Thursday, 2 April 2026

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:09): This morning I had the opportunity, along with the Minister for Carers and Volunteers, to visit SecondBite in Abbotsford, where my Labor government announced a $2.6 million package of support for food relief agencies across the state. While were there we met with incredible volunteers who have been giving their time there for years, and they told us that they have not seen demand like they have seen in recent weeks ever before. They also said the demand is coming from people who you would not normally see come to food relief agencies. It is people in full-time work. It is families. It is workers. There is the tradie who turned up for the first time because the fuel that he needs to put in his vehicle is eating up a third of his wage, meaning he has to turn to food relief agencies just to put a meal on his table. That is because what we are seeing as a result of Donald Trump’s war in Iran is putting huge pressure on families and households around the state. They are paying for this. That is why this support that we have put in place today is immediate support going to those food relief agencies.

We know food relief is a temporary measure. We also know of other measures like the support I have given and we have signed off as part of that state and territory agreement process that we have achieved today following our meeting earlier this morning. The two key objectives are a nationally consistent approach and further reducing the excise on fuel through the application of the state’s GST processes. That is what has been achieved today, and it comes in a week where we have delivered free public transport for the month of April – temporary, targeted, immediate relief – and food relief so people can get the support they need. That is the work we will continue to do as households face real pressure.