Malarndirri McCarthy: Healthy food should be affordable no matter where you live

I recently returned home to my community of Borroloola in the remote Gulf region of the Northern Territory.

It’s home to around 900 people, including the Yanyuwa, Garrawa, Marra and Gudanji peoples.

Residents in Borroloola face health challenges that are all too common among First Nations people, including diabetes and kidney disease.

And like residents in other remote communities, including in WA, they have to travel long distances for health care and treatment.

During my visit, I was pleased to announce the Albanese Government is investing $13.5 million for a multi-purpose community development in Borroloola that will include a renal dialysis clinic.

It’s one of 30 dialysis units we’re establishing across the country as part of the government’s $73.2 million investment in Better Renal Services for First Nations Peoples.

Dialysis units will be established in Tom Price and Jigalong in the Pilbara, Wiluna in the Goldfields-Esperance region, Warburton south of the Gibson Desert, and Balgo in the Kimberley, one of WA’s most isolated communities.

These facilities will mean kidney disease patients will no longer have to relocate to Perth or other cities for life-saving treatment.

But to Close the Gap in health outcomes between First Nations people and our fellow Australians, we need to tackle the underlying issues at the heart of chronic disease in remote communities.

We all know that poor nutrition is linked to illnesses such as diabetes, which can lead to kidney disease.

Indigenous adults are twice as likely as non-Indigenous Australians to have chronic kidney disease and almost four times as likely to die from the condition.

Remote Indigenous communities have some of the highest rates of kidney disease in the world.

In many cases, diabetes can be managed, if not prevented, through diet.

That’s why it is vitally important that we improve food security for remote First Nations communities to ensure they have consistent access to fresh, nutritious, and affordable food.

Currently, access is limited, and supply chains are vulnerable to disruption by extreme weather for up to five months of every year in some regions.

A recent investigation by the consumer advocacy group CHOICE found that groceries in some remote First Nations communities cost more than double those in capital cities.

To address some of these issues, I recently hosted a food security industry roundtable in Canberra with food manufacturers and producers, remote retailers, health experts and the competition watchdog to consider options to improve access and affordability.

It was the first time stakeholders in the remote supply chain have come together to identify food security solutions for people in our most isolated communities.

Participants included Outback Stores, which provides retail store management support to Indigenous-owned community stores nationally, including 15 stores in remote WA locations.

I was pleased to hear that manufacturers are willing to work with remote community store retailers to provide essential items at a cost no more than the price offered to major supermarket chains.

Our Government is also working with First Nations health organisations and state and territory governments to deliver a National Strategy for Food Security in Remote First Nations Communities, which aims to improve the prices, quality, and availability of food and other essential groceries.

The strategy is expected to be finalised early next year.

In the meantime, we’re investing $9.6 million to improve food security in remote communities through a Store Efficiency and Resilience package.

We’ve worked with State and Territory governments to identify remote community stores that need immediate support ahead of the upcoming emergency season.

The money will go towards expanding dry and refrigerated storage facilities to withstand supply chain interruptions caused by extreme weather.

And installing backup power to allow continued trading when electricity supplies fail.

We also need long-term, sustainable solutions to improve food security in remote communities — which is what the national strategy aims to do.

It requires all levels of government to work with First Nations organisations, communities, and retailers to remove roadblocks to cheaper, healthier food that promotes good health.

Working together, we can make a real impact on health outcomes.

We can reduce the number of people having to relocate hundreds of kilometres from their homes, from places like Borroloola and Balgo, to receive lifesaving medical treatment.

Together, we can give First Nations people in remote communities the same opportunities as city folk to live healthy lives.