Issues with school lunches and Destiny Church’s charity status w/ the National Party’s Tom Rutherford: 25th February, 2025

The government’s new school lunch program has been met with criticism over the past few weeks for various issues. Supply issues began just over a week ago, with some schools supplied with Pita Pit or pies as alternatives where the new lunches were unavailable. Students who have received the lunches have called them bland, unappetising, or insufficient. Others have noted the lack of halal certification, leaving schools or teachers in charge of providing for Muslim students. Despite these issues, the government has remained committed to the program, which it claims has made significant savings compared to the previous, Labour implemented program. 

The last few weeks have also seen actions by Destiny Church against Aotearoa’s rainbow communities at multiple pride events. These actions have led some to call for Destiny Church’s charity status to be removed.

In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, starting with the new school lunch program.