From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 1 May

The date is 21 May, and never has there been a more important Federal election.

THE Coalition has been in power since the 2013 Federal election, forming the Abbott (2013–2015), Turnbull (2015–2018) and Morrison Governments.

The Australian Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, and having confined the destructive Rudd/Gillard schism to the annals of history, is looking to form a majority government.

Leaving the serious minutia to the political pundits, the moderately interested voter has much to ponder in the coming weeks.

Farcically, Scott Morrison said recently, we, the voters, are tired of politics! It could be argued, reasonably, we are not tired of politics; however, I am certain we are tired of the Machiavellian antics; the hubris; the duplicity; the disingenuousness; the lies; the secrecy, the party politics; the lack of leadership; the broken promises; the seeming lack of bureaucratic and party empathy; the insensitivity to serious societal problems; the assumption we are, all, stupid; for jobs-for-mates; the determined lack of accountability; the blatant maladministration of government funding; the propensity for conflating slogans with success; and the too-often appalling behaviour. Most of all, we are tired of being taken for granted.

Social scientists, anthropologists, and political experts notwithstanding, I will wager, a sovereign to a farthing, the party which eradicates some of the galling grievances from their election party platform will be triumphant.

The cost of living, health, jobs, employment security, and education are pressing issues. The country’s ugly social divide continues to rankle.

Do not allow your sitting member, or any political aspirant, to presume your vote. Let it be earned. Listen closely to what you are being told. Read carefully. Question its veracity. Be politically active. It is your duty to the Commonwealth.

Australia, like the rest of the world, is facing uncertain times. While we are more fortunate than most countries, we need to remain vigilant. We have much to protect and a lot to lose.  Remember: Politicians hold in their cruel hands, the threads of your fate.

Your vote is precious. Make it count. Do not cast it lightly.

Fund raising for the arts is one of life’s most difficult tasks.

For performing and visual arts practitioners this year’s budget brought little comfort.

It is sometimes forgotten, when students and historians, 100 years hence, attempt to make sense of this century, they will look to the arts to understand the prevailing ethos. It will tell them, exactly, who we were as a society.

The arts, like no other discipline – in its multifarious forms from a painted dinner plate to brutalist architecture and everything in between – touches the lives of every single person, without exception.

The Ballarat Arts Foundation, currently chaired by Paula Nicholson, raises funds to support young and emerging artists, across all disciplines, for those who have studied or live in Ballarat.

Ballarat has, for whatever reason, been a constant fount of outstanding talent. The list of those who have gone onto achieve here, and outside of Australia, is mightily impressive.

The Ballarat Arts Foundation has a program of fund-raising performances in 2022. The next Made In Ballarat is a 21st Anniversary Concert, 15 May from 2pm at the Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts – starring David Hobson, with musical director Damien Woods, and a supporting cast of some 60 notable Ballarat artists.

Words and music are food for the soul – which we all need in these trying COVID times; also, it’s an opportunity to support our emerging talent.

Tickets wpca.com.au or phone 5338 0980.

Roland can be heard with Brett Macdonald on Monday at 10.45am on 3BA and contacted via [email protected].