2018 in review: Ballarat runs red

WITH the election campaign in full swing, further pledges and promises came Ballarat’s way as both Labor and the Liberal and National parties ratcheted up their campaign to win the city’s three seats.

Sporting facilities were again a big focus although education, arts and culture and health also got a look in.

Yet anything the Opposition did ultimately counted for naught as a state-wide swing was on and there was nothing the local candidates could do but hold the line.

In the end the city stuck with Big Red as the status quo remained and Juliana Addison and Michaela Settle became the new members for Wendouree and Buninyong respectively.

Voters in Ripon, which touches on the city’s north-western edge, would have to wait more than two weeks to find out who would be representing them in the 59th Parliament of Victoria.

Outside of the highly combative election campaign Cr Samantha McIntosh was reelected to the role of mayor of the City of Ballarat and Cr Jim Rinaldi got the nod as deputy.

That caused one councillor and immediate past deputy mayor, Cr Daniel Moloney, to lament, “I suspect we are a one mayor council for now.”

One-hundred years since the Armistice ended World War One, the event was commemorated by thousands of people turning out at the Arch of Remembrance on 11 November.

The ceremony was preceded by an effort from area high school students who placed poppies all along the Avenue of Honour on each name marking a fallen soldier from the area.