Foodbank Tasmania says it is having its busiest year in 16 years of operation, with families increasingly forced to choose between filling the car and putting food on the table.
The organisation is distributing up to 20 tonnes of food a week and sent about 1,000 hampers to charity partners ahead of Easter.
CEO Cameron Johns said rising fuel costs were pushing more people to seek help.
“People are actually having to make that decision that almost food is a luxury item,” he said. “And that’s not ok.”
“Do I fill up the tank or do I fill up the kids?”
Johns said the $500,000 in emergency state government funding announced this week would help Foodbank place orders now for food that takes 60 to 90 days to arrive.
“When we’re ordering food, it doesn’t turn up tomorrow for us,” he said.
“That’s where this investment helps us to make a decision now for, in 60 and 90 days, when potentially food could be a little bit harder to get from the mainland.”
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the one-off Easter boost was a direct response to cost-of-living pressures caused by the conflict in Iran and its impact on fuel prices.
“Food is the number one need and game in town for many, many Tasmanians,” he said.
Grants of about $2,500 will also go to each of the state’s 35 neighbourhood houses.
The funding is part of a broader package of measures including three months of free public transport and the federal halving of fuel excise.
The Greens, who had been calling for emergency funding, welcomed the announcement, but urged the government to commit to longer-term support in the upcoming budget.
Greens community spokesperson Cecily Rosol said organisations were already underfunded before the current crisis.
Rockliff said the government would continue delivering targeted support as needed.
