As we reflect back on 2023 in order to consider the challenges ahead, we thank all who have contributed to Croakey articles and activities over the past year. Your words have power and meaning, as highlighted in the selection of quotes below.
Each quote links to the source article, so you can also read more deeply.
January
The biggest advantage new variants have on us is our behaviour. The real Kraken is no longer the virus – it’s our monstrous level of indifference to the pandemic’s ongoing, and inequitable, carnage.
André Picard, a senior health journalist in Canada
For the global health community, this is the time to utilise our potential power and build bridges for peace. We can do what the politicians failed to do across centuries: we can connect people, communities and nations.
Dr Wahid Majrooh, Former Minister of Health of Afghanistan
February
Very few people around the world could claim to have done more to tackle climate change than Professor Will Steffen. He was a first class scientist and a world class communicator. Around the world and in Australia, many are mourning the loss of a valued and loved colleague.
Chris Bowen, Minister for Climate Change and Energy
We must use all the workforce skills we’ve got. We must reward good practice and continuity of care. We must encourage preventively oriented practice, including outreach calls by practice staff. We must keep access to high-quality care affordable to all.
Professor Stephen Duckett, after release of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce report.
Near-term thinking is making the problems we face today more intractable, divisive and dangerous. My message to politicians and decision makers: Don’t focus solely on what may happen to you today – and dither. Look at what will happen to all of us tomorrow – and act.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.
NZ Climate Minister James Shaw, quoting Winston Churchill
To salvage the future of the planet, and humanity, we must challenge existing systems of colonialism, capitalism, and extractivism that fuels climate change.
Gumbaynggirr nyami Amba-Rose Atkinson
March
Approving coal and gas projects now is like signing a death certificate for the planet.
Professor Fiona Stanley
Music should make you feel something or else it’s not doing its job.
Yirrmal
Gambling interests have political access that is not available to groups attempting to reduce the harms caused by gambling or to people with lived experience of the devastation that gambling can cause.
Carol Bennett, Alliance for Gambling Reform
The Robodebt debacle was the very opposite of healthy public policy – it was extraordinarily unhealthy public policy.
Professor Fran Baum
It is only by ignoring the costs of war – human, economic, environmental and other – that preparations for the next one can be announced with such triumphalism and pride.
Dr Sue Wareham, Medical Association for Prevention of War
The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years.
IPCC report
Whether it is lobbying your political representatives, joining protest movements, civil disobedience or whatever action you can think of. Time is running out and change has always come from activism forcing the hand of governments.
Professor Fran Baum
Prioritising equity and inclusion in all aspects of university life requires university leaders to take steps to dismantle systemic barriers that prevent marginalised communities from fully participating in university life.
Tessa-May Zirnsak and Dr Ben Habib
In Australia we have robust rules for engaging with tobacco companies, but we lack a coherent approach to engaging with industry in other areas such as gambling and food policy – and our policy outcomes are weaker as a result.
Dr Alexandra Jones
April
Our father was driven by a vision for the future of this nation, his people’s place in the nation and the rightful place for Aboriginal people everywhere.
Binmila Yunupiŋu, daughter of Yunupiŋu
Winning slowly is losing for climate action.
Adjunct Professor Tarun Weeramanthri, President of the Public Health Association of Australia
We need to see the home and urban environment as part of health infrastructure. Currently, the design of our houses and cities is determined more by developers than human health.
Dr Richard Di Natale
A strengthened and expanded community health sector would have the potential to address many of the health challenges expected in the future.
Jennifer Doggett, a Croakey editor
Scholars, theorists, policy makers, and practitioners worldwide need to recognise Indigenous human rights and Indigenous knowledge systems, and to decolonise psychology to implement Indigenous social and emotional well-being within policy and health systems.
Professor Pat Dudgeon, Dr Abigail Bray and Professor Roz Walker
May
The Indigenous workforce (health workers especially) experienced numerous pressures when responding to the challenges associated with COVID-19. This involved responding to the cultural and social needs of Indigenous communities; countering misinformation, hesitancy, and mistrust; and navigating workplaces that are not always culturally safe.
These pressures often resulted in fatigue and burnout. Stakeholders expressed that immediate action through the remuneration of overtime, implementation of flexible work arrangements, and recognising the cultural needs of both the workforce and patients were needed.
