"As we prepare for the festive season, it is an opportunity to look back at the last year and this has been another year where the amount that has happened in just 12 months seems extraordinary. It has been full of challenges, and it has left us looking forward to an equally challenging year ahead.

Pictured: Deputy Ferbrache spoke to the States about the war in Ukraine earlier this year.

We have seen war break out in Europe on a scale we probably thought would never happen again with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We have seen political uncertainty in the UK impact global markets, the pound and interest rates. We have seen the cost of living significantly rise in many countries and here in our Bailiwick.

But we have seen communities, locally and globally, come together to meet these challenges. Guernsey has played its small part supporting our friends in Ukraine, mirroring the UK’s sanctions against Russia and setting up a scheme to welcome Ukrainians to the Island. We have thankfully been shielded from some of the worst energy price hikes thanks to our French supply and in turn, we are supporting them to cope with potential shortages this winter. We have seen the markets calm with the return of stability in Westminster, and we have seen inflation begin to slow – again, thankfully, our own inflation levels have not reached the heights of some of our neighbours, although they will still have been very much felt by Islanders.

Of course, we cannot look back at the year without remembering Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II whose long reign came to an end when she died in September. The Bailiwick mourned her loss with tremendous respect and dignity. We also celebrated the accession of His Majesty King Charles III. The change in monarch was a significant constitutional moment. I think back proudly on the Bailiwick's events during that period, which reflected how dearly we hold our centuries-old links to the Crown.

And we should not forget that 2022 was the year we saw the end of the use of emergency powers to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in the Bailiwick, the first British jurisdiction to do so and a testament to how well our community handled it throughout. We should look back proudly at how we steered our way through an unprecedented period with some of the shortest periods of restrictions imposed on daily life anywhere in Europe, and some of the lowest rates of serious illness and death. But we also should not forget those who did fall ill, who continue to suffer the effects of long COVID or whose lives were impacted in other ways, and most of all those who lost their lives.

Pictured: Deputy Ferbrache joined hundreds of other people at Saumarez Park to watch the Queen's funeral.

It has been a challenging, turbulent and strange year. But for me my biggest concern now is the weeks ahead as we look to the early part of 2023 and a decision that the States must make in order to shape the future of Island life for decades to come. We will ask Deputies to support a package of measures that will help raise enough revenue to protect essential services as pressure on those services, health care and pensions in particular, rises dramatically. It is a package of measures which includes a new tax for our community – a tax on goods and services - which is understandably unwelcome and unpopular. But it also includes a reduction in income tax, better income tax allowances and the introduction of social security allowances, meaning as a package it will see many low and middle-income households better off compared to now. It is a difficult decision and I fully understand why some of my political colleagues dread having to make it, but my greatest concern for 2023 is that we instead kick this can down the road further, leaving a bigger problem for our children to face.

As well as protecting our essential services, we will have many other challenges in the year to come, some that we can foresee now but undoubtedly there will be unexpected ones too. But time and time again we have stepped up to respond, and I have tremendous confidence our community will continue to do so going forward.

While there are challenges to come in the year ahead, for right now I would like to wish all Islanders a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year."