South Australian family on Today Show forced to ration food and fuel as cost of living crisis bites 

‘It doesn’t feel like Australia’: Young family is forced to ration food and fuel as cost of living misery bites

  • A SA family admit they have to ration food and fuel due to the cost of living crisis 
  • David Fairhead and Wynona Reilly live in a farmhouse with no working stove 
  • They’ve been rejected from 100 rentals and forego at least one meal a day
  • The couple sometimes can’t take their daughter to school due to fuel costs 

A young family said the cost of living crisis has made Australia unrecognisable after they were forced to ration food and fuel, and even be selective about when to wash their clothes.

David Fairhead and Wynona Reilly reside with their daughter in an old farmhouse with no working stove in Kangarilla, south-east of Adelaide.

The couple have desperately tried to find new accommodation but have been rejected from almost 100 rentals following the death of their landlord.

David Fairhead and Wynona Reilly (both pictured) live in an old farmhouse with no working stove in Kangarilla in South Australia. The family say they ration food and fuel to get by

‘It doesn’t feel like it should be this way in Australia,’ Ms Reilly said in an interview with Today Show host Allison Langdon.

‘[This year], with the amount of financial burden people are suffering, it’s too much. It’s really gotten out of control,’ Mr Fairhead added.

The family usually go without at least one meal a day and forego essentials to feed their six-year-old daughter Savannah, who has autism.

‘When we go to the shops, we miss out on things. My daughter’s autistic so she needs to eat certain things and, [it] doesn’t matter the price of them at the store, we’re going to have to buy them so that she has a variety of things to eat,’ Ms Reilly said.

The couple are sometimes unable to take their daughter to school as they can’t afford the exorbitant fuel costs and also battle mechanical problems with their car that they can’t afford to fix. 

They also have to carefully choose when to wash their clothes to save money. 

Mr Fairhead described the situation as ‘demotivating and demoralising’.

The couple told Today Show host Allison Langdon that it 'doesn't feel like Australia' as they struggle to find affordable accommodation and pay for basic essentials

The couple told Today Show host Allison Langdon that it ‘doesn’t feel like Australia’ as they struggle to find affordable accommodation and pay for basic essentials

But the couple said that they’re just ‘one of thousands’ of Australian families desperately struggling to pay for essentials and find accommodation in the midst of the cost of living crisis. 

Mr Fairhead, who is on welfare while he recovers from a work site injury, is currently looking for work.

Ms Reilly is on a carer allowance. 

The couple said they’ve fortunately been supported by close friends and family. 

Prices for many basic groceries in Australia have spiked, reflected in last month’s announcement that our inflation rate is at its highest level in two decades. 

Flooding on the east coast of Australia causing crop damage coupled with rising fuel costs triggered by Russia’s bloody Ukraine war have sent Australia’s cost of living soaring.

Data has revealed the cost of vegetables, fruit, bread, eggs, oils and margarines have all jumped in price in Australia since last year (pictured is a Sydney supermarket)

Data has revealed the cost of vegetables, fruit, bread, eggs, oils and margarines have all jumped in price in Australia since last year (pictured is a Sydney supermarket)

Vegetables, fruit, breakfast cereals, bread, eggs, oils, butter and margarines have all jumped sharply in price in the last year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Aussies are also paying some of the highest fuel prices in the world due to the crisis. 

The cost of petrol is set to increase even further as the government has ruled out extending the cut to the fuel excise, which is due to end on September 28.

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk