The defining event of 2023 was the defeat of Labor's Voice to Parliament. While this was a source of great satisfaction to the 61 per cent of the population that voted 'no', that resounding majority almost certainly didn’t include anyone at the national broadcaster.
Still in high dudgeon at being forced to submit to the indignity of abiding by the democratically expressed will of the people, the ABC and the City of Sydney council seemed to have decided to turn New Year's Eve into a dirge for the dead Voice.
Yes, there was the ubiquitous smoking ceremony followed by the ubiquitous Welcome to Country ceremony followed by an awful lot of noise performed by "persons of Aboriginal descent, albeit mixed, who identified themselves as such".
I thought it couldn't get worse but it did when some nonentity called Angie McMahon screamed the microphone down with "I'm feeling lost; I'm feeling lost". I felt like screaming back at her, "Get lost!", but she continued with "It's okay; it's okay; make mistakes; make mistakes".
And they took her advice by making the mistake of bringing out another nonentity called Mark Seymour who screamed about the "same as it ever was". No, it wasn't because there was a time when we had real singers who sang real songs. Did the organisers spent so much money on the fireworks that they could no longer afford to hire proper musicians?
as recommended by ABC presenter Costa Living who reports on the cost-of-living crisis
We popped our bottle of "Not Guilty" after which I popped off to bed. Padma stayed up until the very end and the very end of the bottle. It must've been something more than zero because she's got a headache this morning. So have I but it's from all that screaming of "I'm feeling lost; I'm feeling lost" and "It's okay; make mistakes; make mistakes".
Selamat Tahun Baru to all of you, and if you stayed up to watch the whole show until midnight, that's all right, too, because, as the lady tried to sing it, "It's okay; it's okay; make mistakes; make mistakes".
As for me? No, not guilty!
