Press Conference, Launceston

SUBJECTS: Launceston Ozharvest; Formal Recognition of the State of Palestine; Australia-US relationship; Macquarie Point Stadium; Henderson Defence Precinct 

MEMBER FOR BASS, JESS TEESDALE: Good morning, everyone. It is fantastic to be here on this beautiful spring day in Launceston, and we are so pleased to have Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles here join us today for this really auspicious day with OzHarvest. A huge thanks to Island Fresh for having us here today. Josh and his team have provided incredible hospitality, and I think today actually shows us what happens when really passionate Tasmanians get together and they see a need in our community. So, within our community, we know that people are really struggling with the cost of living. We are doing lots of measures to put that into perspective and to try and really help people here on the ground. But sometimes that takes a while to actually put into effect, and it’s organisations like OzHarvest, in collaboration with local people, who can make a huge impact here in our state. And I’m so grateful for the work, particularly that Jen has been doing to get OzHarvest up and running here, particularly starting work from her van, her own very own car, to get food to people who need it the most. And it’s this sort of passion that creates the change that we want to see. So I will pass over to the Acting Prime Minister now, and so very grateful that you could all be here.

ACTING PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Well, thank you. It’s great to be here in Launceston this morning and to be here with Jess Teesdale, our wonderful Member for Bass, who’s doing such a great job representing the community of Launceston in the federal parliament. It’s also really good to be here with Ronnie Kahn, who 20 years ago founded OzHarvest. And also fantastic to be here with Jen Heggarty, who 11 months ago founded OzHarvest in Tasmania, here in Launceston. And it’s great to be at Island Fresh, a business that does a fantastic job supporting the IGA network of supermarkets around this state, but is also making an enormous contribution to OzHarvest. Well, today, we have just packed the 200,000th kilo of food under the banner of OzHarvest here in Tasmania in just the last 11 months. And that is a really significant milestone, because what that represents is 400,000 meals that have been supported by that food for Tasmanians in need in just 11 months. It is an incredible contribution of support to this state. And at the same time, what it also means is that that 200,000 kilos of food has not gone into landfill. And so, OzHarvest, which was founded by Ronnie 20 years ago, is an incredible organisation which takes food that would otherwise go to waste and puts it into the hands of those who need it most. And as Jess said, we have experienced a significant cost of living challenge over the last few years. There are more Australians who need this kind of assistance, and we are doing a lot of measures across the board to help Australians with the cost of living, but this is a really important contribution which has been made by OzHarvest. As our Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, announced in the last couple of months, as of next week, there will be $460 million of support that the Albanese Labor Government is providing over the next five years to Australians who are in the most financial need, and that includes $20 million to food relief specifically. And what that means for an organisation like OzHarvest is that the funding that is being provided by the federal government to OzHarvest is more than doubling as a result of that commitment. This is a really important contribution to supporting Tasmanians in need, supporting Australians in need across the country. And it’s an honour, really, to be here with Ronnie today, given all the work that Ronnie has done through OzHarvest over the last 20 years. And it’s fantastic to be here with Jen, who is bringing OzHarvest to this state, and in just 11 months we are seeing what an incredible difference this is making.

OZHARVEST FOUNDER, RONNI KAHN: It is just an absolute privilege to be here with you, Richard, and with Jen, celebrating our 200,000th kilo of food delivered. It is so clear that good food should feed bellies and not landfill, and that’s what OzHarvest does every single day, delivering the equivalent of 500,000 meals a week across Australia, and we couldn’t do that without magnificent organisations like this one right behind us here that has supported us for the last 11 months and made sure that we have food to give right here in the state. Tassie is one of the highest states with food insecurity. It’s crazy, and that is why we are all so inspired to do more every single day. Thank you so much. And Jen, you can give us some of those facts about Tassie right here.

