NEW YEAR SAME ME

When former Miss Universe Australia Maria Thattil came out as bisexual on national TV, her world changed forever. Here, she reveals the courage needed to overcome her strict religious upbringing to tell the truth, and why it was the most liberating decision of her life

Since the day I got my first mobile, at 13, I’ve constantly been told, “You’re on your phone too much,” by everyone in my life. But mostly my mum. “No. I’m not,” I’d snap back, not glancing up from my Nokia 3210.

Several years and many phones later, I’ve come to realise that maybe they’re right. Mostly because Apple iPhones rudely tell you your average screen time each week, and mine sits at a shocking nine hours a day. “That’s normal in this job,” I protest when I admit it to my colleagues. They are quick to prove me wrong – pulling out their own phones and announcing figures that were three to six hours less than mine.

“Are you even doing any work?” jokes my deputy editor, Mel. At least, I think she’s joking. I take a very gen-Z approach to work correspondence. We’ve all heard it said “that meeting could’ve been an email”; my mantra is “that email could’ve been a text. I can do 90 per cent of my job right from my phone!”

If it sounds like I’m trying to justify my usage, it’s because I am. I know nine hours a day is disgraceful and so as my resolution I agree to significantly reduce my screentime.

It doesn’t start well. I wake early and, on autopilot, reach for my phone. I check my texts, emails, Twitter and Instagram before I inevitably wind up on TikTok. Before I know it, an hour and a half has gone by. My commute to the office is long and I pass the time listening to Taylor Swift’s new album, Midnights, on repeat. I’ve hit three hours of screentime and the day has only just begun.