As the federal budget is revealed, how does this impact young Aussies.
From COVID-19 scandals to a PM crash tackling a child...2022 had it all!
As we breath a huge sigh of relief and look toward the Christmas holidays with eagerness so we can relax and enjoy the season with loved ones, what a time to reflect on 2022! A year where we finally bid forced lockdowns goodbye (don’t jinx it) and people like Phillip Lowe became household names; we had some laughs, faced our fair share of trials and tribulations as a country, and at times we shared bonds born out of national annoyance. To wrap up 2022, let’s reflect on some of the headlines that brought our nation together throughout 2022.
1. Tennis Australia said 'no' to Novak
2022 kicked off with a grand slam of news headlines as tennis player Novak Djokovic’s VISA troubles were very publicly played out due to vaccination border entry rules. The twists and turns that this saga took in early January had the nation captivated with some applauding the outcome, whilst others shared in disappointment over missing the star take to the tennis court.
2. The slap...yep, you know the one
Too soon…? The infamous slap seen and heard around the world during the 94th Academy Awards ceremony had us all shocked and questioning what was real. Safe to say…Lupita Nyong’o was all of us at that moment! The controversy surrounding this moment in history divided Hollywood figures with many commenting on this in interviews, dominating headlines and pop culture news for months!
3. ScoMo takes school yard soccer a little too seriously
The Devonport Strikers were visited by the PM to announce a $3.5 million injection of funds to help support the building of a new grandstand. To prove that politicians are just like us, ScoMo took to the field to have a kick about when a young 7-year-old player was knocked to the ground by the PM. Call it pure clumsiness or a failed to try out for the Socceroos, the unfortunate circumstances made the rounds on social media and news platforms for weeks thereafter. Don’t worry, the young man was completely fine and was back to practice in no time.
4. A new Prime Minister
While we’re on the topic of politics, in true Aussie fashion…we got ourselves a new PM. However, this time, we (the public) got to make the choice! Recently crowned Australia’s most influential person by the Australian Financial Review, let’s hope there isn’t an ousting any time soon. Surely, we’ve all seen enough internal squabbling and changes to our PM to last us a good while!
4. Natural disasters wreaked havoc
In all seriousness, this was a terrible year for Aussies when it came to natural disasters and flooding across the country. Australians didn’t seem to get a reprieve from disasters as serious flooding affected QLD, NSW, SA, VIC and TAS throughout different periods of 2022. The results of flooding were felt nationwide as we shared in sorrow for those who lost. Farmers worked tirelessly to reproduce destroyed crops to ensure our nation didn’t experience price surges on unexpected grocery items for too long.
Never ones to let a disaster get the better of us, if we get knocked down, we’ll get up again.
6. Data hacks
Nothing brought the Australian public together quite like the great Optus hack of 2022. A shared sense of frustration brought 1.2 million Aussies together who had current and valid identification information leaked. In the long queues to get documents replaced, we made new friends, formed bonds and maybe even made a solid dent in our standing goals that day. Soon after followed the hack and data leak of private health insurer, Medibank.
The Medibank breach affected over 9.7 million current and former customers, with health claims for about 480,000 customers accessed by the hackers. To throw our phrasing back to 2020 for a moment, these unprecedented data attacks introduced the Australian public to a new kind of widescale threat and will keep us on our toes going into 2023.
7. We lost some of the greats
Amongst everything else that happened this year, we bid farewell to several beloved figures to our nation. Australians shared in sadness over the shock passing of cricketers Andrew Symonds and Shane Warne, and national treasure Olivia Newton John.
We also lost the leader of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth, which dominated headlines and news stories for almost two weeks. An estimated 4.1 billion people tuned into the broadcast to pay our respects and is estimated to be the most watched tv event in history.
What we got up to during 2022
1. Most streamed local song
For the second year in a row, Stay by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber was the most streamed song by a local artist throughout 2022…and who can blame us, it’s a banger!
The list for most streamed local artists also featured The Wiggles, Hilltop Hoods, Vance Joy and Flume.
2. The Box Office Topper
Aussies felt the need…the need for speed in 2022 as a stellar cast and the familiar faces of Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer returned to our screens for Top Gun: Maverick. This film had something for everyone, nostalgia, throwback scenes for fans of the original movie…and Miles Teller for everyone else.
This film absolutely smashed box office records for 2022, and it even peaked as the third highest grossing movie in Australian box offices. With the highly anticipated release of Avatar: The Way of Water set to be released very soon, time will tell if Top Gun: Maverick stays at the top of the list for 2022.
3. Nepo babies that took the cake
This one was a close call between Brooklyn Beckham and another well-known public figure. Brooklyn made the cut by stating that his fortune was made by being a chef in the viral TikTok series, “What do you do for a living?” when he rolled past in his lavish McLaren vehicle (*googling what car Jamie Oliver drives*). But the top spot for the ultimate nepo baby goes to the man with the top job in the Commonwealth, King Charles III.
4. Finally, what made us giggle
We can always trust the internet when it comes to taking something simple and turning it into a whole series of memes. This year, the top spot for memes that made us laugh through our pain is shared by Liz Truss, Adam Levine and the ‘yassifed’ green M&M.
No doubt 2022 kept us on our toes and delivered moments we cried over, and occasions where we cried with laughter. As we look to 2023 with a hopeful glimmer in our eye, let’s raise our glasses to new friends, good times and a lockdown free 2022.