OZHARVEST TASMANIA STATE MANAGER, JENN HEGGARTY: Thank you, Ronnie. So, when we started OzHarvest 11 months ago in Tasmania, we really wanted to understand what the need was, and once we got out into the community and started working with the charity organisations, we realised there’s a really high need, especially in the fresh produce space. So, we started to work with amazing people like Island Fresh and Woolworths and other donors to understand how often we could collect and what that produce would look like. Once we started delivering that food to charity agencies, we started to get the most amazing feedback, things like they were seeing new people coming in. Having a social pantry that people would come and take food from was a really nice, soft introduction to that charity agency, so then they could provide additional support. People that were coming in and only taking one or two things because they didn’t want to take too much and make other people miss out. And then getting the feedback from the charity agency saying no, OzHarvest can come and deliver regularly, we’re always going to have this food. This is not a one-off donation. So, for us and our incredible drivers that are out in the community every day, we get to see the impact of the incredible food that we get donated, and then also the impact that it’s having in the community. As Ronnie said, 200,000 kilos is an extraordinary achievement. I still can’t believe it. Eleven months ago, I was collecting food in my car. Then luckily, we were able to get a truck from our Melbourne HQ sent over, and we started delivering from a larger truck. We are two weeks away from getting our very own forever truck for Launceston. It’ll be a beautiful, big, yellow and black truck that will tell everybody where we are and where we’re collecting from. And then we hope to expand into Hobart, because we know that the need is statewide. We’re working with some incredible partners to try to help reach the regional areas. But for Launceston, this is the first dedicated five-day-a-week Food Rescue Service in the state, and expanding that to Hobart next year would be a huge achievement, but also, and more importantly, it will be so impactful for those communities in Hobart that are currently missing out. We also have some incredible education programs that we’re hoping to launch next year and that will help empower the communities with education. So, we know we don’t want to just be shifting that food waste from one spot to another. We want to make sure that the food that we’re feeding into the community, the community knows what to do with it. So with our Nest and Nourish programs, we’ll be rolling those out into charity agencies. Nourish will be for 16 to 24 year olds, a Cert II in cookery that’s scaffolded with work-based learning services to help empower those young people to see what they can be and to have the lifelong skill of cooking, but also to be able to see themselves in employment or further education. And so we really hope to roll those out in 2026 in Tasmania, and also expand our food rescue into Hobart.

MARLES: So we might do questions, and we might just start if there are any questions on what we have announced today.

JOURNALIST: Other than cost of living, what is contributing to the food insecurity in Tasmania?

HEGGARTY: Yeah, so the significant food insecurity statistics in Tasmania are multi-layered. I think obviously there’s access to food. The cost of food is very high at the moment – on a small income, it’s really hard to be able to buy fresh and nutritious food, especially including proteins for your family. But in addition, it’s that knowledge of knowing what to do with food, having enough power, enough equipment at home to be able to cook a meal, the knowledge to be able to cook a meal. So those essential life skills are starting to see an intergenerational impact of not knowing what to do with food if you even have it in your home, and that’s why our education programs are so important. We’re also working with – we’ve got FEAST, which is a school program. It can be delivered to primary or secondary schools, and it’s around understanding food waste. Food waste in Australia is one of the highest in the world. A third of food that we take into our homes ends up in the bin at the end of the week – that’s one in five grocery bags. So, it’s also educating our households around the privilege of being able to have food in the house and how to not waste it. So, I think there’s a lot of layers to how we can solve food insecurity. But I think definitely the way where OzHarvest can impact is in supply and education.

KAHN: We should also add that there’s a very high level of diabetes and obesity in Tasmania. When you teach people how to cook, how to eat, how to live a healthier life, then it is sustainable and it’s long term. And those are the key elements of our education programs, both to parents and to school kids, because if you can start with school kids, they bring these messages home, and that’s what we find has been so successful. Our FEAST program is in over 2000 schools. It’s in 65 schools in Tassie – every school in Tassie should have that program, because it’s life-changing and transformational.

MARLES: All right. Other questions?

JOURNALIST: Acting PM, are you concerned that Mr. Albanese has been unable to secure a meeting with President Trump, and what does this say about how the US sees Australia?

MARLES: Look, since President Trump has been inaugurated, the Prime Minister and the President have spoken on a number of occasions, indeed, in just literally the last few days by phone. I’ve got no doubt that at some point in the near future there’ll be a meeting between the Prime Minister and the President. The fact of the matter is that the relationship between Australia and the United States is in a good place. We have the lowest tariff rate of any country in the world. We have a very significant agenda in terms of our relationship in respect of defence and security, and that work in pursuit of AUKUS, for example, continues at a pace. So, we’re very confident about the relationship there. The Prime Minister and the President have spoken to each other by phone on a number of occasions, and I’ve got no doubt that in the not too distant future, there will be a face-to-face meeting.

JOURNALIST: Do you think the lack of a meeting could be because of the government’s stance on Palestine?

MARLES: No. As I say, the relationship between Australia and the United States is in a good place. The government has taken a position in respect of the recognition of Palestine, which recognises the legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people to statehood. It’s entirely consistent with the positions that have been held by successive governments, Labor and Coalition, over many decades in support of a two-state solution. Our government is no different in supporting that. We believe that a two-state solution is ultimately the only way to seeing an enduring peace in the Middle East, and our recognition of Palestine, along with the United Kingdom and Canada and a range of other countries, is part of a natural progression towards that. But the need to see an enduring peace has been put into sharp relief by the events that have played out over the last couple of years, and that’s why it’s really important that this step is being taken. And we want to see a ceasefire in respect of Gaza, and we want to see a return to the hostages, and we want to see the conditions that we have put in respect of recognition fulfilled.

