Australians will snap without cost-of-living relief, Lambie warns

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 15 Nov, 07:43 · Archive

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has warned that financial pressure is driving Australians to shoplift food they cannot afford.

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has warned that Australians are reaching breaking point over the cost of living, with shoplifting for food becoming widespread in Tasmania. She said she had spoken with major supermarkets in northern Tasmania about their theft rates and found people taking meat and stashing it in their clothes, or taking individual eggs from cartons because they cannot afford to feed their families.

Senator Lambie described the situation in Tasmania as 'horrible', saying she had not seen such 'financial strain' since the Covid pandemic. 'We're the sickest, the oldest, the poorest down there in Tasmania,' she told the ABC's Insiders. She warned that 'the more pressure you put under people, that financial pressure, it makes them angry, and sooner or later they snap'.

Australia has been hit by high fuel prices and a run of interest rate rises as the Reserve Bank seeks to combat inflation. The government is searching for savings in the upcoming Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook to reduce public demand, though government MPs have reportedly opposed any meaningful cuts.

How it is being reported

• Australians will ‘snap’ without urgent cost-of-living relief, Jacqui Lambie warnsJacqui Lambie has made an impassioned plea for cash-strapped Australians, warning that the situation in her home state of Tasmania is “horrible”.Perth Now · 15 Nov, 07:24
• Australians will ‘snap’ without urgent cost-of-living relief, Jacqui Lambie warnsJacqui Lambie has made an impassioned plea for cash-strapped Australians, warning that the situation in her home state of Tasmania is “horrible”.The West Australian · 15 Nov, 07:23

In this story: Jacqui Lambie · Tasmania · Reserve Bank · Labor · ABC

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log