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The best thing about writing The Echidna is reading it. Not my own words - I'll always find fault with those - but yours, esteemed readers. They fill me with joy every day.
The day starts early in the burrow - around 5.30am to check The Echidna has been sent. Then there's the wait for your comments to come in. When they begin to arrive early, I know we've struck a chord.
Often, it doesn't feel like work at all, more a lively conversation with a bunch of friends, some of whom have grown so familiar it seems remiss not to have sent Christmas cards.
I've gone back over your comments through what has been a busy year to put together a collection of some of the most memorable.
We'll start with the following from Daniel, received when we marked The Echidna's first birthday in March: "Thanks for being the conversation builder and verbal vent filter that we all need. It's truly wonderful to receive a newsletter that doesn't attempt to find out a readers' consumer predilections and devilishly dangle them in front of us in a mean attempt to part us with our well earned. The Echidna is all things social media isn't. The Echidna is something I'm happy to share my bed with each morning, even if the many pricks leave a mark sometimes!"
After we explored the history of Mother's Day and how its founder soon became disillusioned with its commercialism, we received this from Liz about her own mum: "One of her great gifts was the art of storytelling. One of my favourites was the story of how it was decided when she was 13, that she was very bright and should continue her schooling. So in 1941, as World War II was raging, she was sent on a two-week voyage on a sailing boat, in the middle of the South Pacific, to the main island of her South Pacific group. It was the second boat she had ever seen, and she left behind the 150 people she had ever known. Her future took her to many places, many adventures and many stories. My mother's generation began in an utterly different world and yet, this amazing generation adapted seamlessly (mostly) as their world changed. Such resilience!"
And when Garry wrote a beautiful tribute to his dad in September, this came from Joe: "My old man at 96 is also a tough old bastard, still lives at home on his own. At 15 he fled Ukraine and worked on my grandparents' farm in the Black Forest area of Germany where he married my mum (who had Parkinson's and passed nine years ago). He migrated to Australia in 1949 - a big decision to move to an unknown country and not speak the language. Now history repeats with Ukraine at war with Russia. This tough old bastard watches SBS news and admits he has tears. Spent last night in hospital due to breathing difficulties but home now. Will take more than that to be the end of him."
Speaking of Ukraine, The Echidna revealed Australian cardboard drones had been used against Russian military targets. Lee wrote: "This sounds like a typical Aussie story. Pack a beer box with explosives, add a few wings and a tail and she'll be right. I love this type of ingenuity. How people come up with things like this is beyond me. But good on them. And, no it doesn't worry me that an Aussie beer box is front line in the war."
When we sympathised with the Ballarat teacher forced to resign after her expletive-laden feedback session to students was posted online, Elizabeth wrote: "I have nothing but sympathy for this teacher. You can hear the passion and frustration in her voice, and her criticism of their essays sounds entirely justified. The sad thing is that the student who posted this video probably thought it was all just a huge joke. The teacher has lost her job and suffered public humiliation, while those apathetic and entitled students will probably continue to write really crap essays. Thank you for the Echidna. It's always a great start to the day."
When we slaughtered that sacred Australian cow, sport, we expected backlash. Not so. Deidre wrote: "Could not agree more. As an Australian, I have had sport rammed down my throat for the past 50-odd years. I applaud Daniel Andrews' cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games. I hope Brisbane cancels the 2032 Olympics. I was disgusted by the Sydney Olympics - which relocated disadvantaged people out of their communities and even some First Nations people off country - with far-reaching consequences that linger well beyond 2000. We have urgent problems we need to address as a society and rewarding and promoting greed certainly doesn't help the majority. Why can't we promote and celebrate generosity and cooperation instead of greed and competition?"
Some of the commentary came from unexpected places. Dominique from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, responded to our questioning of the AUKUS arrangement: "Good on you! It is so refreshing to read your plain-speaking comments in general and especially about AUKUS! We need you also on this side of the Pacific! The United States are spending billions (trillions?) on a proxy war that is killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of people and poisoning the richest agricultural land, thereby condemning millions of innocent people to famine - all in pursuit of elusive supremacy against the other superpowers Russia and China - and not budgeting for free school lunches and health care for all. Why would Australia want to join such a fool's errand instead of building good relationships with its own neighbours (Oceania, SE Asia, etc.), feeding its children, and taking care of its great, but endangered environment?"
