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Coogee: Monday 23rd March Lockdown Noon, Monday 23rd March 2020, and Coogee was starting to look like a ghost town. Goldstein Reserve, which is normally packed with people pic-nic-ing and lying around in the sun, was deserted save for a few well-spaced people strolling around with face masks. Coogee Beach was deserted. The Coogee Palace venue was locked and staff were packing away equipment and food and drink supplies. Locked also the Coogee Bay and the Crowne PLaza hotels, as well as other businesses. Any restaruants that were open had their seating areas ropped off and were only serving take-away, although even for this limited service there seemed to be few takers. A few shopkeepers hung around on the footpath in front of their businesses chatting to each other, but the street looked deserted. It reminded me of what Coogee would have looked like on a Sunday afternoon in the 1960s - not the busy tourist hub it was just a day earlier, not one of the go-to destinations for young people (and people young-at-heart) from around the world. People Want Clear Directions, Not Sermons Despite the stern, headmaster type, expressions of disapproval from some conservative politicians about how irresponsible people were about congregating on beaches and in restaurants, once the clear instructions were given, people in general took heed of the official advice and did what was asked of them. And despite likely great personal cost - businesses closed and people kept apart from each other. Leadership is the key. Will Coogee ever be the same again? Will the world ever be the same again? The lamps are going out ... I was reminded of the remark of the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Edward Grey, in August 1914 on the eve of the outbreak of World War One "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time."

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