2022 began with a bang. Quite literally. My car tyre exploded when I was driving back from an assignment, on the very first day back at work after the holidays. Fortunately, I steered the car safely into a meadow, without any damage to myself, my car, or, most importantly, other drivers. (Remember: Check your tyres!) From there, 2022 could only get better.
For the rest of Canberra, January was a month of storm damage, arson, and concern about COVID.
A severe thunderstorm hit northern Canberra on 3 January: trees fell on homes and roads, powerlines toppled, houses and offices flooded, and hailstones smashed into cars and buildings in a repeat of the 2020 storm. The ACT State Emergency Service received nearly 800 calls for help. Clearing up the storm damage would take months, Yvette Berry MLA said.
Anti-vaccine mandate protesters and “sovereign citizens” were arrested and charged with setting the doors of Old Parliament House ablaze at the end of 2021, while others were arrested after trying to enter Parliament House and protest unlawfully. Police ordered protesters camping on Commonwealth land to move on, and prepared for more protests.
Canberra’s five- to 11-year-old children received their first COVID-19 vaccinations; a dedicated walk-in clinic for COVID-19 positive patients opened in Garran; and COVID hospitalisations reached a record level of 73 patients, the highest number since the pandemic began.
The omicron COVID wave wrought havoc on Canberra businesses: staff shortages, short-term closures, and declining trade. The Canberra Business Chamber said the “shadow lockdown” – restrictions in place, the public encouraged but not ordered to stay home – left Canberra businesses struggling to survive, and called on the government to restore consumer confidence.
At the end of the month, Chief Minister Andrew Barr extended public health social restrictions for four more weeks.
On the other side of politics, Giulia Jones MLA resigned as deputy leader of the Canberra Liberals.
The Canberra school year began. More than 50,000 students returned to public schools – with COVID-19 safety measures in place. Identical triplets were keen to start to start preschool, much to their mother’s relief.
The British Museum’s exhibition about Ancient Greece opened at the National Museum: a Herculean task for the curator and her team to pull together the colossal exhibition during a global pandemic.
The Summernats car festival was held for the first time in two years. Co-owner Andy Lopez said: “It was a wonderful feeling.”
Valmai Dempsey, ACT Senior of the Year, was named the 2022 Senior Australian of the Year. Ms Dempsey had volunteered with St John Ambulance for more than 50 years – including in the Black Summer bushfires and at the height of the pandemic.
Canberra Daily talked to Taylor Colvin, a Canberra student living with only half a heart – at 21, one of the oldest Australians with the condition; Ashley Bowden, a national trampolining champion, about her anxiety; and Kenrick Winchester, newly elected mayor of the Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council.
And a Mawson grandmother won $200,000 in the lottery.
