Major Highlights in Australia 2021 Revisited
While 2020 presented unprecedented challenges globally with the first discovery of the “COVID-19” virus on January 9th, in Wuhan, China, we also witnessed the might of the human spirit united, combatting the biological warfare with vaccines being rolled out quicker than ever before.
A 2020 flashback across the globe saw Joe Biden become the 46th president of the United States, the Duke & Duchess of Sussex Royal Stepdown, the North Korean leader assassination, the Epstein & Weinstein scandals, Black Lives Matter campaign, stock market crash and staggering medical breakthroughs, to name a few.
In 2021, key events that were postponed from 2020 took LIVE, including: the Eurovision Song Contest, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, Expo 2020, many sporting events, including UEFA Euro 2020, the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, and the 2021 Copa América.
Australia in 2021 has experienced setbacks as well have seen progress in many fronts with highlights this year-to-date include:
- 1 January – The words of the Australian national anthem, “Advance Australia Fair” are changed for the first time since 1984. The line “For we are young and free” was amended to “For we are one and free”.
- 18 February – Social media giant, Facebook, blocked Australian news websites from sharing any news content on its platform. This prevented Facebook users from sharing news content or from accessing news content from overseas media channels.
- 22 February – The administration of the very first doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine took place in Australia.
- 19 March – New South Wales experienced a rain bomb, with huge floods drowning many parts of the state – not seen since 2012.
- 28 March – The government subsidy, JobKeeper came to a halt while targeted relief packages for industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic were put in place (example hospitality and tourism).
- 21 July – The announcement of Brisbane as host city for the 2032 Summer Olympics as well as the 2032 Summer Paralympics.
- 20 September – Melbourne experienced a large-scale protest by hundreds against mandatory vaccination for construction workers. This was held outside the Construction, Forrestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) headquarters.
- 25 September – The 2021 AFL Grand Final at Optus Stadium Perth saw the Melbourne Demons defeat the Western Bulldogs 21.14 (140) to 10.6 (66). The last premiership victory for the Demons was in 1964.
- 5 October – The Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian resigned after investigations commenced. She was replaced by Dominic Perrottet, her deputy, as Preimer and leader of the Liberal Party.
- 3 November – The nation was relieved as four-year-old toddler Cleo Smith, who disappeared from the Blowholes campsite was found alive and well by police in Canarvon, Western Australia.
As this year wraps up this month, an interesting article released by Google revealed information on the most searched for topics by Australians. And to no surprise, the top topic is Sports, followed by Corona Virus and Bitcoin!
The United Nations have declared 2021 declared as the International Year of Peace and Trust. Let’s continue to hope that concrete measures taken lay the stage for a better 2022 ahead.
