As we described it during this week’s Very Crikey Christmas event, 2021 was a classic dispiriting sequel to 2020. It had all the same basic moves — democracy eroding as surely as a sand dune assailed by rising sea levels, long periods where most of the country was locked in their homes, fracturing social cohesion, protests threatening something potentially terrifying — but with none of the novelty or excitement of the original.
If 2020 was a bin fire, in 2021 the bin rolled over the edge of a cliff, fell into the ocean and bobbed, still smouldering, off towards the horizon.
So as you would expect after a year as royally depressing as 2021, it’s a crowded and competitive field for Crikey‘s 2021 Arsehat of the Year Award — the year was lousy with the lousy, a fish rotting from the head, with relentless corruption, dishonesty and incompetence at state and federal level setting the tone.
But such times have a happy talent for producing the opposite, too — people who showed amazing courage and fortitude or simply said what needed to be said.
Voting for Crikey‘s Person of the Year and Arsehat of the Year closes midday on Thursday December 23, and the winners will be announced the next day. Get your ballots in!
Arsehat of the Year nominees
The Doomsday Experts
We need trust in experts more than ever, and the likes of Norman Swan (who blithely admitted he “probably did cause some vaccine hesitancy”) Bill Bowtell, Raina MacIntyre, Zoe Hyde and others are, of course, all entitled to their views on the management of COVID. But the constant reporting of those views (regardless of how regularly their doomsday prediction turned out to be off the mark, or regardless of the strict relevance of their area of expertise) has not, we submit, been good for the public discourse in a time of crisis.
Jeannette Young
Young is a separate category altogether. Say what you want about the doomsday experts, they wouldn’t be much of a problem if they didn’t get the constant attention of the media. Jeannette Young, as one of the many celebrity chief health officers in the time of COVID, has different responsibilties. Her proclamation that 18-year-olds in her state shouldn’t take a demonstrably safe vaccine was, ostensibly, because of the vanishingly rare blood clotting disease, though conveniently it also scored political points against Scott Morrison. It was inevitably seized on by the anti-vaxxers, and she stood by it even after it became clear the Delta variant could put children in hospital.
The premiers
Never had the state level of politics had more power, and never had they looked less worthy of it. There was Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation and the humiliating ICAC experience that followed. Annastacia Palaczszuk’s use of false information to encourage vaccine hesitancy in her state. Steven Marshall’s comically addled government in South Australia. And yes, we’re including the scandal-plagued and plague scandal prone Dan Andrews (who must be thanking his lucky stars that the opposition in Victoria is a literal clown car) and emperor of the hermit kingdom Mark McGowan in this list.
Christian Porter
We make absolutely no assessment whatsoever on the allegations he faced at the beginning of the year. He’s in this list for the series of catastrophic errors of judgement that followed. In some ways, his case is reminiscent of former Arsehat recipient Angus Taylor, a man whose uninspiring record in public life had never been allowed to slow his journey toward the top. Until this year, when something that could not be swatted away let loose an avalanche of poor decisions: refusing to stand aside or allow an investigation, suing the ABC, portraying the nothing result as a victory, and, finally, thinking it was in any way fine to have a blind trust helping him fund his legal actions.
Scott Morrison
The prime minister, having been robbed of the title in 2020, responded like the true champion Arsehat he is, redoubling his efforts. Where to start? The habitual and compulsive lying that eroded our democracy and humiliated Australia on the world stage? The sneering contempt for any kind of accountability? The chaotic botching of the vaccine rollout? The horrifying response to the allegations of sexual assault in Parliament House? He’s been an all-timer this year.
The anti-vaxxers
A big group, but it’s hard to pick just one of the many forces that looked to exploit vaccine anxieties for personal gain. Whether it’s politicians like Craig Kelly, Gerard Rennick and Pauline Hanson, neo-Nazi figures, opportunistic wellness influencers, or groups encouraging anti-vax sentiments in Indigenous communities, their actions are beneath contempt.
