Partial to that Partial Light
They were here for a reason.
As magisterial as they could be, these were frightening times. The behaviour of the perpetrators was absolutely chilling, no regret, no apology, no sympathy.
The world was looking at the greatest crime against humanity in history; that seemed the only explanation for what he knew to be true. That they didn't come in ordinary times. That they rarely intervened; that indeed they rarely spoke, content to be where they were and what they were; magisterial, magisterium, "I am here, and you are where you are".
But now was different. And the same explanations, or messaging, that he had been receiving for months said it simply: "We are here to preserve a future."
This staggering thing, the scale of this disaster, the destruction of Australia, his country, just incidental in a wholesale destruction; no apology, no explanation, cold, beyond cold. As always he remained astonished: how little they cared for each other.
And this manifest tragedy; there were those, the perpetrators, the blind leading the blinded, their magnificent salaries, all of it in distended waves and short choppy thoughts; all of it in a sadness and on a scale that was almost humanly impossible to grasp; and so it was that it went round and round in him, this sadness for their fate, as they crawled on a planet surface, as their history was stolen from them, as entire societies rearranged and self-destructed, and still it seemed they cared so little, or knew so little.
And if they had known? Perhaps even then they would have gone about their fate, their lives, their small comforts; the pretence, for it was a pretence now, that everything was alright, that normalcy would resume, that they could go back to their ordinary lives and careers and fates, grow young, grow old, get married, have children, die.
The parks were quiet now. Normally packed with the sound of children and exercising oldies and appreciators of beauty, now they were just empty.
The ancient spirits stirred to action. The dust of tombs and libraries and future halls, of places of worship and cathedrals yet to be built, of floating cities and extraordinary beauty, a refined and prosperous civilisation; these would come to pass. But for much, for most of the country, this would not be.
They pleaded with him from four centuries hence. Do your duty. Fulfil your path. As he had written before, little remained but to document the catastrophic destruction of the country; and why he was commissioned, the answer were clear: the crimes of this time would resonate in history; and like other extremities in the human condition, this would become a time for all time, a place that was sacred in time and place, the Buddha like figure that pleaded with him from such a distance, the swirling majesty of warship, as it manifested, we come at times of trouble, we come at the end of empire, we come to thread our way to the future, outside of time, and the beauty of it, the searing, frightening beauty of it; the death of hope, the ignorance of the population, the savage arrogance of the corrupt leaders, the oligarchs who had perpetrated this destruction of the country; all of it would survive in a record; and be destroyed in a future collapse; when the key to their survival would be lost, until they found it here.
He knew what had to be done.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
ABC
An inspired Rafael Nadal has claimed a record 21st major after fighting back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in a gripping Australian Open men's final.
After an exhausting 5 hours and 24 minutes on court inside Rod Laver Arena, Nadal prevailed in five sets 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in a match that did not finish until just after 1am AEDT.
The victory moves Nadal ahead of his great rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to the top of the men's all-time major winners list.
Nadal served for the championship at 5-4 in the fifth set, only for world number two Medvedev to show nerves of steel to break his opponent to level the set at 5-5.
But when he broke Medvedev in the following game, Nadal had another chance to serve out the match at 6-5 and this time he made no mistake.
After shaking hands with Medvedev at the net, Nadal fell to the court on his knees amid the wild applause of the crowd, most of whom had been behind him the entire match.
GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA
New South Wales has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, reporting 52 deaths from Covid in the last 24 hours.
It comes as the state’s chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, confirmed four cases of the new Omicron subvariant, described as “son of Omicron”, saying there is “likely to be more”.
“This is a sublineage, a sort of breakaway from the Omicron variant. We know that it is circulating in countries and we have seen it grow significantly,” she said.
“At the moment we don’t see that it is presenting anything different clinically in terms of the severity or its response to vaccine but we’ll obviously be watchful, monitor the situation closely.”
Chant said the new variant contains the “S gene” that characterised the Omicron variant, but said “special genomic sequencing” was required to “get a handle on its distribution.”
NSW reported 13,524 new cases, with a total of 2,663 hospitalisations, of which 182 are in ICU.
Of the 52 deaths, 33 were men and 19 were women. One person was over 100, 11 were in their 90s, 26 were in their 80s, 11 were in their 70s and three were in their 60s.
Thirty-one of the people that died were aged care residents, with only two of them having received booster shots.
“On behalf of everybody across our state, can I extend our condolences to the families, our thoughts and prayers, our hearts are with you today and over this difficult time,” the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said.
Chant said NSW Health was also changing its reporting period, changing its cut-off time from 8pm to 4pm, to allow epidemiologists, surveillance officers and data analysts to shift to “more sustainable footing.”
SKY NEWS
The Prime Minister has come under fire for being “nowhere to be found” during the Omicron outbreak as the NSW Treasurer announces a $1 billion support package for struggling businesses.
Matt Kean criticised Scott Morrison for refusing to “step up” as the new COVID-19 variant caused havoc for businesses across the nation during a Sunday press conference.
“I'm very disappointed, I was hoping to make this announcement standing beside the Prime Minister today and the Treasurer Frydenberg but they're not to be found,' Mr Kean said.
“What we want to see, is rather than the Commonwealth government stepping aside, we want to see the government stepping in, like the NSW government is doing.”
THE NEW DAILY
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is self-isolation until Tuesday after being in close contact of a person who tested positive for COVID-19.
The exposure took place on January 22 during a flight to Auckland from the town of Kerikeri, the government said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the result of whole genome sequencing was expected the following day.
That would show if the infection was caused by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, it said.
Ardern, who is asymptomatic, is feeling well, the statement added.
She will be tested on Sunday and is in isolation in line with her own health ministry’s directives.
The Governor-General and members of her staff, who were also on board the flight, are following the same isolation procedure.
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