2020 in review, part 2: Remembering a year we want to forget
The second half of 2020, as evidenced by this series of shocking events, was the most eventful six months since, well, the first half of 2020.
Opinion
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In part two of his recap of a year like no other, Michael McGuire takes a look back at the stories that shocked us, inspired us and stopped us in our tracks in the second half of 2020.
JULY
OOPS – Australia was feeling pretty good about itself. It seemed we had weathered the worst of the storm, certainly compared to the rest of the world. Then Victoria happened.
Lax quarantine standards at medi-hotels and an inadequate contact tracing system allowed the virus to escape into the broader community. Aged care homes, many the responsibility of the Federal Government, proved particularly vulnerable.
Victorian premier Dan Andrews shut down the state as new cases rose to 700 a day. And kept it closed. Arguments raged about whether Andrews had been too tough, with the Premier attracting both fervent supporters and vociferous criticism. But the majority of Victorians suffered in silence as they were confined to home until their discipline finally eradicated the virus. The long-term toll on the economy and on the mental health of Victorians may not be understood for a long time.
SMASHED CABINET – It was the biggest political scandal of the year. A bunch of country MPs were claiming a $234 a night travel allowance when they were, perhaps, not entitled. Cabinet ministers Stephan Knoll and Tim Whetstone maintained their innocence but quit Cabinet after repaying the money. Liberal whip Adrian Pederick also resigned his position. Legislative Council president Terry Stephens also departed. Backbencher Fraser Ellis also repaid money. ICAC would investigate the scandal and later clear Knoll, Whetstone and Pederick. But for Knoll, that was it. He is pulling the pin at the next election.
OUTTA HERE – It was a good a year as many to leave the planet. Elon Musk’s Space X program carried people for the first time. NASA’s Perseverance rover was sent to Mars to look for signs of microbial life, collect rock and soil samples and help build knowledge for an eventual human mission to the red planet. It may even make its way back to Earth. The rover, and its helicopter drone, are expected to touch down on February 18 next year. It’s also carrying the names of 11 million people on microchips who wanted their names sent into space. There is also a COVID memorial symbol on the side of the rover.
AUGUST
SLEAZY – First Adelaide University vice-chancellor Peter Rathjen quit suddenly and with no real explanation. The Chancellor Kevin Scarce followed. ICAC was called in and the report was a bombshell. Now former ICAC Bruce Lander said Rathjen had treated two women “with egregious disrespect’’. He had hugged, kissed and touched the bottom of one female employee, and hugged and put his hands around the waist of another, in “entirely inappropriate” conduct, Lander said. Then he lied to Scarce to protect himself and lied to ICAC. “I have found contrary to the evidence given by Prof Rathjen that his conduct was sexual in nature and advertised by him to the women as sexual,” Lander said.
SENSELESS – It was an appalling and brutal act that appalled the state. On a property at Mount McIntyre, near Millicent in the state’s South-East, Pawel Klosowski murdered his 19-year-old son Lukasz Klosowski and his 19-year-old girlfriend Chelsea Ireland. There was an outpouring of grief from the much-loved couple’s friends and family. “We’ve lost our baby girl … our hearts will forever remain broken,” her father Greg said. Pawel Klosowski pleaded guilty to the murders and will be sentenced next year.
EXPLOSION – The force of the blast was felt in Turkey, Syria and even in parts of Europe. The vision of the Lebanese capital Beirut erupting in flames and smoke and dust was difficult to comprehend. Experts called it one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history, equivalent to 500 tonnes of TNT and around 1/20th of the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The detonation was caused by badly stored ammonium nitrate in the city’s port area. The consequences were devastating. More than 200 people were killed, 6000 people were injured and billions of dollars of damage was done to the city.
SEPTEMBER
BOTTOMING OUT – There were many victims of COVID-19. The Australian economy was another one. Before the virus hit, Australia had not suffered a recession since the early 90s. But Australia, along with every other country, could not survive the virus without significant economic pain. The official numbers for the June quarter showed the economy had shrunk by 7 per cent. It was just another bad financial number in a year of them. Unemployment hit 7.5 per cent, the highest in 22 years, the budget deficit soared past $200 billion as the federal government did its best to keep the economy afloat through measures such as JobKeeper and Jobseeker.
LOST AT SEA – A story with one happy ending but sadly not two. When boatie Tony Higgins and deckhand Derek Robinson went missing after setting out from Coffin Bay in the 33ft Magrel, the state’s biggest ever maritime search was launched. The search didn’t find the wayward duo, but they turned up anyway at Salt Creek, claiming they had never been lost and didn’t know what all the fuss was about. Clutching a cold beer, Higgins said: “I’m self-sustaining and if I f..k it up then I have to pay the price.” Two weeks later, Higgins was missing again, the Magrel disappearing from its anchor off Victor Harbor. This time there was no reprieve, with wreckage found near the Murray Mouth.
