Nicolette Boele (Bradfield, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Soaring fuel costs are affecting Australians everywhere. Homes and businesses across my electorate are struggling, and some of our most valuable frontline community services are under real threat.

Every week, the Village Chef in Turramurra, our local Meals on Wheels service, cooks and delivers fresh meals to around 950 clients. On top of that, 2,000 more meals go to partner services and aged-care homes weekly. This financial year alone, they've delivered nearly 90,000 meals direct to homes. This service runs on hard work and goodwill. They have 30 paid staff and 500 volunteers. The volunteers are reimbursed just $10 per meal delivery run, even when those runs are long and use up a lot of fuel. In the last two weeks, some volunteers have started cancelling shifts. We don't know why exactly, but we can make an educated guess. And it's not only volunteers feeling the pressure. Suppliers are now adding fuel charges to every delivery of fresh food—that's bread, meat and vegetables—and at least one supplier is increasing costs by nearly 10 per cent. Another is adding a flat fee to every single invoice.

The Village Chef is working hard to adapt to this new situation. They're looking at changes to ordering cycles, storage and supply chains, while trying not to compromise on the freshness and the quality of the meals that they provide to their clients. Hundreds of people in my electorate depend on this service. Let's not lose sight of the very real human impacts—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Solomon has the call.