Senator Dean Smith
Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury
Liberal Senator for Western Australia
TRANSCRIPT – INTERVIEW WITH OLIVER PETERSON, 6PR MORNINGS
TOPICS: Food Donation Tax Incentive Bill; Labor’s approach to charities
E&OE
OLIVER PETERSON:
A lot of the food relief charities are looking for more help and assistance, particularly this time of year as we go into Christmas with Meals on Wheels, for example, struggling to keep up with demand due to the cost-of-living crisis. Well, something was put forward by my next guest in the Australian Parliament, a Private Senator’s Bill, which was going to offer tax offsets for expenses incurred through donations to food relief charities. It’s been rejected. WA Liberal Senator Dean Smith can tell you all.
DEAN SMITH:
Good afternoon to you, Ollie.
OLIVER PETERSON:
What did you put forward, Dean?
DEAN SMITH:
What I put forward, and which has been agreed to by the Coalition, is a sensible, practical idea that would provide much needed food relief to many households across our state that are suffering from cost-of-living pressures. We know that there are about 2 million, or 19 percent, of Australian households that are currently experiencing food insecurity. That’s at a time when there’s 7.6 million tonnes of food being dumped every year. So, my idea, in the form of a Private Senator’s Bill, is to provide a tax incentive so that primary producers and other producers of foodstuffs can provide that surplus food to food relief charities like FoodBank, Ozharvest, SecondBite and others, and get a tax incentive to do that. We know that there is tremendous amount of food surplus in our country, and what is stopping people from being able to provide that surplus food to food charities is the cost of doing that. So, this was a proposition that would provide, in my mind, a modest tax incentive to primary producers, our farmers, to food manufacturers, to help them shift that food surplus into food charities at a time of very critical need. So, I was hugely surprised today when it was revealed that Anthony Albanese has turned his back on what is a very sensible, practical idea, abandoned vulnerable households and made it harder for food relief charities like FoodBank and others. At a time when they’re telling me and telling many other parliamentarians that demand for their services is higher than it’s ever been.
OLIVER PETERSON:
Didn’t the Standing Committee on Agriculture recommend something similar to that of yours which you put forward, Senator?
DEAN SMITH:
Very good point. So, my Private Senator’s Bill has been contained, has been recommended in two other parliamentary inquiries. So, what we call the House Agricultural Committee, which is dominated by Labor House of Representatives members, actually endorsed this idea in one of their reports last year. The Senate Select Committee on the Cost of Living, its report was released today. It’s also endorsed this idea. And then the Senate Economics Committee, the Coalition, no surprises, has endorsed the idea in the Senate Economics Committee report that was released today as well. But Labor in the report decided to turn their back on what is a very practical, sensible idea. We are approaching Christmas. Unfortunately, the cost-of-living crisis is going to continue for WA families into the new year and as I think you’ve said, Ollie, this is an idea that is supported by many organisations. Up to 60 significant organisations across our country. Like I said, endorsed by FoodBank, endorsed by Ozharvest, endorsed by Second Bite, endorsed by AusVeg, endorsed by the Australian Trucking Association. So, people would be very disappointed that the Government has decided to turn their back on what’s a very sensible idea.
OLIVER PETERSON:
So, the food relief sector is on board with that. I believe there were some concerns raised about the possibility of the major supermarkets using that tax incentive. Is, that perhaps a reason, Senator, as to why they’ve decided not to endorse it?
DEAN SMITH:
No, I’d say that is Labor playing politics over good policy. It has always been the intention of this Bill to make it ineligible for Woolworths and Coles and others to be able to participate in this programme. Woolworths and Coles and the big grocers have said to me, Senator Smith, we do our own programmes we don’t need this programme, and we wouldn’t participate in this programme. But to be doubly cautious, Ollie, to be doubly cautious, I’m going to amend the Bill to make sure that they are absolutely locked out of this. So, when Labor says oh, well, you know, Senator Smith is making it easier for Coles and Woolworths, that’s Labor playing politics. And I think Australians will be able to see through that.
OLIVER PETERSON:
Is that what it’s come down to though overall? Just the politics in it, because it’s an idea that’s come from you as opposed to them. Is that why they’re not backing it in?
DEAN SMITH:
I wouldn’t be surprised if they get closer to the election, perhaps Labor might put their hand up and say, actually, this is a good idea. We’re going to rebrand it. We’re going to introduce it ourselves. Now, if that happens, the winners of that will be food relief charities like FoodBank and others. And we would absolutely endorse anyone taking this idea up. It’s not even a new idea. The food relief charities have been walking the corridors of Parliament in Canberra for years. No one took any notice of them. When they came to meet me about a year ago, I thought, this is a good idea. I can’t understand why people haven’t championed it. So I turned it into a Bill and I’m going to use my energy, my sort of political effort to really push it through the Parliament, because as you know, as all of you listeners know, life has got very difficult for people, extremely difficult. More and more people are going to food relief charities looking for support. I’ve been out to food bank at the airport, many needy families going there daily. Now we know that the demand is going to increase over Christmas. This is a really sensible and good use of public money.
OLIVER PETERSON:
Yeah, well we’ve got organisations like People Who Care, we’ve got Meals on Wheels which uses Chorus Kitchen, which is one of their clients at the moment. They’re saying if they don’t raise $50,000 by February, Senator, they might have to shut its doors. And they’ve never had greater demand at the moment because there are more people knocking on the doors of these services saying help.
DEAN SMITH:
And, Ollie, I’d add to that by saying there are people knocking on the doors of these services who have never needed to knock before. And perhaps a year ago or two years ago would never have imagined that they might need to knock on a food relief charity to get support. But interest rates are high. They’re not going down. There’s no relief for people. WA, Perth, has the highest inflation rate of any Australian city at 4.6 percent. That is hurting people. So, I’m surprised. And this might be a good question for Labor’s Federal representatives in Western Australia, Patrick Gorman, Madeleine King, Tracey Roberts and Anne Aly. Why aren’t you backing this idea? Because some other Labor members of Parliament have backed this idea in that House Agricultural Committee report of last year. So unfortunately, this is politics getting in the way of good policy. And the country is desperate for some really sound policy and parliamentarians working together.
OLIVER PETERSON
Dean Smith, thanks for your time. Have a good weekend.
DEAN SMITH:
Good to speak to you, Ollie. Take care.
ENDS