“She’ll be right” because we’ll make it right

In a strange time, a strange thing is happening to our cultural fabric. Australians are redefining what it means to say “she’ll be right”. No longer does it mean we shrug things off or just hope for the best. It means “she’ll be right because we’ll make it right”.

In 2020, when we say “she’ll be right” we mean that …

1. We planned – when the government said “buy a few more things” at every weekly shop. We did. And mostly we did it with calmness, kindness and sensibility.
2. We self-isolated before we were ordered to – depending on the school, up to a third of parents pulled their kids out of schools early.
3. We worked from home – before government told us to, hundreds of businesses told their workers to work from home. Be safe, and stop the spread, we said.
4. We are working together – we are banding together against a virus in a true show of community. Thousands of us are making sure “others’ll be right” by reaching out to our neighbours, health workers, elderly strangers and family members to offer help. We are cooking meals and picking up shopping. We’re scheduling check-in phone calls, and sharing jokes. We’re asking RUOK and spending the time to listen? And our political leaders are showing us what a joy it truly is to have politicians working as one.
5. We are prioritising kindness – most of the time, we’re speaking kindly and politely because we know it’s stressful for everyone.
6. We say thank you – because we should. Because it’s the right thing to do. And because we know that Australia will only be ‘right, if our essential workers and our health workers continue to work so tirelessly for all of us.

So thank you to those of you doing your bit to make sure Australia’ll be right. Thank you to our health workers for keeping us healthy; to the staff at Woolies, Coles and Aldi, who serve us and hope they’ll stay healthy themselves; to our journalists for keeping us informed; to the truck drivers for getting our medical supplies and our food to the right place and on time; to our government bureaucrats for your sleepless nights and exhausting days; and to our political leaders for being strong when you probably feel scared too.

And thank you to ordinary Australians staying at home, staying at a distance, and helping to stop the spread.