Our biggest response this year was to our story about how Boomers get blamed for everything. The comments kept coming for days and when the story was published online it attracted thousands of readers. This was from Marilyn: "Thank you for spelling it out to those who delight in heaping scorn and abuse on we who had the temerity to be born a Baby Boomer. Everything is relative and while house prices are astronomical now relative to the average wage, I don't recall ever having money to even spend on a flat white, let alone dream of going to a concert. Free education came almost a decade after my year 12 so no university for me. I think we called it 'scrimp and save' back then. Literally. Meanwhile, having saved via super for my rainy days, I do help my children when they ask and even when they don't. It's rewarding to see them benefit now as I won't when I've finally had the decency to shuffle off."
As the year draws to a close, some words of thanks. To Garry, whose words set a bar so high, it's impossible to clear. To Steve and Jenna, who step in whenever I'm off wandering. To JP and Kate and DMac in the background. But above all to you readers for making The Echidna a powerhouse of conversation. I look forward to catching up in the New Year.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Was there a particular Echidna that stood out for you in 2023? What topics would you like The Echidna to cover in 2024? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Allegations that TikTok has engaged in data scraping has led the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to consider investigating the social media app's handling of personal information. The agency said its inquiries followed findings from the UK Information Commissioner's Office that more than 1 million UK children under 13 were using the app in 2020, and that the company had not done enough to check who was using the app.
- Lifeguards are urging swimmers to keep safe at the beach following a harrowing number of drownings this Christmas period. Remember to swim between the flags to avoid rips and undercurrents. Further safety advice here.
- At least 40 people have died following the explosion of a fuel tanker in north-central Liberia. The truck crashed late on Tuesday in Totota, Lower Bong County, and soon after exploded, killing and injuring many who had flocked to the scene.
THEY SAID IT: "Don't just count your years, make your years count." - George Meredith
YOU SAID IT: Garry wrote about the quintessential Australian dish, in all its culturally informed varieties.
"I loved your story last Friday about food, and it brought back many memories of the delicious foods my nanna made," wrote Jane. "One thing however, we were eating Chinese food brought home in our own saucepans, from the early 1960s, in Brisbane. We also sometimes had takeaway in foil-lined cardboard cake boxes too, depending on which Chinese restaurant/takeaway we bought it from: The Golden Crown at Ashgrove, which had a popular large restaurant upstairs and the takeaway downstairs, was saucepans; Milton, a small takeaway only, had the foiled-lined cardboard cake boxes. I still often think what a better way to do it than the dreadful plastic containers that replaced them, especially as the foil was usually washed and reused! I think we're so lucky to have so many different cuisines available to us here. How boring mealtimes would be if it was all 'meat and three veg'."
Gary added a geographical perspective: "Since the majority of Australians live on or adjacent the coast ... seafood ... and there's a myriad of varieties ... must come close to a national dish ... the First Australians harvested the waterways. That's what we had for Christmas lunch."
Another vote for vegies from Rosemary. "Lamb, pork with crackling and chicken well done is definitely a favourite in our family. Along with a multiple supply of veg. Vegies have to be just past the crunch stage. Taste has become more diverse."
Robert says it was always lamb on his plate. "Sorry to hear about your grandmother's cooking, Garry, but I was brought up on lamb and I still love it, in roasts, chops, casseroles, any way at all. We only had chicken twice a year, at Easter and Christmas."
A slow roast is the solution, says Stuart: "Yeah, roast lamb with meat still pink. Roast potatoes, peas and carrots. Slow roasting has cured your grandmother's problem!"
Lorraine has put a twist on things. "I'm thinking a prawn, mango and avocado salad topped with walnuts. Definitely not a meat and three veg girl. I like foods with flavour."
And speaking of flavour, Hilary has fond memories of her mother, who came to love stir fries: "I have heard it said that the British colonised the world in search of good food. But the trouble is they brought bad food with them. My parents immigrated from the UK with British cooking traditions. I too had very bland food as a child in the '50s. Roast beef or lamb for Sunday lunch with the leftovers served cold with overcooked vegetables during the week. My mother's specialties with the Sunday roast were crisp roast potatoes followed by apple pie with an exquisite shortcrust pastry. They were good memories. However my horror memory was tongue cooked in the pressure cooker (what a smell) and served cold with salad for lunch. Fortunately the influence of our Asian immigrants finally took hold. Stir fry vegetables with a little meat was what sustained a very healthy mother well into her 90s but then she had to suffer the bland food at an aged care facility in the last few years of her life. She was not impressed. I hope Maggie Beer succeeds in her quest to improve food in aged care homes."