ADJOURNMENT

Ms COFFEY (Griffith) (13:21): Good food belongs on someone's plate, yet across Australia we throw away food while families go hungry. This morning, I had the pleasure of hosting OzHarvest and Circular Australia for the launch of their new report, A circular economy for food. Food waste costs Australia's economy $36.6 billion every single year.

For households, wasted food can cost around $50 a week. That is money that could pay for a child's school excursion or help cover an electricity bill. At a time when many families are carefully counting every dollar, helping them make their food go further can ease that pressure.

The environmental cost is substantial, too. When we waste food, we also waste the water and energy used to produce it and the work of those who grew it. Across Australia we use around 2.6 trillion litres of water each year to produce food that nobody eats.

I established a kindness cupboard in my community of Griffith, where anyone who wants to can access every day food and some basic necessities. Since my election, my electorate office has distributed more than 2.2 tonnes of fresh produce, thanks to the incredible help from Foodbank in my electorate. That means fresh food on local tables and some relief from the worry of affording the next meal.

I'm lucky to have several food rescue charities in my community. We have got Foodbank, SecondBite, FareShare and OzHarvest, and their dedicated volunteers help our community rescue food and get it the people who need it. I recently went on a trip with OzHarvest, out on one of their trucks.

We went to the local Woolworths and collected rescued food from there that was otherwise going to be thrown out. I was delighted and surprised when we then, in the exact same truck, pulled up at the Romero Centre, who support refugees and asylum seekers in our community. As we were unloading the food at the Romero Centre, we had people turning up who were looking for food there.

So it was amazing to see that food rescue in action in our community. Their generosity deserves our gratitude. Their work also needs national leadership and practical support.

We need to prevent food waste from the farm through to the supermarket and, yes, in our own homes. We need to help households waste less and get more surplus food to the people who need it. Everyone deserves access to safe, nutritious food, wherever they live and whatever they earn.

We grow enough food to do better. We owe it to every family who is struggling to afford dinner that we act. The Albanese Labor government is developing Feeding Australia: A National Food Security Strategy, to strengthen our food system.

We have released Australia's Circular Economy Framework and committed to doubling Australia's circularity by 2035. That means keeping resources in use for longer and wasting less. We have set a national direction, and we're developing the strategy to strengthen food security.

There is more to do. I will keep working for a community where everyone can afford to eat well and food waste is a thing of the past. Comments that One Nation's leader made on a podcast last year have recently resurfaced.

I want to address the hurt that has been caused by Senator Hanson's comments. On that podcast, Senator Hanson said: What the hell have they done in this country for, you know, supposedly 60,000 years? … … … There was nothing there. What are we actually holding up?

A few, you know, rock paintings … they're the most primitive race on Earth … I thought about ignoring these statements, and, believe me, I did try. I was fearful of giving them more air time and exposure. But I just can't ignore them.

I want to be really clear. Those words are racist. They are cruel and they are plainly inaccurate.

They are unacceptable from anyone, especially a member of this parliament. Long before British settlement, First Nations people cared for this continent through knowledge developed and shared over tens of thousands of years. They used fire to care for country and managed food sources through a deep understanding of the seasons.

They built fish traps and complex water systems. They established trade networks that connected communities across vast distances. They studied the stars and understood the uses of plants for food and for medicine.

Generations passed on this knowledge alongside languages, laws and responsibilities to land and water. The oldest continuing cultures on the planet deserve our respect. Their achievements deserve celebration and their history deserves to be taught with pride.

Racism causes harm far beyond the moment someone speaks. It can follow a child into a classroom or leave someone feeling unsafe in their own neighbourhood. It humiliates people and it tells them that they don't belong.

Language like Senator Hanson's stokes the flames of racism. It gives prejudice a public platform and encourages others to treat their neighbours as lesser people. We know Hanson has form with this.

It's absolutely unacceptable, and I will continue to stand against that kind of abhorrent rhetoric in our community. Question agreed to. Federation Chamber adjourned at 13:26