Professor Bronwyn Fredericks and colleagues
As the Pharmacy Guild goes into full hysteria mode, it’s worth remembering that 34 years ago the independent tribunal found the dispensing fee was too high. Since then it has been increased under every Community Pharmacy Agreement.
Charles Maskell-Knight
We have spoken about how Blak women can step into politics, the need to guarantee our women’s place in leadership positions, how to tell our own stories from a position of strength, what types of economies really work for us, how care is at the heart of well and functioning societies, how languages and our women’s Law keep our identity strong and our relationships to one another and the land interwoven.
Wiyi Yani U Thangani Summit communiqué
We need a new economic narrative that transforms financing for health from an expenditure to an investment, grounded in fundamental truths: that wellbeing and the economy are interdependent; that health is not only a key economic sector but also a cross-cutting lens through which to view many different sectors; that health is critical to the resilience and stability of economies worldwide; and that states can move from reactively fixing market failures to proactively and collaboratively shaping markets that prioritise human and planetary health.
Professor Mariana Mazzucato, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London.
June
In a world where people understandably experience climate distress and anxiety, the ability to protest peacefully and effectively is not merely a political right, it is part of the essential toolkit for mental health and wellbeing.
Roland Sapsford, Climate and Health Alliance
Embedding First Nations leadership and cultural knowledge within this Strategy will strengthen climate adaptation and emissions mitigation not only for First Nations communities but for all Australians.
Consultation paper for a National Health and Climate Strategy
The proliferation of hate and lies in the digital space is causing grave global harm. This clear and present global threat demands clear and coordinated global action.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Around 40,000 Australian children will go to bed tonight knowing that their mum, dad or carer is spending the night in prison. This number of children could fill a stadium and yet we as a society treat them like they barely exist.
Julie Hourigan, CEO of SHINE for Kids
Evidence that some people are turning away from important news subjects, like the war in Ukraine, national politics, and even climate change is extremely challenging for the news industry and for those who believe the news media have a critical role in informing the public as part of a healthy democracy.
Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023
To achieve the necessary greenhouse gas emissions reductions, both in Australia and globally, we must reduce military activity…Only a peaceful planet can be healthy and sustainable.
Dr Sue Wareham, President of the Medical Association for Prevention of War
The set of intertwined, existential crises all societies face – climate breakdown, biodiversity collapse, environmental destruction paired with increasing inequality, patriarchal oppression, social insecurity, and alienation – calls for a deep reset of the very meaning of ‘development’ and progress, everywhere.
Just Transition: A climate, energy and development vision for Africa
July
So by adding this layer to our Parliament, it’s actually going to make your Parliament stronger, it’s going to make the country stronger, it’s going to help us get the right direction.
Professor Kelvin Kong, NAIDOC 2023 Person of the Year, on The Voice to Parliament
The Robodebt story is a reminder of the importance of the health sector supporting and developing networks with wider civil society and those who champion more accountable governments and policy making. It is also an example of why the health sector must advocate loud and strong for better protections for whistle-blowers.
Dr Melissa Sweet
We should probably stop talking about a ‘cost of living’ crisis. When it is really an income and wealth distribution crisis.
Simon Rosenberg
To survive and thrive, deep systemic and societal change is required; our transition to a greener future should be equitable and ethical.
Doctors for the Environment Australia
August
Corporations have sought to portray themselves as socially progressive by engaging in discussions and practices about gender equity while simultaneously undermining women’s health.
Simone McCarthy and colleagues
What is Australia doing to address the fearful possibilities this summer might bring?
Dr Lesley Russell
We are up against industry giants who wield a huge amount of power and have a clear conflict of interest when it comes to taking any significant steps to improve our digital information ecosystem.
Professor Kathryn Backholer
Digital platforms/communications infrastructure is vital for the health and wellbeing of people, communities, Country and the planet. In an era of escalating crises and emergencies, including climate disruption, it should be regarded as essential infrastructure that must be accessible and available for all, noting its importance in emergency communications in particular.
#DigitalNationBuilding statement
As a healthcare organisation, we have a really strong responsibility to not just the current patients and population but also the future generations as well.
Dr Sarah Joyce
Just as no sensible politician would want to be seen as an ally of the tobacco industry, we must reveal the fossil fuel industry to be equally toxic and having outlived its social licence.
Dr Richard Yin
This referendum is about recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ important place in Australia’s history and future.