Adem Somyurek
Somyurek has come to represent the ugliest side of the Victorian Labor party with the branch stacking scandal of 2020. Since then, he’s returned as an irony-free lecturer on good government, obsessed with ruining Dan Andrews’ life, returning to Parliament to vote against the flawed but necessary pandemic laws, thus giving more oxygen to the kind of people who set up gallows outside parliaments.
Person of the Year nominees
Grace Tame
When she was accepting her award as Australian of the Year for her role in the “Let Her Speak” campaign, Tame surely couldn’t have known what was to come. Tame became one of the faces and voices of Australia’s long-delayed reckoning with the treatment of women in public life. To sum up using her own words, which concluded her powerful address to the National Press Club: “Share your truth. It is your power. One voice, your voice, and our collective voices can make a difference. We are on the precipice of a revolution whose call to action needs to be heard loud and clear … Let’s keep making noise, Australia.”
Brittany Higgins
Higgins’ bravery and principles in going public with her alleged rape in Parliament House will be remembered for a long time to come. She sparked a long-overdue debate about gender-based violence in Australia and gave Australian women a figure to rally behind as they marched in Canberra and across the country to say enough is enough. And she did this in the face of insults from her former employer, who expressed regret in public and called her a “lying cow” in private. She did it in the face of the old boys brigade in the media, keen on muddying the waters. And most of all, she did it in the face of alleged backgrounding from the Prime Minister’s Office — Morrison made an extremely equivocal denial and then released all of the smears he was accused of saying as part of the report into the matter anyway.
Scott Robertson
As counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Scott Robertson was dry, understated and forensic, giving Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her former secret partner, disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire, no wiggle room whatsoever during the explosive hearings held in November.
Matt Kean
As the NSW Environment Minister, Matt Kean this year managed to do what Scott Morrison could not: get the Nationals on board with an ambitious emissions reduction target. This makes him one of the very, very few politicians in 2021 to produce a response other than fury, disgust or just toe-curling embarrassment.
Samantha Maiden
She was far from the only woman to produce staggering reporting this year, but Samantha Maiden’s work formed the spine of that bracing moment in March, sending shudders down the dam of silence that has so long existed around harassment in Parliament House. She produced one blockbuster story after another, setting the national debate and having a big part in bringing about changes that have seen ministers and a backbencher offer their resignation. Once again, for her trouble, she was the anonymous recipient of a smear from the prime minister — for which he would have to later offer a shame-faced retraction.
Jacqui Lambie
The Tasmanian senator was the recipient of a huge number of votes from Crikey readers this year. She delivered one of the speeches of the year in Parliament, tearing into One Nation for its anti-vaccine mandate bill: “Being held accountable for your own actions isn’t called discrimination, it’s called being, you wouldn’t believe it, a goddamn bloody adult.” It could have been the year’s motto.
Sam Kerr
Kerr, the Australian women’s football team captain, continued her trajectory as one of Australia’s all-time greats, scoring 21 goals for Chelsea in the Women’s Super League and winning the Golden Boot. But let’s face it, she makes it onto the list for executing a perfect hip-and-shoulder to drop a pitch invader. She earned a standing ovation from the crowd, a yellow card from the ref, and the pitch invader had to be removed from the field with a mop and bucket. Look, we’re not condoning violence, but watching Kerr do to this specimen of male entitlement what most women in Australia been wanting to do all year to every smug-faced male politician and talking head who’s had the audacity to speak on behalf or over the top of Australian women was just *chef’s kiss*.
Once again, voting for Crikey‘s Person of the Year and Arsehat of the Year closes midday on Thursday December 23, and the winners will be announced the next day.
Seriously? Young, Bowtell, MacIntyre, Hyde, the premiers that kept the country reasonably free of the chronic suffering and death toll wreaked by this virus (look overseas? Compared to the Morrison, Perrottet, Trump, Johnson, Bolsonaro “let-‘er-rip” school of thought) in spite of what the likes of Morrison, Perrottet and the business lobby wanted, to sacrifice health and lives for profit? That sort of ‘health first’ priority over the “economy first” – is considered to lump them in the same category as Porter, Morrison, anti-vaxxers and Somyurek (a boutique Victorian twisted labor log? On this list?)? Who’s buttering your bread?
No thanks.
I agree.
