This week I finally got the jab. I would’ve been happy to get it months ago but it took a while to secure an appointment. A lot of people seem to believe the Astra Zeneca vaccine is going to kill them on the spot but I barely noticed the injection and suffered no side effects apart from a very slight pain in the shoulder. One feels a bit sorry for doctors who are constantly having to reassure people the vaccine is safe while thinking always of the very small percentage who have come down with blood clots. Many are holding out for the Pzifer vaccine but I can’t see any point in waiting. When the borders are finally opened I’m aiming to be fully vaccinated and off to the airport.
It’s disappointing that Australians are so fearful with the vaccination, and the slowness of the rollout hasn’t helped. But at least we don’t have a whole raft of right-wing demagogues on Fox News making it seem as if vaccines and mask-wearing are diabolic infringements of our human rights. Neither do we have a group of extremist politicians trying to score points with this issue. When it comes to COVID-19 it seems that Scummo, Albo and everyone else are on the same page.
And why wouldn’t they be? The successful handling of the virus is being richly rewarded in electoral approval. Every state leader, regardless of their political persuasion, is getting returned by a grateful public with a one-track mind. Herd immunity may be a long way off but herd mentality is flourishing. In NSW voters are so busy praising Gladys for her efforts with the pandemic they’ve completely forgotten the corruption scandals that keep bubbling away. This week, Tim Hurst, a NSW senior bureaucrat, took the fall for the Premier over the $250 million grants rort that resulted in almost everything going to Coalition seats or marginal electorates.
This is a bit rich after Gladys airily told us there was nothing wrong with pork-barrelling. “It’s not illegal,” she said. “It’s part of the political process.” I’m afraid this is only the simple truth – and that’s why we need to clean up these processes. Another time-honoured “political process” sees a bureaucrat ready to fall on his or her sword in order to protect a minister. One presumes there’ll be a pay-off somewhere down the track, as such self-sacrifice is highly valued.
I only wish I could say something positive about the NSW Opposition but they’re a lamentable bunch. We’ll see how things stand after this weekend’s byelection for the Upper Hunter seat vacated by disgraced Nationals’ MP, Michael Johnsen. I don’t forsee any joy for Labor, even allowing for the mess left by the previous incumbent. The simple fact is that Labor is losing the (former) coal mining communities to the right-wing populists. If the party is to have any future it needs to reinvent itself as a 2st century political force. I’d humbly suggest that any reinvention should include a new recognition of the arts as an important element of community-building.
The art column this week looks at Lumen, the latest show at Judith Neilson’s White Rabbit Gallery. With an emphasis on high tech installations that use light as a major component there’s a lot of whizzbangery in this exhibition. It should appeal to all those who turn out for the annual Vivid lightfest, although Lumenprovides an extra element of Chinese culture and politics. I’m feeling increasingly gloomy about China at present, as it seems to be heading back into another dark, ideologically-stultified cul-de-sac.
The film being reviewed is the Canadian-Irish co-production, Death of a Ladies Man. It’s a star turn for Gabriel Byrne as a lecherous, drunken professor suffering from a mortal illness. The presiding muse of this movie, as the title suggests, is Leonard Cohen. If you’re the kind of person who’s happy to hear a Cohen song in every other scene, in some unusual places, this is the movie for you. That brand of wry, melancholy gloom may be just right for a world in lockdown.