diver, I agree. Parliamentary name calling and hunting for legalities that do not exist are not going to solve the problem of enough food in the world. We are a vast country .. dry yes, but why not research ways of wetting our arid landscape or producing crops that need less water. THEN we should start on our political system. It sure does need a lot of overhauling. We, the people, are to blame. We are becoming selfish and vote for whoever can give us the most, not for the good of the country. There are a lot of wrongs to be righted, but it's not simple to do.

Don't talk rubbish folks. Not enough affordable food my ass. The problem is, people don't want to pay for it.

As a boy I had to do the shopping. We spent 35% of net income on food, in a small household. Another 35% went on housing, & 10% on government charges, [power car registration etc], leaving just 20% for everything else, & we managed.

Today housing can easily cost 40%, government charges 15%, & everything else 30%, leaving just 15% for food.

Back then the sale of 10 bullocks would by a new large car, say a Chev or Dodge. Today, you'll have to sell 30 of them, just to get a commodore.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of previously productive land are going back to scrub, or being split up into lifestyle blocks, because farmers can't make a go of it, on the extremely low return on food items.

If city folk want food, they may just have to get by on one car & TV, & pay enough for food, to make it worth producing. Farmers may not be too bright, but they have smartened up a bit recently. They are no longer prepared to work 12 hours a day 364 days a year, for not much more than the dole.

Just like the tradesman before him, who demanded a reasonable return on his labour, [part of the reason housing has got so expensive perhaps], our farmer will no longer cop it.

Instead of coming up with ways to spend money we just don't have, [disability insurance scheme anyone], we may have to cut back some luxuries, to pay for the basics.

My neighbour throws out 35% of his avocados, because any minor mark makes them unsalable. We all love them, but it doesn't feed the city.

My 18 acres of irrigation could feed a hundred people, if farmed by some Chinese coolies, & they might just be stupid enough to work that hard for the pittance they would earn. I'm sure not.

Hasbeen,
Look beyond where you are yourself and how you live and have lived.
Six months a year I am alongside people who are being stunted during childhood and are shrinking in stature when 40 and there is a 67% increase in maternal mortality, all because of a lack of money for employment and income to buy essential protein food.
Worldwide there are billions of would be consumers if they could be, and not just food consumers.
The system of government seems broken.
My local MP is unreachable, office staff seem to vet calls and shut out information they themselves do not comprehend.
Then there are the experts with access to more data than has ever existed in history of the world, yet look at the state of the world economy.
The NBN amazes me, a project so people can see their doctor, not a project that will produce employment and goods for export. Politics aside, the NBN is not productive and so much capital for it is tied up and virtually wasted.
Meanwhile, look at what is being debated in parliament that is productive? Nothing.

JF I didn't say the system was not stuffed, I said there was plenty of food, & enough capacity to triple what Oz produces very easily.

Another mate of mine desperately wanted to be a farmer. God knows why, in most things he's not that stupid. He & his wife & son lived in an unlined tin shed for 5 years, before admitted he couldn't make a decent living at normal farming.

They stayed there another 4 years, getting his place approved & productive as organic. The final straw was when in a month period, none of the beautiful stuff he sent to market returned the cost of the box it went in, & the freight charge.

She threatened to leave, so he went back to mechanicing, & now owns a prosperous service station.

He still dabbles in growing stuff, & sells a bit at markets, but, like Belly, most he gives away.

Some areas of the world the population have grown beyond their capacity to feed themselves. It is up to them to find an answer they can live with. Food is cheaper than ever before, but yes I think the system is badly bent, if not broken.

We have kept too many alive & breeding in many areas. Many societies were not ready for the huge boost in fertility western medicine, & food aid generated.

We could feed multiples of our population, but only if those doing the work are rewarded for that work. When our population either can't or wont pay enough for their own food, don't expect the food for others to come from here. It just wont happen long term.

Hasbeen,
I agree with and understand all you say there and the situation you paint helps provide evidence of why there is need for significant inquiry in governance, governance that allows such a stupid situation to exist.
But there is also the situation I am trying to point out. Yes there is plenty of food for those who can afford it. And I agree farmers are not getting what they should be. I think there is need for an inquiry to investigate food production, in other words sustainability of farming itself.
Now the whole world ocean is almost empty of viably available food so why let farming collapse to a degree that even the spirit to farm is being destroyed and lost. e.g. Suicide, kids leaving the land.

I think it wrong that overseas investors are allowed to be aware of collapse of ocean protein and that alternative sources of protein, such as from beef and milk production, now have a rapidly increasing future and value, while at the same time Australian farmers are being deprived of news of the devastated state of ocean resources.

News I give to media is being gagged, not investigated and refuted or acted on. I see some of this unpublished news information is being hacked, not made public but leading to use by some in the know. e.g Reason to develop aquaculture has not been debated publicly, what's wrong with wild fish? Wild fish has no production cost whereas aquaculture has to be fed and managed. Viable aquaculture therefore depends on wild fish stock collapse. But there are consequences including major INFLATION that is forcing many people to avoid purchase of an increasing range of food.
And when people choose not to buy food is often dumped literally or for next to nothing.

On top of it all there is a worsening shortage of available cash. Many Australian children now go to school without lunch or adequate lunch, it's not just a few anymore and the situation is worsening. Cost of food is increasing even more, unchecked.
Present governance is virtually ignoring causes/solutions.

Australia does not have a Westminster system, just the appearance of it.

We have a PONZI Scheme masquerading as 3 Tier Government.

The problem with Ponzi Schemes is:

* They don't last more than a few years

* When they collapse (next election) everyone loses except the perpetrators who have hidden the loot and cry poor when justice looms.

GLOBALISATION has allowed erstwhile decent men and women in our governments to become sinister frauds. Sad to say that Globalisation will have to be abandoned at some point. But How?
The alternative is continuing financial crises with countries like Australia having its wealth vacuum-upped by US fiscal whimsies executed by powerful computer programs AKA Quantitative Easing.

There has got to be a better way. The Superannuation fiasco highlights the social devastation and the mealy mouthed weakness of our regulatory bodies (ASIX is a fraud).