'2020 taught us all to care more': Border leaders look ahead with hope

If 2020 has taught us anything, it is the fact that we will give whatever it takes to defend our part of the world. There aren't too many places that have such a selfless culture.

It has been extremely tiring though, we won't forget that. At times you have asked "What could possibly be next?", yet continued to keep on pushing. That drive will allow us to leave this year in history. A moment in time I'm sure future generations will want to hear about, following the phrase "back in my day..."

We should look around our community with even greater pride than we would traditionally.

Personally, I've found the observations of others helped remind me of what we have. In other words, perspective. The tree changers that choose Wodonga (and surrounds) as a place to start a new life. The comparison of our news headlines to those on the other side of the world.

However you arrive at the conclusion, I'm sure you'll agree that through all the threats, we have still maintained our pride and identity. This isn't luck. It has taken hard work and sacrifice from all of us.

I have no doubt we will see more of this during 2021, and I encourage you not to lose sight of what makes us proud. Keep chipping in where you can, look out for those you love, but more importantly the people you don't know.

I wish we could remove any pain caused by 2020, however stand ready to enter 2021 with the knowledge we will all continue to be kind, and support each other through whatever challenges arise.

On behalf of my fellow councillors, I wish you all the best for 2021. Stay strong and stay positive.

It has been a tough year for many, especially here on the border, but I am incredibly proud of our community and of the resilience and innovation our people showed, even as our economy and family lives took a battering.

I hope we can draw upon that underlying strength as we look to continue our recovery into 2021 - and the signs are encouraging. In the past month I have seen a strong uplift in our economy.

We can build on that recovery by continuing to work as 'Two Cities One Community', making us so much stronger together. As part of that, we need to leverage state and federal governments to provide us with support for growth as we continue to work on critical issues such as border anomalies and further improving our education and health services.

I think 2020 has taught us all to care more for each other and reach out to our most vulnerable. During this period I sincerely hope we do not forget that lesson and continue to display generosity and support to each other.

Lastly, I would like to thank our emergency services, the first responders, nurses, doctors and allied health services who have toiled through a difficult year of horrific bushfires and a pandemic. They have provided our community with high-quality service, care and empathy and to them and their families, I send my gratitude and love from all of our community. Keep safe, and let's make 2021 a great year.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Each of us will carry our own particular memories of 2020, and the true picture will resemble a kaleidoscope of memories from many different vantage points.

For my part I feel what I have seen is a reflection of the Australian identity that we don't always dwell on. We speak of the laconic nature of the Australian, but what doesn't perhaps get noticed is the Australian way of when there is a job to be done, we get in and do it. It might be our front-line firefighters - men and women who did amazing things under immense pressure and danger in the hills to our east. It might be the businesses that reached out and assisted other businesses during the border closure.

That is not to hide the more challenging aspects of the year. There was little respite, if any, as we went from bushfires into the challenge that was the global pandemic. The difficulty of the first wave was dwarfed by the closure of the border. I acknowledge the trauma experienced by those in a desperate bid to reach the bedside of a family member in their last hours or to support someone having surgery or in need of mental health support, or unable to get to work. Separated by lines on a map yet within the one nation.

In a year that has had many challenges an upside has been the season. Good crops, and headers in paddocks going full tilt give a lift that has been very much needed.

No doubt 2021 will present its own set of challenges.

I thank you all for playing your part. In our communities we looked out for one another and lent a hand for the protection of others. This New Year is a time to acknowledge the accomplishment of this community against the challenges flung at it; and to continue to reach out to one another.

Whatever is to befall us in 2021, I know that our community spirit will help see us through.

January. Unsettling. Orange skies, acrid smoke, P92 masks, evacuation centres in Corryong, Tallangatta, Wodonga, Wangaratta. Rows of army cots. Hundreds of people bunkered together. 'Social distancing' had not entered our collective vocabulary.

March. Evacuation centres replaced with testing stations. More masks but the P92s of summer were no good for COVID so we started making our own. Some quirky. Some bland.

No longer driven from our houses, we drove nowhere. Confined to home. Life seemed to be standing still, but the pages of the 2020 calendar just kept turning. Stunned businesses who only weeks before were filling the empty eskies of generous city visitors now clearing their fridges and shutting their shop doors.

Weddings, parties, anything - everything cancelled. Furloughed workers, JobKeepers, JobSeekers.

We learned a lot in 2020 - but what, exactly, did we learn? We slowed down. We 'visited' elderly relatives through glass. We shed our tears at funerals via 'streaming' services. We felt anxious. Uncertain. Lonely. Lost. Angry. Confused. Tired.

Some people felt better. As we stood at dawn in driveways across the nation on Anzac day, we learnt that some traditions can go on.

Some people had fun. There were Zoom drinks. Some discovered or rediscovered the garden. Many walked.

And it rained. 2020 brought the finest agricultural season we have experienced in a generation.

When pushed we can find beds for people living on the street. When forced, we can see the previously invisible with new eyes.

We understand now what it means to step up to the duty of a doctor or nurse or a firefighter in the most perilous of circumstances. We can see what and who it takes to keep our supermarket shelves filled. To value our teachers. We learnt what it feels like to have our border closed to us.

My hope for 2021 is that in the telling of the 2020 stories we have learnt to be alive to one another's struggles and to work together to achieve a safer and fairer region. And a better Australia.

Very few would even have dreamt how this year continues to pan out, with individuals and families (likewise the federal government) forced to adapt and adjust to the unknowns and variables of a global medical emergency, smack bang after the Black Summer fires.

The impact of the coronavirus in Farrer seemed to characterise everything we did; stretching us with heartbreaking examples of loved ones kept apart, the massive hit to small business (particularly during border closures), and the sad death of a local woman in April.

The work of our police and Defence personnel, emergency services, medical staff and volunteers deserve special acknowledgement, some leaving family and friends behind for extended periods to help protect us from danger. I sincerely hope you receive a well-earned rest after an unremitting 12 months.

A rollercoaster also for our ever-resilient farmers, perhaps the best outcome this year has been more consistent rainfall and an emergence from drought, producing some bumper crops and yields.

Into 2021 the Morrison government's focus will remain on delivering both the local and broader economic support we need to move past the pandemic, helping Farrer's communities more confidently tackle the path ahead. Best wishes for this festive period and a brand-new year ahead.