00:00 Alright.
00:02 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
00:10 [applause]
00:22 [Christmas carols]
00:34 We are officially launching Christmas for the whole nation for 2023.
00:39 We love Christmas.
00:41 [applause]
00:43 Well, as the President knows, Christmas is very special to me
00:47 because it is such a beautiful time of the year
00:50 and we are so blessed to be able to be here in the nation's capital
00:54 but also to be with charities that do so much work
00:58 not just at Christmas time but right throughout the year.
01:01 The Giving Tree behind me since 2013 has raised around $30,000 for 21 charities.
01:08 [Christmas carols]
01:15 Right now we hear constantly talk around the cost of living crisis
01:20 and at Foodbank we are seeing it first hand with our charities.
01:23 We are now seeing for the first time families who are coming,
01:27 double income families who are going to work,
01:30 who are paying rent or paying mortgage so you can no longer afford to put food on the table
01:34 every day for themselves and their children.
01:37 I've met some of these families.
01:39 They're families who mum and dad will come home from work,
01:42 they'll put meals on the table for their children
01:45 and they'll tell their kids that they had a big lunch today
01:48 and that's why they're not eating so there's no guilt on the part of the children
01:52 when it comes to actually them sitting down and having a meal without mum and dad eating.
01:58 The sad reality is that one in six households are now unable to eat three meals a day
02:04 and as I say many of those are people who set an alarm, get up and go to work every day.
02:10 Rents are going up, energy prices, all those things are putting pressure on family budgets
02:16 and food has now become for many families a discretionary item in their budget.
02:21 Everything we do is based on self determination.
02:25 First Nations people and communities are best placed to identify the solutions to their own challenges.
02:32 [Music]
02:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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