What we learned, Wednesday 22 February
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s a wrap of the main events today:
Anthony Albanese fronted the National Press Club today, where he insisted Australia will be maintaining its sovereignty as part of the Aukus deal.
The defence minster, Richard Marles, said shortly after that he is pursuing joint patrols with Philippines in South China Sea.
The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, said the government ‘clearly are’ thinking about a cap on superannuation tax concessions.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, said Australia’s migration system is “broken” and “set up backwards”.
A coalition of national religious groups wrote to all federal parliamentarians urging them to “cooperate across political divides” in support of the upcoming voice referendum.
Firefighters are battling a large, fast-moving and uncontrolled grassfire north of Melbourne as it heads towards more towns.
Australian oil and gas company Santos more than doubled its profits on gas after a merger and surging oil and gas prices.
The My School website buckled under the weight of traffic as parents flocked to receive the latest Naplan results.
The wage price index for the December quarter was 3.3%, seasonally adjusted, according to the ABS, and weaker than the 3.5% economists had expected.
Woolworths reported a $907m net profit for the six months to December, up 14% from the previous corresponding period, backed by bumper grocery sales and strong trading momentum at its discount retailer Big W.
Thank you so much for your company, please join us again tomorrow.
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Call for Australia to collect more data on food insecurity
AAP is reporting that millions of Australians are skipping meals or eating low-quality food as cost of living and other pressures drive more people into food insecurity, prompting an urgent call to action.
Contributing to the largely unseen issue are recent floods and the Covid-19 pandemic that left many people unemployed and without government benefits.
A group of 18 academics have formed the Australian Household Food Security Data Coalition and on Wednesday renewed calls for the government to collect more data to help tackle the issue.
More than two million, or one in five Australian households, are experiencing severe food insecurity, based on research released last year by hunger relief charity Food Bank.
Young people and single parent households are most at risk, as well as renters, the unemployed and low income earners, the online survey of 4,024 people revealed.
The report is the main source of data on food insecurity in Australia.
Urban geographer and senior lecturer at Macquarie University Miriam Williams, who is part of the coalition, said the Food Bank report was more comprehensive than past research but fell short of painting the whole picture.
In Australia we’re reliant on Food Bank, which does a really great job of filling the gaps … but we don’t have the full picture of food insecurity in Australia without data being collected.
What we need is a comprehensive food plan to ensure everyone has access to healthy, affordable, sustainable and culturally appropriate food across Australia.
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