Filling up at the servo these days comes with a sharp intake of breath. So, too, checkout time at the supermarket, when the heart skips a beat.
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It's a safe assumption the late Kimberley Kitching is likely the last thing most folk think about as their bank balances take another hit.
Yet here her ghost is, day after day, as the parliamentary press pack pursues allegations of bullying within the federal Labor Party which surfaced after the senator's untimely death from a heart attack.
Yes, party culture is important but in the hierarchy of need facing most voters right now it's a conceptual, largely irrelevant sidebar. Here in the real world, we're concerned about the cost of living, stagnant wages, housing, health, climate and war. Oh, and Ash Barty and getting the kids off to school on time.
So why is internal party politics dominating the agenda? Why are politicians talking about themselves when we want them to talk about us? About our needs.
Kimberley Kitching surfaced at the Prime Minister's press conference in Melbourne, where he was announcing the deal with Moderna to establish an MRNA vaccine production facility. She surfaced at Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese's press conference in western Sydney.
She was exhumed by the accompanying press pack, who have been relentless these past two weeks in pursuing a story that might interest them but has little bearing on the rest of us.
In ordinary times, you might understand it. After all, any whiff of a scandal in the corridors of parliament will get the hounds' hackles up as they chase after that gotcha moment.
But these aren't ordinary times. People are suffering. From floods. From rising prices. From fear of escalating conflict. From housing insecurity. From the onrush of a new COVID surge.
They are not suffering from internal party machinations.
Often first to criticise politicians for being out of touch, perhaps the parliamentary press pack itself needs to take a look in the mirror.
Ask the questions we want answered as we gear up for an election.
Get back in touch with everyday Australians.
They're the folk in northern NSW who are bracing for more rain as they continue the back-breaking, soul-destroying cleanup after the floods.
They're the immune-compromised people watching the COVID case numbers rise, along with hospitalisations and deaths.
They're the homeless people on the South Coast of NSW, living in mouldy tents in the bush, unable to compete in an out-of-control rental market.
They're the people in the bush still waiting for a reliable internet that will bring them into the 21st century.
They're the people who will be voting in the May election.
THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
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- 'Cutting-edge': Australia to produce mRNA vaccines
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- Space is running out of ... space, top Guardian says
- Housing affordability major factor in voting for young, regional voters
- Daniel Johns admitting to rehab after panic attacks, drink driving charge and crash