Who would have thought some of the most watched events on Australian screens in 2020 would be politicians' press conferences? 2020 has been a heck of a weird year.
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Yet there have been moments across 2020, a year which started in flames and only got worse with a global pandemic, that a press conference by a premier or indeed the Prime Minister would have us glued to a screen of some kind?
The press conference of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday morning will be another of those moments.
From the moment the outbreak out of Avalon on Sydney's northern beaches was identified, the grave fear that hung over us all was how this would impact our Christmas.
This year has been hard enough, many of us isolated from our families thanks to the restrictions enforced at the height of the pandemic.
Many of us were looking forward to a summer, or at least a Christmas, of being able to reconnect with those who might not be nearest, but they are definitely our dearest. This was going to be "the" time of reconnection.
Yet the outbreak meant all of that was put in jeopardy as restrictions came back into play for some areas and states moved towards locking up borders again.
So Wednesday, December 23, 2020, will be the day when we find out whether we have been on the naughty or the nice list.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian will be able to decree whether we can have the family Christmas we had all hoped for.
The consequences are not lost on the Premier either, nor should they be any other premier in any other state who is ruling over travel restrictions.
"There is no doubt that when we consider decisions we take, it's not just to look at the health impacts, but societal impacts - what it means for the greater population," Ms Berejiklian said.
This is a decision that will take a great deal of care, a great deal of humanity and a great deal of courage. Let us all hope and pray for a Christmas miracle.
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