TRANSCRIPT
2023 has been quite the year.
It's ended as it began, with panic over housing prices.
The Coalition's Treasury spokesman, Angus Taylor, painted a grim picture.
"Middle Australia is being crushed by rising mortgage payments, rising prices, and rising taxes. Mortgage payments have increased by 7.6 per cent in the quarter, and they have almost tripled since Labor came into government."
The year has also been dominated by talk of affordability in the rental market.
Reports confirmed essential workers have been priced out of where they need to work, companies have reported they're unable to recruit workers because of the cost of housing, and there's been an increase in the numbers of people finding themselves homeless.
One man, Allah, told SBS News he has been living in a shed in Perth with three of his six children, apart from his wife and the rest of his family - because they haven't been able to find somewhere to live together.
"To be around my kids, even in a tent, I don't mind. All I want is to see my kids, to be around them."
Authorities and leaders spent the year wrangling ideas on reducing inflation, which was being largely driven by rental and commodity price increases.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers did his best to be the calming voice of reason, reassuring voters that the government was trying to help them cope with the rising cost of living with its fiscal decisions and the May budget.
" We understand and recognise that people are under substantial cost of living pressure but we are making welcome and encouraging progress in this fight against inflation. We saw that in the most recent data. Our cost-of-living plan is targeted to take some of the edge off these cost-of-living pressures without adding to inflation."
2023 has also been a year of tragedies.
In January, a helicopter crash on Queensland's Gold Coast claimed the lives of four people and injured eight others.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the mid-air collision occurred close to Sea World Resort Australia as one helicopter was landing and the other taking off.
He said an inquiry would look at why the accident happened.
"Queensland Police will continue their investigation and provide a report to the coroner. And Queensland authorities will continue to assist federal aviation authorities in any way they possibly can."
In New South Wales, two elderly women died in terrible circumstances in aged care, one - Claire Nowland - after allegedly being tasered by a police officer.
And the other on the state's central coast, after allegedly being sexually assaulted.
Detective Superintendent Jane Doherty said her heart went out to the victim and the other residents of the aged care home.
"It's horrendous that someone - any person - in the safety of their home would be attacked like this. But to attack a very defenceless old lady is beyond belief."
There have been other serious events too, on the political stage.
2023 was the year of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum, which was comprehensively defeated.
YES Campaign director Dean Parkin said they were heartbroken by the result.
"I want to speak very directly to those Australians who voted no, with hardness in your hearts. Please understand that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have never wanted to take anything from you. We have never and will never mean you (any) harm. All we have wanted is to join with you, our Indigenous story, our Indigenous culture."
Still on politics, and New South Wales got a new state government in the March state election, with Labor comprehensively defeating the Coalition to leave Tasmania as the only jurisdiction with a Liberal government.
Meanwhile two states lost their premiers to resignation.
Anastacia Palaszchuk quit politics in Queensland, while Daniel Andrews called time on his public service in Victoria.
"You never want to get to a place where you resent this job, this amazing, privileged and important opportunity. Every waking moment is about the work and there is only so long you can do that for."
While the Premiers sought to go out on a high, that has not been the case for big business.
An outage at Optus saw millions of people without a phone and internet connection in November, and some reportedly unable to make emergency Triple Zero calls.
CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin appeared before a parliamentary inquiry to apologise, and defend the company's response.
"The reality is that our network should have coped with this change, but on this occasion it did not. I can confidently assure the Australian public that we have made immediate changes to our systems to ensure that this specific issue will not cause another outage of this nature we experienced last Wednesday."
While the network survived, the CEO did not.
Ms Rosmarin's exit was the second high-profile commercial resignation in controversial circumstances this year, the first being Alan Joyce from Qantas.
And at its annual general meeting, Qantas investors were furious over a string of recent scandals at the airline, including complaints about customer service failures, and Mr Joyce's 21-million-dollar final payout.
But the new CEO, Vanessa Hudson, said she was determined to rebuild the brand and its reputation.
"While we arrive at this moment with some big challenges, we also have some enormous opportunities and an exciting future -a future that will see our brand recover."
This year has also seen some lighter moments.
Australian actress Margot Robbie starred in Barbie, a movie that went on to break box office records.
It also dominated on the internet, with Google confirming in its "Year in Search" results for 2023 that Barbie beat Oppenheimer for the movie trends' number one spot.
Margot Robbie said she was very happy with the response to the film.
"It's incredible. The enthusiasm people have shown all around the world and people showing up with their friends and wearing pink and getting dressed up - and like the amount of dudes that are showing up for this movie, I'm just - I'm thrilled."
This year also saw a frenzy for a limited number of tickets to see Taylor Swift in Melbourne and Sydney next February.
Anna Laisa Cho was one of the lucky fans to secure the hottest ticket in town.
"I've been a Swiftie fan since I was in high school - actually with my ex-boyfriend before, 'Love Story' was our theme song... Since last night I didn't really sleep well. I woke up three times I think, just checking my phone what time it is."
An unexpected light moment for Australia this year was the opulent coronation of King Charles, which the nation sent a delegation to.
Fans on social media noted the delegation was able to get a good look at the giant Faberge coronation egg displayed at the coronation ceremony, which they gleefully speculated was in fact the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
