Some years ago, a friend began referring to the period between Christmas and New Year’s Day as “the interregnum”: a pause between two things. To me, those days are a pause in the flow of time itself. Before Christmas, time flows normally. After New Year’s Day, it begins to approach its normal speed again. In the week between, time passes at a different pace, possesses a different quality. It is a reminder that time does not have to flow at the precise pace it usually seems to.

Right now, time feels particularly distorted. Much of the country has slowed down, as usual. This year, some of that is tied to mourning; grief, it is said, slows time down horribly. But the political and media classes have, if anything, sped up since the murders on December 14.

Illustration by Jozsef BenkeCredit:

There are several news cycles a day, as debates ping back and forth. Responsibility for this rapid back-and-forth is not shared equally; the Coalition and its allies have caused much of it, by immediately turning to political attack. Was this where discussion needed to turn, so soon? Even if you believe the criticisms of Labor legitimate, what was gained by making them so quickly?

At the time, it must have seemed at least possible that such interventions would help establish a narrative it would be difficult for the government to shift. By now, that is less clear. My own suspicion is that for many Australians those early, loud attacks weakened any case that might be made against Labor. They came across as overly political, at the most........

© The Sydney Morning Herald