Heavenly Beverley : 2020 Wishes ...Or Hopes...Or Dreams

Today is 2 January 2020. For starters, this is a much easier date to type instead of 2019, which involves two hands of course. Being the most uncoordinated woman on the planet, I am delighted to see the back of such a trying set of numbers.

Which brings me to my first wish for 2020. I am thoroughly sick of the rhetoric, the ifs, buts and maybes. I don't give a toss whether this period of climate change is a naturally occurring cycle or has been facilitated by human interference over the last three hundred years. I do know that we, as a species, must take immediate action to prevent the climate from becoming hotter, else we risk unreasonable conditions. I really doubt we have to worry about the next Ice Age for another millennia or two. However, having just become a Nanny, I want a habitable world for my beloved Imogen and for every other baby born in the future. Inaction is not an option.

So I am going to get an Extinction Rebellion teeshirt when we have some money. I will actively lobby for climate change measures as far as I am able. I will continue to recycle, hoping against hope that all my careful sorting doesn't end up in landfill anyway. I will rage and argue for action.

My second wish is purely selfish. Somehow, I hope to ease the monetary pressures that we endure at the moment. We receive our pensions next week. After our bills are paid, we will have less than twenty dollars available for groceries. I am tired of scrimping. We do not live a luxurious lifestyle. All I would like for us and millions of Australians in similar positions is a Fair Go. A flat 10% tax across the board ( as espoused by my darling Dad a very long time ago) would solve a myriad of issues and finally allow the status quo to become fairer.

This January is giving me more than a few moments of reflection. Who remembers Dolly Everett, apart from her family? Dolly suicided on 3 January 2018. How many other children have suicided over the course of the last two years? Enough is enough. Bullying needs to be treated as a crime. Cyberbullying needs to be treated as a crime. Any violence needs to be treated as a crime so that women such as Eurydice Dixon, Ann O'Neil and Rosie Batty don't have to live with the aftermath of violence towards them or their children. One-Punch crime is unacceptable. My third wish is for fewer men, women and children to be traumatised by such hideous and avoidable events in 2020.

Today is our wedding anniversary. Eight years ago, Michael and I were married under a sprawling pepper tree in our backyard at the House that Rocks, surrounded by family and friends. We continue to be each other's best friend and supporter. I have told Michael that at the end of this current twenty-year lease, I want to engage the extension option for another ten years at least. We have had our ups and downs over nearly eleven years, but we have always faced both joy and adversity together. That taste of happiness, that golden moment should be within everybody's grasp.

And for those within our orbit, I wish them peace and health and love. For James and Natalie, the longed-for baby due in July. For Callum and Bron, the wonder to continue with Imogen, for Alex a job he likes and airconditioning, for Michael a rush of inspiration for his artwork and winter up north. For my brothers and their families - a chance to see each other. And for my darling Dad, watching from the universe, a Grand Final win for the Melbourne Football Club.

Wishing the world well in 2020.