SOCIAL ANIMAL – Who says you have to be young, fashionable and hip to be a social media phenomenon? Step aside influencers, pop stars and models, the nonagenarian David Attenborough is in town. The 94-year-old broadcaster and naturalist put himself in the Guinness Book of Records for being the fastest person to reach 1 million followers on Instagram. It took him just 4 hours and 44 minutes, beating the record held by actor Jennifer Aniston by 32 minutes. It wasn’t an upbeat first post though. “Continents are on fire. Glaciers are melting. Coral reefs are dying. Fish are disappearing from our oceans. The list goes on.”
OCTOBER
BAD LOSSES – The state lost two of its biggest icons within the space of a month. Brewing giant Kirin decided time was up for the West End brewery after 160 years of making the amber stuff. West End and Southwark will be brewed interstate from next year and trucked back in. Around 50 workers lost jobs. Then the state government dropped a bombshell and said the city’s much-loved V8 race was being scrapped with immediate effect. The V8s had been a staple of city streets for more than 20 years and was still pulling in crowds of more than 200,000. There were protests and much anguish but Premier Steven Marshall is holding firm.
COOKED – Scottish chef Jock Zonfrillo has had better years. Zonfrillo had helped cement Adelaide’s reputation as a culinary destination through his revolutionary Orana restaurant on Rundle St which focused on indigenous ingredients and had been lauded as the best restaurant in Australia. But when COVID hit, Orana was closed, never to re-open. Administrators were appointed and it emerged Zonfrillo owed creditors more than $1 million. An offer was made to settle for $101,000. He was also later accused of setting an apprentice on fire at an earlier job. Still, he did well as a MasterChef judge.
BETTER LATE – It was the latest AFL grand final on record. But some other things didn’t change. Richmond proved it’s the best team of recent times, winning a third flag in four years. This time beating Geelong, denying Patrick Dangerfield his long-chased premiership medal. Locally, Port Adelaide put together a thrilling run, stopped only by Richmond in a preliminary final. As for the Crows, it just went from bad to worse. The club claimed its first ever wooden spoon, stories about “that camp” kept surfacing and players kept finding trouble off field including Brad Crouch and Tyson Stengle who were busted with cocaine. Crouch then left for St Kilda. Long-serving chairman Rob Chapman stood down to be replaced by former premier John Olsen.
NOVEMBER
NO PIZZA MIND – As Michael Corleone says in Godfather III – “Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in’’ – so it was for South Australia with COVID. Although, the risk factors had been building. Increasing numbers of positive cases in medi-hotels were a worry, but it was a shock when it was announced the virus was back in the community. The state was put into immediate lockdown (cue panic buying) for a predicted six days. It ended after three days in most curious circumstances. State co-ordinator Grant Stevens was unequivocal. SA had been put in lockdown because authorities were told a customer of Woodville Pizza Bar had caught the virus. When it emerged that wasn’t true, that the supposed customer worked in the pizza shop as well as in a medi-hotel, the lockdown was called off. It was all very confusing and many questions remain.
WAR CRIMES – Australia has always taken great pride in the performances of its armed forces. ANZAC Day is one of our most venerated days. Which is why the Brereton Report into alleged war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan was so upsetting. The report revealed that there allegations that Australian special forces had murdered 39 Afghan civilians. The allegation was that the majority of the killings did not take place in the heat of battle but while the Afghans were under control of Australians. The report will now be examined for potential criminal prosecutions.
DON GONE – There has never been another presidency like Donald Trump’s. It was a four year whirlwind of chaos, confusion, arguments and justifications. He was impeached, he didn’t take the coronavirus seriously, he played a lot of golf. He was loved by tens of millions and hated in the end by enough for him to lose the election to Joe Biden. Biden is barely any kind of inspirational figure but he will return a semblance of normality to the White House. Trump took his loss as expected – he whinged and whined, threw an extended tanty and blamed everybody else except himself.
DECEMBER
FREEDOM – After the scare in November, the shackles were released in South Australia, workers went back to offices, standing up in pubs was allowed, there was even a rumour dancing would be allowed. QR codes were implemented and the rules were strict. A scan was required every time a shop, pub, hospital, dry cleaner was entered. This upset some business owners, still reeling from the impact the lockdown had on Christmas trading, especially in the city. But border controls came down and South Australians were free to travel the country. International travel, however, may still be some distance away.
RED ALERT – One of the most dangerous fallouts for Australia from this COVID year has been the rapid deterioration in relations with China. Things hadn’t been great for a while but went downhill fast after PM Scott Morrison suggested the World Health Organisation needed the power of “weapons inspectors’’ to investigate the source of the coronavirus outbreak in China. China, Australia’s largest trading partner, has since ratcheted up the economic pressure, banning some of our largest exports including wine, coal, lobster, beef and barley. The coal ban alone could cost Australian exporters around $14 billion.
HOPE – At the end of one of the worst, strangest years many of us can remember, it’s good to remember the ingenuity of some of the human race. As the year went on (and on), and the virus continued to ravage vast swathes of the globe, it became increasingly clear that the only way out of the pandemic was a vaccine. All over the world, incredibly diligent and brilliant scientists were working overtime to deliver that vaccine. Processes that would normally take years were compressed into months and by the end of the year the first vaccines were starting to be delivered. Giving hope 2021 will be a lot better than 2020.
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