Upchuck making, neither rhyme nor reason for the field.
….. Is that you Chris Lorax?
It is you Chris.
Agree 100% – a very poor piece of work. Do they get paid for this rubbish?
…. From upstairs?
Alas, yes.
By voluntary subscribers.
Bait & Switch.
Thank you for saying what I also was thinking, klewso. The Chief Health Officers have a tough job. I too think Dr Young’s comments on that occasion were ill advised, but that was a mistake, not deliberate malfeasance. If you do a job that’s difficult, eventually you’re going to make an error. To snipe at her and her fellow CFOs in this way is cheap, ignorant, smart-@r$ery that does no service to journalism.
On the other hand, it must be said that the rest of the respective fields are populated with very worthy contenders.
Hmm. Auto-complete seems to have had a bit of fun with my character substitution. I’m sure my intended meaning shines through…
*= CHOs
Should’ve noted, as others have, that Norman Swan and the various public health professionals named have also copped a very unfair deal from this article.
Maybe it’s a “both sides” thing. Many extremists on the Right so Crikey has to find a few moderates to “balance things out”? We didn’t have a Covid emergency in Queensland so Governor Young (she is now!) put protecting kids from possible side-effects, above the need for them to get vaccinated.
What didn’t get as much air play was that on the morning Jeanette Young made that comment, she had a report on her desk, from the Coroner stating an 18 year old female had died from a “classic Covid19 adverse reaction”, clotting incident resulting in a stroke.
If I had been standing there with the cameras rolling and someone asked me if I wanted my 18 year old grandchild to receive a Boris’ Brew, I would have said No! much more plainly than Jeanette.
As it is I have a husband who has never quite been as well since his AZ vaccination.
As a Queenslander, she is in the wrong category.
Totally agree with klewso et al. on the side of ‘go hard, go early’ group of experts who were simply trying to contain the pandemic & its consequences as much as possible i.e. curb transmission, spread, illness and deaths. Prevention as well as risk & harm minimisation has always been at the core. This so-called “doomsday” group, which actually consists of many more than those selectively named (targeted) by Crikey, have greatly helped to inform the public of alternative approaches as opposed to the official government highly subjective ‘proportionate response’ (after the horse has bolted) ‘acceptable low risk‘ school who somehow delude themselves that this will adequately protect the public from harm while protecting jobs and the economy.
When I first began to read this article and came across #1 nominees listed in “The Doomsday Experts” I was shocked & angered – and offended. I thought I’d come across another hit-piece by Adam Schwab and had to do a double check of authorship. But no, surprisingly it’s the work of two other Crikey authors.
I’m fairly new to Crikey and am still in my 1st subscription. I enjoyed the daily selection in the Worm news round-up so much that I even purchased two gift subscriptions for friends currently overseas so they could keep abreast of the latest here. But with this latest unedifying end of year effort, I’m ashamed and I now regret the gift subs. This reflects on me, but it doesn’t actually represent my views.
So – do I opt out of Crikey now altogether in protest or would this be like throwing the baby out with the bath water? I’ll give it a bit more thought. But one thing’s for certain: I will not be purchasing any more gift subscriptions.
And forget asking for the return of the remainder of the subscription – bait & switch, take the money and give the finger is the biz. model here.
Bit harsh ? Subscribing doesn’t have to mean agreeing with their opinions. I subscribe to The Guardian and The Australian as well as Crikey – mainly to see the breadth of opinion around, as well as to be entertained by the loony left fringe and the fuming right’s indignation at everything young and modern
Welcome to Stealer’s Wheel – the professional hacks present their opinions : the amateurs respond.
The first 3 nominees on the Arsehat list sum up perfectly why I no longer subscribe to Crikey. Take a look around the world, get some perspective and some gratitude.
Seriously, if you are going to nominate Norman Swan you’d be better off nominating yourselves for areshats of the year. Anyone who has listened to Coronacast and the Health Report throughout the pandemic would realise Swan has been a consistently brilliant communicator, more than happy to admit when he got things wrong but more often right than wrong. He has been the best resource ordinary people have had throughout the pandemic and nothing pisses me off more than the chorus of naysayers who paint him as the devil incarnate.
