Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697636143287.pdf (Australia)
Re: Inquiry into food pricing and food security in remote Indigenous communities I write as a private resident of Ntaria (Hermannsburg), 125km west of Alice Springs.

I have lived in Central Australia for 18 months and in Ntaria for 9 months.
I will address the terms of reference 4) Barriers facing residents in Remote Communities from having reliable access to affordable fresh and healthy food, groceries and other essential supplies and 5) Comparative pricing in other non- Indigenous remote communities and regional centres and include other relevant factors.
As per the 2016 census, Ntaria has a population of 537, with 454 residents identifying as Aboriginal Australians, although this number is likely higher due to the transient nature of Central Australia.

As per census data, the median personal weekly income in Ntaria was $275, versus the rest of N.T.

at $871.

Median family income was $676 compared to the rest of N.T.

at $2105 per week.
at $2105 per week.

As per the census, many residents have not finished high school, with almost 40% of residents have Year 9 or lower as their ‘level of highest education’.

Many community members do not have sufficient financial literacy.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has stated previously that finishing school before year 10 contributes to low levels of financial literacy.
Additionally, most residents struggle with power payments and do not have continued supply of electricity, moving between houses depending on who can afford electricity that day or week, thus making storing fresh food difficult.

According to one resident I spoke to, power costs approximately $20 a day, $120 a week, which is 25% of the average Ntaria household weekly income.
(https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/SSC7 0124?opendocument) Ntaria has two general stores, Finke River Mission (FRM) run by the Lutheran Church of Australia and Ntaria Supermarket and Take-away.

Both shops are overpriced and have a very poor range of what may be considered ‘healthy’ food.
This submission focuses mainly on the FRM store, however I have noticed the prices in FRM shop to be cheaper on a whole over Ntaria Supermarket, so the prices in this submission are a low price point for community members.

A breakdown of food price comparisons is found in Appendix A.
Appendix B is the current ‘Milner meat wholesale price guide’ (downloaded June 2020) and I verbally confirmed some of the prices with Milner Meats, all seem to be correct and are available to the public at their Alice Springs store.

The Milner Meats website states “Larger orders attract a discount price on many items.” Thus, one can assume that the store is receiving lower prices than listed on the wholesale price list.
Milner meats is the supplier for most of the meat in Ntaria, as noted by the stickers on meat in Appendix A.

The price disparity within their own range at town and the same product in Ntaria is rather shocking, up to 82%, or $11.50 a kilo more expensive.

This is in a town that is 125km by sealed road from the supplier, I can only imagine the prices in communities further afield.

Additionally, the quality of fresh food available in Ntaria is sub-par.
In Appendix A, a photo of a cauliflower for sale shows marked brown spots, a lettuce I brought recently for $6.50 was brown and slimy inside.

All Woolworths prices in Appendix A are for postcode 0870, Alice Springs.

It should be noted that these prices are generally more expensive compared to Woolworths in other parts of the country.

Financial counselling is available in Ntaria, it is provided by Lutheran Community Care ‘Money Mob’, normally outside of the Lutheran Finke River Mission store.
School attendance, and therefore financial literacy, needs to be improved in community, while financial counselling helps, it is not enough.

Budgeting, so as to be able to afford the expensive fresh fruit and vegetables, will improve with improved financial literacy and greater school attendance.

Inquiry into food pricing and food security in remote Indigenous communitiesSubmission 59 There is a huge amount of food insecurity in Ntaria.
Community members have expressed the inability to eat adequate amounts of any food, let alone healthy food.

Due to hunger and lack of food security in community, oftentimes food purchased for personal use later is taken and eaten by other members of the household.

Due to the issues mentioned above, price, storage and lack of adequate electricity, it is often cheaper and ‘safer’ to buy take-away food as it is ready made and able to be eaten on the spot, stopping other people from eating your food.
Most meals at FRM store are $7.50 or more each, for lasagne, fish and chips, burgers etc.

The shop has limited opening hours, further compounding food security issues.

