Thursday, 12 September 2024

 Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (10:05): You might find it strange for a bloke to get up to talk about milk banks, but this is a very important topic for the health of our future generations. Let us step back. Evidence shows that breastmilk is best for babies, ahead of formula, for a whole range of health, growth and immunological reasons. The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, a minimum of one year breastfeeding and optimally two years breastfeeding.

Many women breastfeed either directly or via express. However, not all women can breastfeed or sufficiently breastfeed. That often means in many cases that formula is the only choice. In other cases mothers express more than they need for their own baby or babies, either throwing it away or storing it in the freezer, often not knowing what to do with it. That happened with my own wife Grace and our first daughter Yasmin.

My colleague David Davis in the other place did a great job in government setting up a milk bank in Victoria, but it has since had insufficient investment and rollout across Victoria under this state Labor government. I recently had the opportunity to join David and others to see Israel’s milk bank. It is amazing and should be replicated here in Victoria and indeed across Australia. If we do so, we will resolve the situation where women may need access to breastmilk or may have an excess that they can donate, which will help the health of future generations.