(Image: Private Media/Zennie)

We couldn’t crown a Crikey Arsehat of the Year without crowning their more likeable counterpart the 2022 Person of the Year.

Crikey dedicates much of its energy to those who actively make the world a worse place, who wound public debate, destroy trust in institutions and enact terrible and harmful policy. So it’s a relief to take some time to focus on those who pushed back this year.

Read the 2022 Person of the Year nominees below, and then cast your vote here!

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

There are many reasons why international support for Ukraine has been so strong since Russia invaded the country, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a big one. The former comedian, his life literally imitating his art, has been a tireless advocate for his country on the international stage, and a galvanising figure at home.

As Kishor Napier-Raman put it when Zelenskyy addressed Australia’s Parliament earlier this year: “With the whole world watching, and his country at stake, a career performer has given the performance of his life.”

The independents

Individually and collectively, independents Kylea Tink, Kate Chaney, Monique Ryan, Sophie Scamps, Allegra Spender, Zoe Daniel and (in a different way) Dai Le changed politics in Australia. The possibility that a local independent could outmanoeuvre a major party candidate first became clear with the success of Kerryn Phelps and Zali Steggall in 2018 and 2019 respectively. But in 2022 the movement went up a notch, shattering the Liberal Party’s core voter base like a baseball bat through a Jenga tower.

Whatever happens in the next three years, and whatever delusions of the commentariat arguing that people voted for greater integrity and action on climate change because the current crop of Liberals aren’t far enough to the right, this has changed the make-up of politics in this country, and with it, what we thought possible.

The lettuce that outlasted Liz Truss 

This one is self-explanatory, surely?

Mahsa Amini

Mahsa Amini was five days short of her 23rd birthday when she died in a hospital in Tehran. She had been arrested by Iran’s Guidance Patrol for allegedly not wearing her hijab in accordance with government-mandated standards, and although authorities claimed she died of various medical issues, witnesses said she had been severely beaten.

Her death led to protests that became “nationwide, spread across social classes, universities, the streets, schools” — they represent the biggest challenge to an Iranian government in a decade, protests of a kind the country has never seen before and may end up leading to the end of the Guidance Patrols. 

Deanna Coco

The plight of Deanna “Violet” Coco has brought into relief the way that Australia, for all its stated commitment to free speech, treats dissent and protest. She was incarcerated, initially denied bail and sentenced to 15 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of eight months for (fairly briefly) blocking traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, possessing an orange flare in a public place, and non-violently resisting police as part of a protest to raise climate change awareness.

Eventually the patent absurdity became apparent to even the NSW authorities and bail was granted, but her fight against the sentence continues.

The Hawthorn whistleblowers

The allegations from a review into racism at the Hawthorn Football Club are truly horrifying: an Indigenous player’s partner was allegedly ordered to terminate a pregnancy and forced under supervision to break up with a partner, players’ phone numbers changed, and communication with family monitored.

An independent investigation is ongoing, and if any part of the allegations is substantiated it will hopefully lead to sweeping changes at Hawthorn in particular and across the AFL in general. We only know about the allegations because of the bravery of those who came forward.

Brittany Higgins 

We nominated Higgins last year for her bravery and principles in going public with her alleged rape in Parliament House. Having sparked a long-overdue debate about gender-based violence in Australia, she maintained truly remarkable fortitude as her case dragged on, while her former boss Linda Reynolds texted tips to the defence lawyers of Higgins’ alleged rapist, and the AFP allegedly interfered in her case for more than a year.

The trial collapsed after a juror “did their own research” and the charges were eventually dropped, when prosecutor Shane Drumgold announced it would not be in the interests of Higgins’ health to continue.

This week Higgins settled a personal injury compensation claim with the Commonwealth. Regardless of your views on the case, it is undeniable the impacts of this case, both tangible and intangible, will linger long in Australian life.

Who do you think is the 2022 Person of the Year? Cast your vote now!