Is anyone else exhausted by bad news?

And desperate to spot joy in a daily news diet that now seems to brim with sadness?

Murder. Mayhem. University exams. School exams. Petrol prices. Mortgage repayments. The price of an overseas holiday. Floods. Insurance costs. Looming electricity hikes. Stolen data. The need to access a new licence without the patience to stand in line. The young mothers traumatised at Mackay Hospital. The rise in ADHD.

Home invasions in suburbs where children play in the street during daylight. An ice epidemic. Damned DNA. ATAR and the belief in the hearts and minds of too many teenagers that a number will follow them around for life.

A random train stabbing. A hit and run. A stolen Audi. A dramatic BMW chase. Road rage outside a hospital, where children are really sick. Wilful violence: domestic, random. Shonky Christmas toys. Shonky casinos. Shonky doctors. Shonky tax dodgers.

Police shootings. A wobbly share market. Rape trials. Grieving mothers. Grieving fathers. Ukraine. Liz Truss.

At first, I blamed my mood – like most things – on menopause. Well, at least the cold and hot weather fronts that appear to target my house.

But it’s not. A decade ago, our days were still dotted with disasters including a cyclone, a tornado and a flood. We still read, often, about shonks. And I remember crying my heart out, after the funeral of Daniel Morcombe.

The grind of government brought mixed blessings. COAG agreed on a plan to ease electricity costs (can we do that again?), but states were reluctant to commit funds to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. And removing the gender bias from monarchy succession rules was debated.

But it didn’t weigh us down, in the way it does today. Technology promised us a better work life balance. It lied. A plethora of new news outlets have not only almost buried the old, but replaced them in delivering our daily dose of misery.

And it spreads in school pick up zones as quickly as on social media.

And that’s why the Albanese Government’s wellbeing statement, in next week’s budget, is so important.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has landed on the three areas where real inroads can be made – education, health and environment – and expectations are high.

But imagine if we could boast an education system where standards where high, but young teachers didn’t quit exhausted and children graduated without joining the community epidemic in anxiety. Perhaps KPIs for education ministers?

Imagine if our health services delivered the promise their State’s health ministers espouse each election: to encourage proactive health and to treat the sick in a timely way. That means, amongst other things, an attack on vaping that is now infiltrating primary schools. Perhaps KPIs for health ministers?

Imagine if this led to an increased focus on climate change, and an increased voice for our young adults who see their views muted, and their future in terms of the environment.

The Government’s focus on well-being has been dismissed by some; but probably from those who don’t put a value on their own.

Well-being – our own and others – should be the centrepiece of our schools and workplaces, mission statements and policy documents.

We need to take it out of GP surgeries and gym workouts, and spread its influence the nation over.

Tracking it will embed it in our decisions and influence public policy. And over time, it should become as crucial, in our economic discussions, as GDP, inflation and the balance of payments.

We are not pioneers here; many countries boast an annual well-being statement. But the opportunity presented here – and promised by the Albanese Government – could provide a mindset change for the nation.

It won’t change the news around pandemics and natural disasters. But it might provide the impetus to put voters, and their well-being, at the centre of government decision-making.

And that’s a news story we should all want to read.