4 Mar 2024

Healthy lunches programme 'wasteful spending' - ACT

From Checkpoint, 4:06 pm on 4 March 2024

There are concerns the government could cut the lunch in schools programme, where schools are getting free tax payer funded meals for their students.

Ka Ora, Ka Aka was launched in 2019 and feeds 230,000 students at 998 schools nation wide.

$323 million has been put aside to fund the programme until the end of this year.

The aim of healthy lunches programme is to reduce hunger and food insecurity by providing access to a nutritious lunch everyday.

ACT has said it is nothing more than a marketing campaign, with wasteful spending that's verging on criminal, and it needs to go.

Associate Education Minister and ACT leader David Seymour is in charge of reviewing the school lunch programme.

David Seymour speaks to Lisa Owen.