Year 11 student Matilda Otter-Lowe flew to Wellington this week to speak to a Parliamentary Select Committee in support of her petition on the school lunch programme. The 15-year-old answered questions from seven members of Parliament’s Education and Workforce Committee. Chaired by National MP Carl Bates, the committee is made up of MPs from the same ratio of political parties as Parliament. These committees carry out most of the intensive parliamentary work on behalf of the House of Representatives, speaking directly to members of the public on issues that affect them.

Matilda gained 1600 signatures for her petition in March this year calling on the government to reinstate the previous school lunch programme - Ka Ora Ka Ako - which delivered “tasty and nutritious” locally-made lunches, compared to those served since budget cuts by ACT Party leader David Seymour.

She told the committee that the number of lunches eaten at Waitākere College has dropped from 80 per cent of students last year to 50 per cent now. “Students struggle to learn on an empty stomach, and that inhibits their chances of being able to contribute to society and the workforce because they have less chance of passing NCEA, she said. “It is more cost effective to provide meals with enough nutrition for students to learn than with poor quality meals that do not.” 

Matilda said New Zealand should follow the lead of other OECD countries like the UK, France and Japan which have universal free school lunch programmes. These provide 30 percent of children’s daily nutritional needs for a cost of $6 per student, compared with New Zealand’s $3 lunches which provide 18 percent of nutritional needs. “That is not enough for a student to learn,” she said. “This government has put a lot of money into improving attendance. Providing free school lunches reduces barriers to attending school.”

The committee received Matilda’s presentation with interest and chairman Carl Bates thanked Matilda for her “awesome mahi”. In the corridor outside, she received congratulations and support from the Labour Party’s Education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime and the Labour Party MP for Te Atatu, Phil Twyford who interviewed Matilda about her experience and posted it on his political social media channels.

Waitākere College is extremely proud of Matilda for stepping up and taking such an active part in the democratic process. We are excited to see what the future holds for this exceptional student.

You can watch Matilda’s submission at the start of this video here