Recently, an outsider (presumably from Alice Springs) has started driving to Hermannsburg and selling ice-cream and soft drinks out of their van once the shop has closed at greatly inflated prices.
During COVID-19 biosecurity lockdown, inadequate supply and price increases were noticed in remote communities, who had their options for food supply limited, I expect other submissions to cover this in further detail.

The prices in Appendix A are pre-COVID-19, and it was noted there was a general price increase during the lockdown.

It is commonplace for members of community to drive to Alice Springs for groceries due to the inflated prices in community.
Certainly, many of the non-Indigenous remote workers do not shop at the community stores due to quality and price.

Proposed Solutions Australia has a food waste problem.

Recently, Woolworths has launched an “odd bunch” range.

These are fruits and vegetable sold at greatly discounted prices, as they do not meet the industry standard for appearance.

The odd bunch of mandarins is $2.90 a kilo at woolworths, compared to 3.90 per kilo for ‘regular’ mandarins.
There could be an initiative for remote stores to acquire the supply, ideally directly from producers, of these discounted fruits and vegetables and pass the price savings onto consumers.

Healthy food subsidisation has occurred in remote communities previously and have had various success rates.

Ntaria has also had a community garden, however this is no longer running.

Community consultation at a local level to identify if this would be wanted again is needed.
A desert is not an ideal place to attempt to grow your own healthy food, as evidenced by my own attempts of growing anything.

Since I have been in community there has been 5 extended power blackouts.

When the power goes out in Ntaria, people also lose access to water, as the pump runs on electricity.

Electricity is expensive, and without it, life is very difficult.

Personally, I lost over $250 worth of food during one blackout.
After calling power and water, I am under the impression that remote residents are not entitled to any compensation.

Conversations with community members echo this.

Heavily subsidising electricity for remote community residents should be a priority.

It would enable the residents to have constant power, reducing overcrowding (due to people moving to whoever’s house has power) and enabling residents to have access to a fridge and functioning kitchen.
The ability to store fresh and healthy food is a compounding factor in the lack of willingness to purchase expensive fresh food.

Alternatively, the construction of an outdoor kitchen for public use with consistent power, lockable food storage and providing cooking classes on cheap, bulk, healthy recipes might address the electricity, storage, healthy food and food price issue.

It would enable residents to bulk purchase ingredients from Alice Springs, have a safe place to cook and store their food.
Bulk purchasing is a luxury afforded to many low-income earners around Australia – with the introduction of Aldi/Cost-co stores.

Having a low-price bulk supermarket encouraged to open in Alice Springs, to provide competition, so that residents of remote communities can bulk-buy long- life products.

Consumer watchdog Choice compared the average price of groceries and found Aldi to be cheaper than both Woolworths and Coles, when you are living on almost $1500 dollars less a week than the average N.T.
family, every dollar counts (https://retailworldmagazine.com.au/aldi- Inquiry into food pricing and food security in remote Indigenous communitiesSubmission 59 named-cheapest-supermarket/).

As mentioned above, many residents of Ntaria travel into Alice Springs to buy groceries due to the prices, lack of supply and inferior quality.

Many local residents do not know how to cook and there is very limited opportunity to learn.

Ensuring children learn how to cook should be a priority.
In many urban schools around Australia, ‘home economics’ or ‘food and nutrition’ is offered as an elective.

Offering a cooking program in schools, using budgeting techniques and ingredients available in local shops could be a technique to address the issues faced in remote communities for the next generation.

However, offering a cooking program is dependent on those children growing up to have access to a working kitchen, with a fridge and constant electricity.
Unless action is taken to address the disadvantage faced by remote Indigenous Australians on a systemic level, eating healthy food and fresh food will not be a priority.

How can it be when you are sleeping on the kitchen floor with 20 other people in the house, earning less than a quarter of what other families in your state are earning, paying through the roof for electricity (or not having any at all) and paying in some cases 225% more for the same product available ‘down the road’.
Kate Mead Appendix A is a list of food price comparisons, with photos from Woolworths and Finke River Mission store Appendix B is the Milner meat wholesale prices, which is the brand that supply most of Ntaria’s meat.

Inquiry into food pricing and food security in remote Indigenous communitiesSubmission 59