As a child, I remember my parents lamenting how quickly the years seemed to fly by, insisting that each year zipped by faster than the last. Back then, I’d roll my eyes, because for someone whose love-language is gifts (a not-so-subtle hint to my family), Christmas always felt like it took an eternity to arrive.

Now, however, I’m singing a different carol. I’ve become my parents, shaking my head and wondering, ‘Where the heck did the year go?’ As we hurtle toward the end of another year, I’m bracing myself for the traffic jams and pre-Christmas shopping queues (I do try to shop local, though patience is not one of my strengths).

Over the years, my perception of Christmas’ arrival has shifted, and so too has my Christmas wish list. With age comes wisdom – or at least that’s what I’m telling myself – and you start to realise what really matters in life. But if the past four years have taught me anything, it’s been a masterclass in understanding the things we have to win-back and protect if we are going to see the health of post-pandemic Australia thrive again.

With these things in mind here follows my ‘Cleaning-up-the-Covid-mess’ Christmas wishlist.

1. Send the firies (and anyone else still mandated) back to work. Please. Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) qualifies for the extreme stubbornness award, being prepared to keep able-bodied firefighters on the sidelines for a fourth year in a row, due to their stupid mandates.
2. While we’re at it, let’s return to work all healthcare workers who lost their jobs and want them back. Their records should be cleared of any ‘wrongdoing’ for simply exercising their right to bodily autonomy and free, informed consent. And while we’re at it, an apology would be nice, and some compensation for the trauma and lost earnings – we could fund that by sacking a few of the tens of thousands of public servants the current government has employed over the past three years in office. (I haven’t noticed any improvements in government efficiency in the past 3 years… have you?)
3. Suspend the Covid shots pending a full, independent investigation into the real safety and efficacy of these products. Since the initial rollout in 2021 the Covid jabs have accumulated an alarming number of adverse event reports – more than all other vaccines combined in the past 53 years: over 140,000 adverse event reports including 22,000 serious and over 1000 reported deaths. Apparently, the TGA hasn’t got the manpower to follow-up on them.
4. Still on the Covid shots: release the documents – all of them – including all TGA-held documents relating to batch testing, safety, and efficacy. The DNA contamination story is not going away, with another recently published peer-reviewed paper reporting concerning levels of DNA contamination in the shots and TGA emails revealing an awareness of the theoretical integration risk.
5. Publish the contracts for all Covid shots purchased with public funds from the Australian people. Let’s see what exactly it was that ‘we’ all signed up to.
6. Compensate the vaccine injured, properly. Not some impossibly restrictive scheme that is only accessible to a handful of people, but a true scheme that makes good on the promise made to the Australian people – that the government would look after them if anything went wrong.
7. Hold an independent inquiry into AHPRA and the Medical Board. The recent victory in court by Dr William Bay highlights appalling behaviour by AHPRA and the Medical Board, best surmised by Justice Bradley who characterised their conduct as ‘anything less than profoundly unsatisfactory’. By their own standards AHPRA and the Medical Board should be suspended and investigated.
8. While we’re in the courts, how about some justice for those mandated, suspended, harmed or injured by government overreach during the Covid years.  For example, over 2,000 injured and bereaved people have joined a class action which could possibly be struck out before it sees the light of day. Why? ‘What they’re alleging firstly is that there was no duty of care of the Australian government to the recipients of the vaccines,’ says Dr Melissa McCann. If the Australian government doesn’t have a duty of care to its citizens, then who does?
9. Enshrine human rights protections for Australians that actually protect Australians, including free and informed consent and the right to bodily autonomy. No ‘emergency’ or ‘unprecedented’ exceptions. Period.
10. Bring back real public health. It’s not rocket science. Radical ideas like eating well, exercising, sleeping well, socialising, and connecting with family and friends are important to physical and mental health and have huge impacts on individual and community health. Bring back basic public health messaging like Norm and the Life. Be in it campaign ‘cause we can all benefit from ‘30 minutes a day’ (especially after the Christmas ‘indulge’).

As we dive into the holiday season celebrating the end of another year and preparing for what’s ahead, let’s remember that the greatest gifts can’t be wrapped, and are often found alongside us in the faces of the people we love.

What’s on your Christmas wish list?