Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says parents unhappy with provided school lunches should “make a Marmite sandwich and put an apple in the bag”.
There have been a number of issues with the revamped lunch programme since it replaced a previous version at the start of the year.
“Here’s the deal; if you don’t like the lunches, just go make a Marmite sandwich and put an apple in the bag,” Luxon said on Newstalk ZB.
“As a parent, I think parents should take responsibility for feeding their own kids, I’d rather the state didn’t have to do so. It should a parental responsibility, but the fact is that kids are coming to school with no lunch, I’m not willing to let them go hungry.”
The Prime Minister said that “there are some lunches that are not up to scratch, and some delivery that is not up to scratch”.
Today, it was revealed plastic packaging melted into the content of lunches provided to Murchison Area School had prompted an MPI investigation.
Speaking to media later ahead of National’s caucus meeting, Luxon said a loaf of bread, a jar of Marmite and an apple was “not rocket science” and that parents should take responsibility for providing lunches.
“It’s quite possible, it’s how we all went to school with our lunches in the day.”
He said he “got” that some were unable to afford these things and added that the school lunch program was for children whose families “can’t or won’t” give them lunch.
Luxon was confident Associate Education Minister David Seymour would get the problems with the programme sorted.
Education Minister Erica Stanford and Seymour were scheduled to meet this morning to discuss the school lunch programme, but the meeting did not go ahead as planned.
Seymour’s office told 1News that ACT’s caucus meeting ran over time, and then he had a committee meeting.
A new date for the discussions was yet to be scheduled. Stanford had earlier said the pair meet regularly, but he had been asked to come to this one with information about how he planned to sort the issue.
Seymour said he had made it clear to the School Lunch Collective the situation with melted plastic was unacceptable, and it was investigating how it happened.
“I expect the school to receive a full explanation and an assurance that this will not happen again,” he told RNZ.
