CRYSTAL BALL PREDICTIONS FOR 2022
It’s time for the year’s most important column – one that will see the rise of fortunes and the demise of political careers. No one is spared from the power of the crystal ball and if there is future to be told then it will be told in this column. Seriously though, this is all tongue in cheek and I urge people to consider this column in jest.
I am sorry to inform all parents that the school year looks set for further disruptions. The shrinking number of school teachers, the growing number of school students, and the constant battering that the profession gets from the hands of ignorant politicians will see schools short staffed on more days than not.
The Prime Minister will spend the next 4 months being both for and against free speech; for and against climate change; for and against government action to address the pandemic; for and against the speed at which we must act. And then the Prime Minister will change careers and become a fireman.
The ghost of COVID is going nowhere soon. The next version of COVID, to be known as Pi, will sweep across the globe just like Omicron and Delta did. It will defy immunisations and Australia will be left in yet another whirlpool of no one being responsible for the poor response from Governments – “it was (insert name) fault!”
In June I can see a crypto-currency fail. I see a major hack of the online form of currency and I see billions and billions of dollars simply disappearing from people’s accounts. This will coincide with a stock market fall that will make the GFC seem like a sneeze. And Governments (ie: taxpayers) will again be left to foot the bill for all of the private wealth that is lost.
And finally, I see the NSW Government genuinely recognising that the economy deserves a shot in the arm and the quickest way to do that, most equitably across the State, is to increase public servant wages by 5%; which will be money immediately injected into local economies to the benefit of small and large business owners.
REFLECTING ON CRYSTAL BALL PREDICTIONS FOR 2021
Unfortunately the predication in last year’s crystal ball, that the vaccine rollout might be handled badly, came all too true. And incredibly, no matter who was asked, it was always someone else’s fault. Also in political terms, despite science leading our response to COVID, politicians continue to fail to accept the science behind things like climate change and as a result Australia embarrassed itself globally, over and over again.
Turns out Gladys didn’t see the end of the year, as predicted in the crystal ball column from 2020, yes 12 months ahead of its time. It also turns out that the major football codes didn’t have a year free of “gooses” – in fact if memory serves me, last year we had our first series of goose behaviour before my column even got printed. And it also turns out that passenger trains didn’t return to the villages of Cessnock (quite frankly I thought that this was a wild prediction by the Ball, but who was I to argue?).
And the former President of the U.S. still isn’t behind bars, despite the crystal ball predictions for the past 3-4 years. In fact, the former President hasn’t even had to table his tax returns, despite 5+ years of efforts to get hold of them. Nor has he admitted that he lost the last election, which in reality is as much to do with his mental state of being, as opposed to any potential crime.
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For enquiries regarding the State Government or its departments, or to put you in contact with someone who can help, please contact my office. My office can be contacted by phoning 4991-1466, by email to cessnock@parliament.nsw.gov.au or call into 118 Vincent Street (PO Box 242), Cessnock 2325.
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Cheers Clayton