Slumbering Green

I live in Sydney and I don’t like to brag, but on 15 December – when QR code use in NSW was scrapped – I presciently tweeted the following: I don’t think we’ll have lockdowns again but QR code and mask use probably will stay .. Today it was announced that, in New South Wales, QR code use would return. It was also announced that, in Victoria, indoor mask use might be expanded. Mask use is already mandatory in Victorian shops and on public transport there (it’s mandatory on public transport in NSW). Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that, in South Africa, where the Omicron variant of Covid-19 first appeared, infections are declining after a short, sharp spike for about a month. It looks promising. Every day Australians are watching the news avidly as the main drama is playing out in our communities at large. We know how addicted to drama people are – news stories are written to encapsulate conflict in order to draw our eyes, and the number of OTT services serving up movie...

On 8 December at 10.30am (or thereabouts, I can’t be arsed checking the numbers again) I tweeted: I'd be surprised if Berejiklian runs for federal seat of Warringah ... she'd want to avoid the controversy if the ICAC report (not expected for some time) is worse than PM Morrison suspects it might b. To prove that I’m generous with my praise at 9.20am the next day (yesterday) I posted this little sally: Brave of PM to publicly invite Gladys B as a refusal might indicate (in some ppl’s eyes) that she thinks he’s a lame duck. Shows courage of his convictions. I don’t mind, you can flame me. Feel free. Take your best shot. I think Gladys B was a brilliant premier and I know that Morrison is genuine – even though most people I know think he’s something like a snake oil salesman – because he thinks the same. It’s not every day that a politician changes an entire community. And because New South Wales immunised itself in advance of the rest of the country when Michael Rowland on the br...