’re really concerned about how they’re going to possibly feed this number of children.”

But Miles said his plan was for “busy mums cobbling together lunches for their kids”, and for “the teachers who are dipping into their own pockets to make sure the kids in their class do get fed”.

The premier added the program was most important in remote schools “that have the most vulnerable and disadvantaged students”.

He and Education Minister Di Farmer joined a panel of experts to answer media questions about the policy at Queensland University of Technology’s Gardens Point campus on Monday morning.

FareShare Australia community and innovation director Fiona Maxwell said they had been asked to provide free lunches to Mornington Island State School.

“There is a direct correlation between school attendance and free lunch – ‘free lunch today, Miss? Yes, I’ll stick around’. Absolute connection,” she said.

Education Minister Di Farmer, Steven Miles and Diabetes Australia chief executive Justine Cain speak to media at QUT.Credit: Cameron Atfield

“And it’s not just turning up and attendance, it’s the nutrition implications of that ... that may well be the only healthy meal some of these kids get.”

Diabetes Australia chief executive Justine Cain said free healthy lunches could help stop the “epidemic” of the disease among Queensland youth.

Cain said children as young as five were being diagnosed with type two diabetes, some of whom would be at risk of losing limbs. “We have to arrest these numbers, and we have to make changes.”

QUT Professor Danielle Gallegos said the universality of the policy would help ensure the “povvo” stigma around free lunches would be kept at bay.

Pasi Sahlberg, a Finnish educator and University of Melbourne professor who has advocated for free school lunches in Australia, has previously estimated the cost of healthy lunches could be as much as $8 per student per day.

“Why it’s not done yet is something difficult for me to understand. I come from Finland ... where we have had healthy school meals since 1943,” he said while speaking on a similar free-lunches pitch from the Victorian Liberals in 2022.

Another point of view

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli dubbed the initiative the “borrow for burgers” scheme and questioned why key education bodies were not consulted prior to its announcement.

P&Cs Queensland surveyed parents in late 2023 and found about one in three Queensland families suffered some degree of food insecurity.

Food-insecure parents were about four times more likely to agree or strongly agree that a school-provided breakfast would be of great assistance, and about three times more likely to agree or strongly agree that a school-provided lunch would be of great assistance.

P&Cs Queensland chair Donagh Freestun said parents were paying up to $4700 each child in school-related expenses – including student resource scheme fees, uniforms and books packs – and should have a say on where any extra government funding should be spent.

“The free lunch initiative acknowledges a problem, [but] we believe the funding would be better distributed across all state school students, allowing parents to target things they need most,” Freestun said.

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