Senator BACK (Western Australia—Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate) (22:59): I rise this evening to reflect on the organisation Foodbank Western Australia, following a visit to its headquarters last week. It has a very simple but eloquent vision statement, 'Australia without hunger'. It was back in 1994 that Foodbank Western Australia had its origins, when there was the publication of there being a high degree of waste, particularly of food stuffs. From that very humble beginning, there are most incredibly impressive statistics. Since 1994 to the present day it is estimated that more than 50 million meals have been supplied to people in Western Australia from what would have otherwise gone to waste. In fact, it has been estimated that during that time some 2,750 tonnes, or 2.75 million kilograms of food, instead of going to waste have actually been usefully used for food provision. It was in 2001 that the program started in schools in Western Australia, and that has now progressed from some 17 schools to some 400 schools throughout Western Australia now—in metropolitan Perth there are some 155 schools, and about 240 schools in five regions of Western Australia. Again there are some incredibly impressive but in some ways disturbing statistics: 15,000 children each week receive around 45,000 meals in schools in Western Australia. On top of that figure, around another 18,000 to 20,000 meals are provided through Foodbank to other deserving agencies and individuals in Western Australia. It is interesting to reflect on the geographic spread. The state of WA is some million square miles in the old terminology, and the Foodbank program extends to schools right up in Kulumbaroo, right up in the north Kimberley of WA. In fact, foodstuffs are shipped to Darwin and barged across from Darwin back west to Kulumbaroo for the provision of food to the children in the Kulumbaroo community. Another one with which I am somewhat familiar is about 800 kilometres inland from Port Hedland—the Punmu Aboriginal community. I am very proud to say that a nephew of mine spent some years heavily involved in that community, firstly, in trying to improve the wellness of the people, particularly those severely affected with diabetes—he himself is a chronic diabetic—and then returning to that community as the school principal. Once again, right out in remote Western Australia, 800 kilometres from Port Hedland on the edge of the Western Desert, we have Foodbank providing these services. Some 1,200 welfare agencies, schools, community organisations and others are recipients of the Foodbank service. For example, there are instances when an Aboriginal family funeral is being held and the family can come into the Foodbank headquarters in Perth and can draw foodstuffs for use by that extended family and friends in the event of that funeral and its attendant services. It is interesting that whilst the program is well supported by organisations such as Lotteries West, the West Australian Lotteries Commission agency, and state and federal governments, it is not of itself a government instrumentality. It is actually completely and utterly run as a private sector organisation, which includes more than 150 volunteers in the regional centres in Geraldton, Bunbury, Mandurah and Albany as well as the headquarters in Perth. I asked the managing director just who within the schools actually serve the meals. In some instances it is parents and in some instances it is teachers. They were telling me that now older brothers and sisters in the recipient families are actually acting to assist the process for their younger brothers and sisters. Of course the critically important element, as all of us would recognise, and probably the catalyst for this program to go into schools in the first place is the fact that teachers realised that you cannot teach a child who is hungry. You cannot teach a child who is tired. So the program has been built around the provision of a balanced diet for the children. Of course, the outcomes have been absolutely incredible. There are improved attendance rates in the first instance. The children actually go to school in the first place. There is improved behaviour because they have made that link with the school on a daily basis, well before the educational part of the day starts. Their social skills have been enhanced significantly. I just mentioned the involvement of older brothers and sisters with their younger brothers and sisters. In terms of social skill development, they have been reporting a very much reduced level of bullying in the schools. Of course, we would expect it would be lower socioeconomic schools who are the recipients of the Foodbank program. Importantly, of course, health outcomes have improved significantly. I think that is enormously to their credit. Academic outcomes have also improved. On an annual basis now, about 5.3 million meals are served each year through the Foodbank program. For a state that has a population of only about 1.6 million people that is really quite an incredible outcome. It has been extended to what they refer to as the Healthy Food for All Program, which encompasses four areas. It is run by a group of remarkable young staff members of Foodbank, principally young women. It incorporates the School Breakfast program, which they have introduced to me and I have introduced to you here in the Senate this evening, but it goes to three other areas as well: what they call Food Sensations, Choose to Move and a regional strategy taking these activities beyond metropolitan Perth to the country. The Food Sensations program is both school based and adult community based. These young people have been taking the consumption of food to the next stage where they are involving the children themselves in food preparation—giving them the skills associated with safe food handling and food preparation. Unfortunately, as they have explained to me, in many instances these are skills which are probably not in the children's homes until the children take them home. It is probably the first time that those skills have been in the homes. As is always the case, it is children who are the catalysts to encourage the parents. As part of that exercise, they have extended Foodbank now to include what they refer to as 'Meatbank' so that meat is being introduced into the diet, firstly, within the school program in the Food Sensations program and then into the homes. I was speaking with the management of Foodbank. I asked them what was the encouragement for the larger chains to donate meat. For example, the chains in Geraldton asked: if we are providing meat either free of charge or very cheaply for you to provide to people through Foodbank and Food Sensations, are we not cutting off our own market? And the management of those outlets in Geraldton came to the conclusion that they were not cutting out their market, they were indeed creating a new market. If, from the Food Sensations at school to the Food Sensations in the home, meat became a product which was popular then they themselves could see that the next step would be the purchase of meat. Moving briefly to Choose to Move, as its name suggests it is an innovative program putting equipment into schools, like basketballs, footballs, netballs, tennis balls, soccer balls, et cetera. The equipment is associated with not only physical fitness but also team sports—cricket and other sorts of activities. So again it is to encourage the children not only in their nutritional needs but in their physical fitness needs. I conclude my story of Foodbank WA by saying that they are now taking that strategy right out. Indeed at this very moment they are right out on the Western Australian, South Australian, Northern Territory border. I commend Foodbank nationally and certainly within my own state.