Now it is time for our weekly bush briefing, to find out what is happening in regional Australia. Reporter Nethma Dande-Niya has the latest from Mildura in Victoria. Focusing on how pressure on foodbanks is continuing to rise as providers struggle to keep up with demand.
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00:00The cost of living has impacted Australians all across Australia, including in regional
00:06areas.
00:07A food pantry in Wentworth, just across the border in New South Wales, say they've seen
00:11a three-fold increase in the demand for food.
00:14On average, around 40 families enter the centre in need of food, but that's constantly increasing.
00:20The demand has risen where new faces and families are attending the clinic, the Centre for Food.
00:25The lead pastor of the local church, Stephen Hewitt, says that people are really struggling.
00:31Parents are skipping out on meals so children can have food to eat.
00:35And it's not only people from low SES backgrounds or people that are homeless, it's everyone
00:39that's being impacted by the cost of living pressures and the food insecurity.
00:44Experts say that middle-income families are struggling to put food on the table.
00:49Families where both parents are working, they're struggling to buy groceries because of the
00:53cost of living pressures.
00:55And particularly with this food pantry here in Wentworth, they're actually providing donations
01:01of food to other food banks in the region because of the demand.
01:05After years of deliberation, the Trail of Lights here on Lock Island behind me is set
01:09to finally open to the public on Friday.
01:12The installation was designed by world-renowned light artist Bruce Munro, who's got works
01:17all across the globe, including here in Australia.
01:20The installation includes over 12,000 firefly lights and 20 gorn fishing sculptures, which
01:27are structures that are crafted from fishing rods.
01:29The project has cost $4 million, with $3 million of that funding coming from the state Victorian
01:35government.
01:36It's hoped that the project can increase visitation and tourism to the region, and they're expecting
01:41around 185,000 people will be arriving here across the two years, which is the proposed
01:47period for the Trail of Lights.
01:49For locals, it's been a long time coming, they've waited many years for this.
01:53Originally it was planned for Lake Cullaray in around 50 kilometres west of Mildura, towards
01:58the South Australian border, but in May last year it got approval to be held here on Lock Island.
02:05It's the first installation of two for the region, with another one planned for Wentworth
02:11with completion projected to be done by the end of the year.