100% in agreement with you, lloydois. I am outraged to see Swan mentioned in the Arsehat section. How dare you (Lewis and Champagne).? But more importantly – please explain why. And your throwaway “blithely admitted” line did you no credit. Did you actually read and understand that particular referenced article? The man was a beacon of light in a sea of intentional deceit and obfuscation from Morrison et al. In fact, I would place him in the list of PotY.
I am also bemused by Ms Higgins inclusion in the PotY list. For all the media hype and gushing interviews, I see her as a sad young lady who totally lacked judgement with alcohol, to the point where, by her own admission, she was uncertain about exactly what did happen on that night at Parliament House.
@meme48
Did this event remind you of something you may have done as a callow youth?
“Sad young lady who totally lacked judgement with alcohol”.
Did you not see the Parliament House female security guard’s description of her?
She sounded much more likely to have been drugged than drunk, does that help your snide nasty comments?
The old saying of “Slipped a Mickey Finn”, does that help?
It won’t help her legal case, because the obliging housekeeping staff steam cleaned the lounge on a Sunday morning and Brittany was too sick to go for a urine test for drugs. (Thus no hard evidence).
No one said that her allegation will stand up in court, because the reason most people don’t report a rape is because they don’t want to relive this event over and over.
If you are drugged or drunk then tell me again, about “Consent”??
“I see her as a sad young lady who totally lacked judgement with alcohol” … and / or a date rape drug. Maybe the trial (including testimony from other victims) will lift a veil, affect your view and remove your bemusement.
Seconded.
Thirded.
Sorry Crikey, you are off the mark re Mark McGowan. Nine out of ten of us West Aussies are very grateful for his decisive, proactive leadership. Hermit Kingdom NOT!!!!
Don’t worry old marmo, there are plenty of Eastern Staters who realize that Mark McGowan has done an absolutely terrific job in the first instance for Western Australia and then for the whole of Australia, in the way that he has managed this COVID crisis. He has shown real leadership. If I was a West Aussie I would want to remain in the “Hermit Kingdom”..
Yep, that one also sounded a bit rough, IMHO.
Mark McGowan is more deserving of Canonisation than Gladys of Willoughby.
Gladys of Warringah will have to wait it seems…
Gladys of Willoughby’s only likely canonisation is likely to be spelled cannonisation.
Go directly, do not pass go!
But such times have a happy talent for producing the opposite, too — people who showed amazing courage and fortitude or simply said what needed to be said. Marky Mark State Daddy to a T!
Unbelievable that you put the premiers as contenders for arsehat of the year. Between them they’ve saved tens of thousands of lives, and prevented hundreds of thousands more from the devastating experience of an extended stint in hospital followed by the extended recovery that entails.
What is it with the media class and their opposition to the lockdowns and other pandemic safety measures?
Totally agree with you grimace!! I thought that the (progressive) media class were better than that. Although if you go to the Murdoch stable you find that the smell becomes much, much worse!
Well! Now that nearly every Pollie has given up on trying to protect their citizens. Open slather and “let ‘er rip” rules, lets see what happens.
At first look, given the rapid rise of Covid infections, it seems to validate the action of locking down.
I personally thank the premiers of Victoria and W. Australia for their standing up to the Ferral Govt’s bullying.
Indeed! Perhaps our esteemed commentators would have preferred that we had state leaders like De Santis (Florida, population 22 million, covid deaths 62,000) or Abbott (Texas, population 30million, covid deaths 73,000)
But their businesses didn’t miss a beat – and that’s the priority for some people.
Scott Morrison would have to win by the length of the straight surely. Have we ever had a more loathsome individual as Prime Monster. He’s in a category of his own.
Don’t vote for him : and watch him lie about winning this one too.
SM wins by a street; a very mean street at that. To be able to put daylight between himself and Porter really takes some doing. And Porter is even more of an arse than described in the article. He deserves some kind of Lifetime Odium award just for his arsehatted, years-long, star-chamber persecution of Bernard Collaery and Witness X, which to my mind puts even the defamation-blind-trust shemozzle in the shade. Still, Morrison can’t be beaten by any reckoning.