A twelve-year-old Queensland student will meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra today after winning Squiz Kids’ inaugural “PM For A Day” competition, using the opportunity to advocate for farmers and reduce food waste.
Jett Jarvis, from Dalveen in Queensland’s Southern Downs, will call on supermarkets to reconsider their standards around “imperfect” fruit and vegetables, arguing that cosmetic preferences are contributing to unnecessary waste and impacting farmers’ incomes.
The competition, run by Squiz Kids in partnership with the Office of the Speaker of the House, received almost 500 video submissions from children across Australia.
Winner to raise issue of “imperfect produce prejudice”
At a morning tea in Parliament House, Jett will outline his proposal to address what he describes as the rejection of “wonky” produce by supermarkets.
“As Prime Minister for a day, I want to educate Australians about how much food is wasted every year because it doesn’t look perfect,” he plans to say.
“Wonky fruit and veg tastes exactly the same – it just looks a little different. If more people understood this, farmers would get paid fairly for the work they do, and less food would be wasted.”
During a subsequent meeting with the Prime Minister, Jett is expected to reference research from Bond University estimating that 2.4 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables are discarded each year due to appearance standards.
Squiz Kids focuses on civics engagement
Squiz Kids director Bryce Corbett said the initiative is part of a broader effort to improve civic understanding among young Australians.
“PM For A Day is part of Squiz Kids’ continued effort to improve civics engagement among Aussie kids,” he said.
“We firmly believe that if the next generation doesn’t understand our system of government, they won’t grow up motivated to nurture and protect it.
“Together with Newshounds – our digital literacy program for primary school kids, currently in over 5,000 Aussie classrooms – ‘PM For A Day’ is part of Squiz Media’s effort to help safeguard Australia’s democracy.”
The competition is supported by the Office of the Speaker, Milton Dick MP, and the Office of the Governor-General.
National judging panel and Parliament House experience
Judges included Mr Dick, Communications Minister Annika Wells MP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary Zoe McKenzie MP, journalist Annabel Crabb, and ABC journalist Jane Norman.
As part of the prize, Jett will spend the day at Parliament House, attend Question Time, meet the Prime Minister, and receive a personalised tour of Government House.
Main Image: Jett on his farm.