The Howard Government’s latest plan to tackle Australia’s growing obesity crisis is so lacking in substance and credibility that even Government Cabinet members are calling for it to be scrapped.
Their latest scheme, to provide a “Fat Grants Plan”, has been slammed by experts in the health industry as nothing more than a marginal electorate vote winning scam.
Under the “Fat Grants Plan” Government MP’s could lobby for funds to support healthy living projects in their electorate.
There is a genuine concern that arbitrarily allocating grants in this manner will see funds being directed toward marginal seats to buy votes and away from areas that genuinely require support.
Labor committed $25 million of new money under their policy Tackling Obesity and Promoting Community Wellbeing: Labor’s plan for a healthier and more active Australia over six months ago. This money will be used to develop and implement initiatives to foster community participation opportunities and to focus on childhood obesity strategies.
Labor has been calling on the Howard Government to take some serious action in response to the National Obesity Taskforce recommendations which were handed down last November. So far the Howard Government has failed to put into effect any of the substantive initiatives recommended in this report.
It was difficult to imagine that the Howard Government could have come up with a more scurrilous idea than their “Fat Camps” or “Fat Tax” plan, which even the Prime Minister labelled as “ridiculous and unrealistic”.
The “Fat Grants Plan” however, which is nothing more than a rort to use what is a serious health issue to buy off votes, may just be that scurrilous idea.
Contact: Kate Roffey – (02) 6277 3334 or 0411 969 364