JOURNALIST: What’s your response to Sussan Ley’s letter to the Republican Party vowing to revoke Palestinian recognition?

MARLES: Well, I mean, we would hope that in respect of foreign policy, Australia speaks with one voice, and obviously the Opposition has its right to have its view. It is another step, indeed, to start writing to representatives of countries abroad, but that is ultimately a matter for the Opposition. The position that we have taken is highly consistent with positions that have been long held by governments of both persuasions in this country over decades, and it is acknowledging that the only way that we will see an enduring peace in the Middle East is if there is a two-state solution.

JOURNALIST: Is it concerning that with just two years before the US rotational force begins operating out of Western Australia, boundaries for Henderson have not yet been clearly defined, and there is no clarity on whether there will be deep maintenance for visiting nuclear subs?

MARLES: Well, look, I don’t accept the assertion in the question. The Premier of Western Australia and I last October announced the establishment of the Henderson Defence Precinct, which is a really important step in terms of Australia having continuous naval shipbuilding capability in Western Australia, but it’s also a really significant step in terms of being able to maintain our future submarines well in Australia, but in Western Australia. At that time we announced in the order of $127 million of funding over the next three years to go through a consultative process to determine the early planning for the Henderson Defence Precinct. We are one year into that process, and already we have committed the first significant tranche of money, which we did a couple of weeks ago, $12 billion, which will go a long way to the building of the Henderson Defence Precinct. Now we fully imagine that the Henderson Defence Precinct will do the full suite of maintenance of our future submarines. It is an important step in relation to AUKUS, but the important point to make in respect of all of this is it’s happening at a pace, and we are meeting every milestone that we committed to when we first announced AUKUS back in March of 2023. So, progress in Western Australia, progress at HMAS Stirling (which is where we will see the Submarine Rotational Force – West will occur), and progress in relation to the Henderson Defence Precinct is all happening, and it is happening on time.

JOURNALIST: The Trump administration has recommended pregnant women don’t take paracetamol because of a link with autism. What’s your response? And will Australia be looking at changing its advice?

MARLES: Well, the first thing is that I’m not about to give medical advice from a press conference such as this, and I’m not about to give medical advice full stop. So, the obvious point to make is that for any women out there who have any concerns about what drugs they should or should not be taking during pregnancy, they should take up with their doctor. Now, the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia works very closely with the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. Any advice or determinations which are coming out of the US FDA, we will obviously look at very carefully. But I will come back to where I started: any woman out there who has any query about what drugs they should be taking during their pregnancy is a matter that they should take up with their doctor.

JOURNALIST: Is it embarrassing that the PM has been snubbed by Trump again with no bilateral locked in, in New York?

MARLES: Well, I repeat the answer that I gave earlier. Our relationship with the United States is in a very good place. Objectively, you can see that – the lowest tariff rate of any country in the world. And to answer the earlier question, working very closely with the United States around the pursuit of AUKUS. All of this is happening in a really good way. We are pursuing the economic opportunities which exist between our two countries. The Prime Minister and the President have spoken on numerous occasions on the phone. I have no doubt that there will be a face-to-face meeting in the not too distant future.

JOURNALIST: Regarding Macquarie Point Stadium, will the federal government be looking to increase its contribution to the Macquarie Point Stadium in Hobart?

MARLES: Well, look, we’re really pleased that we’re committing $240 million to the Macquarie Point development. We are working closely with the Tasmanian Government in relation to that – in relation to the whole of the project, which includes very much the stadium, but includes a number of other features of Macquarie Point, including housing. We will continue to work with the Tasmanian Government in respect of this project. But let me say that I think Tasmanians are really looking forward to the Tasmanian Devils starting in the AFL in 2028, starting in the BFL next year. And actually, I think that comment stands for the whole nation. Everyone who supports football in this country knows that in a way the national competition is not complete until there is a team from Tasmania playing in it. I was here as part of the announcement for the establishment of the Tasmanian Devils in the AFL. We remain committed to the project at Macquarie Point and the $240 million that we’ve committed. We’ll continue to work with the Tasmanian Government, but we are all looking forward to seeing the Tasmanian Devils take their place in the AFL in 2028. Thank you.