Adjunct Professor Janine Mohamed
September
The bottom line is that this program is being funded with taxpayers’ money and it should reflect their needs and priorities. MyMedicare may deliver some of what consumers want but it’s not a quick fix nor will it solve every primary care issue.
Dr Elizabeth Deveny, Consumers Health Forum
Since the founding of the UN and WHO in the aftermath of World War II, there has perhaps never been [a] more consequential moment for global health security.
Professor Lawrence Gostin and colleagues
Concerted efforts are needed to end the market dominance of powerful corporations such as Google, Meta and News Corp, and to ensure that all communities – geographic and interest-based – have access to safe, reliable and relevant news and information. This is particularly critical in a time of escalating climate crises and growing community polarisation.
Dr Megan Williams, Dr Melissa Sweet, Jennifer Doggett, Alison Barrett and Kelly Dargan
Too many well-intentioned people working to improve health seem reluctant to challenge the status quo, too much research remains apolitical and too little action is undertaken with wider coalitions for social justice.
Professor Kent Buse
October
The work that we all do – especially in health, in large majority – is for our next generation. We have this opportunity, let’s not let it pass us by.
Karl Briscoe
The decision that Australians make on 14 October will send our country down one of two paths. Regardless of the path we are sent on, the outcome of the referendum should be a catalyst for change.
Beck Thompson
The conflict in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory is an awful reminder of how quickly the health of millions of people can be put at risk. War will bring nothing but destruction and horror.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
The support for the referendum collapsed from the moment Liberal and National Party leaders, Mr Dutton and Mr Littleproud, chose to oppose the Voice to Parliament proposal after more than a decade of bipartisan support.
Multiple authors
We were 3.8 percent of the population and now we are 39.5 percent. We are 39.5 percent who are grounded in solidarity and filled with the ancestral fire to address injustice and reimagine an Australia that we can all be proud of.
Nicole Hewlett
Big problems need big solutions. Therefore, we must shift our perspective on the climate emergency from being just an isolated environmental issue to a systemic, existential threat.
Professor William Ripple and colleagues
November
Governments and mainstream organisations must address the systemic, ingrained racism that our people face every day, and commit to promoting real cultural safety in their environments.
National Health Leadership Forum, representing the views of 12 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations working in health and wellbeing
Everyone was just asking for water and food. Instead of being at school, learning, children were asking for a sip of water and a piece of bread. It was heart wrenching. Above all, people were asking for a ceasefire. They want this tragedy to end. It was one of the saddest days in my humanitarian work.
Philippe Lazzarini
As global health professionals, we have witnessed the continual refusal and/or failure to act by those in positions of power and trust: on the climate and environmental crisis, on sustainable development, on socioeconomic inequity, on harmful commercial interests, and on conflict…it is increasingly clear that we cannot leave it to others to act without speaking up. Silence is itself part of the problem.
Open letter from health professionals calling for ceasefire in Gaza and peace in the region
As doctors who are committed to caring for refugees here in Australia, and who witness the long-lasting effects of war, we beseech our medical organisations to speak the truth we know about violence and war. We call on all Australian medical colleges and associations to call for a ceasefire.
Dr Mariam Tokhi, Dr Amireh Fakhouri and Dr Lester Mascarenhas
Climate change is placing human health and survival at risk in every region of the world.
The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
Like many countries, Australia faces complex problems that threaten the health of children, young people and future generations. These include the climate emergency, obesity, the mental health crisis, and inequities in Australian society.
Dr Sandro Demaio
December
If the world can watch this scale of brutality and suffering and not prevent it, we have lost our common humanity.
The Elders
We don’t know everything about COVID but there is sufficient evidence to identify some modifiable factors that have increased the mortality rate among aged care residents, including low rates of hospital transfer, poor infection control practices, inadequately trained relief staff and low staffing ratios.
Jennifer Doggett
A Labor Government had the vision and courage 40 years ago to introduce Medicare as a universal health insurance system – for everything except dental disease. It is time for another Labor Government to find the courage to initiate a plan to provide universal dental coverage.
Charles Maskell-Knight
We will not tolerate these actions. We will not sit silently. We will speak. We will stand. We will hikoi. We will disrupt. We will resist.
Professor Leonie Pihama on behalf of Te Wharepora Hou
The final report from COP28 is disappointing, but it does not change reality: we need to phase out fossil fuels now, regardless of the words on the page.
Raphaëlle Haywood, from the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter
Also read: On the year that was, and finding reasons for hope
