The year that never was

2018 has been the most pointless of my 87 years.

Nothing dreadful happened to me or Australia. It was just a boring time of decadent politics and absent ethics in which not one inspiring thing happened and there was much to lament.

There are many regrettable issues that deserve a mention, but I will talk about just three.

The Royal Commissions on Child Abuse and Aged Care.

The Royal Commission on Banking

The demise of Malcolm Turnbull.

I write, not as a lament, but in the hope of working out how we can make sure they are never repeated. There simply has to be a better way to run our country.

Looking first at Child Abuse, the year has revealed that we have learned little from this huge human tragedy.

Every effort has been made to pay the smallest possible number of dollars to the victims and to avoid having the perpetrators punished. Churches in particular still insist on the confidentiality of confessions and the need to forgive sinners, rather than spending time restoring the shattered lives of victims. As an Elder of my Church of 60 years service, I am disgusted, but I know that I should have been more vigilant during those six decades and taken action much earlier.

And it is not over for my Church. The new Royal Commission into Aged Care will find that Nursing Homes run by my Church have too often abused the elderly in their care. They have been a source of revenue, not human beings who still have potential to enjoy life and help others.

When it is all over, it will be a wonder if anyone will go through a Church door anywhere. I will turn up every Sunday to try to work out how we strayed so far from the path trod by Jesus of Nazareth when he went about doing good.

Australia's Banks are another lamentable tragedy.