From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 23 May

The Nation has spoken; however, if you believed some of the ranting pundits we were about to suffer the Armageddon of Chicken Licken! May 22, 2019

TELEVISION presenter, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, concluded on Studio Ten, “If Bill Shorten gets in, it’s the end of life as we know it. Honestly, without question!” In her broad defence, she is not the only broadcaster/ commentator/shock jock who resorted to a litany of disinformation in the scaremongering, sometimes hysterical, campaign. This election has been, according to former prime minister, Paul Keating, one of the most acrimonious in his political memory.
Unequivocally, the philosophical and altruistic ethos of this country has shifted, and not necessarily for our betterment; our moral compass has moved far from the centre. We have become a nation of sharp elbows and individual self-concern. Hip-pocket reaction is widespread. Personal religiosity has contaminated judgement. We are a secular nation. Setting aside faith, government is better served if God is eliminated from the equation. The aggregate of survival is decidedly imbalanced in favour of those who have, and leaves those who have-not to struggle in a wake of poverty and overwhelming bleakness. Anecdotally, the prevalence of impecuniousness has increased, alarmingly. Every year about 3.6-million Australians cannot afford the cost of enough food for themselves, or their families. That some children go to school without breakfast – indeed, in too many instances are going hungry – is a national disgrace. We have reason to hang-our-heads in shame.

Australia needs a bold plan for the next decade. It demands grit and a bold heart; men and women of daring and vision, with the capacity to straddle the Nation’s schism; to unite and bring regional Australia’s voice to the top table. We must look forward with confidence and steely determination. Despite the scepticism, and vested financial interests, science has shown that climate change is real. It must be tackled. Plastic has been found at the deepest point on earth – 11,000-metres – in the Mariana trench. A recent United Nations report on the health of the planet, and the services it provides, makes for disquieting reading. This most comprehensive assessment of global nature loss, ever, shows that humans are destroying biodiversity, and damaging ecosystems. The pressure we are placing on the planet through over-exploitation of resources on land, sea, and air, is driving the earth, and its human cargo, towards a catastrophic end. It will trigger a global mass extinction which may make the planet uninhabitable. The report claims, categorially, at least a million species are now in serious decline or facing extinction. If the abuse continues, unabated, another million more could follow.
This was a toxic, and at times personal, election campaign. We have been subjected to the scares, the scandals, and the lies; and if not lies, then certainly a premeditated, populist, prevarication from the paths of veracity. Fact and fiction have become clouded in people’s minds. Truth has been felled by power and self-centeredness. An odious plethora of advertising campaigns with no basis in truth, in one case a blatant lie, has proliferated; claims of policy which do not exist, and have never been considered, have been aired with license, and believed, relentlessly.
In conceding defeat, Mr. Shorten said, “Never lose faith in the power of individuals to make a difference. We can’t change the past but we can change the future.”
We have a new government; an opportunity to wipe clean the slate; to realise the promises, and an abiding responsibility to improve the lot of all Australians – not just those who voted for the Liberal National Coalition. Let us hope it will lead to a pursuit of good governance rather than staying in power; a concentration on the welfare and prosperity of the Nation, free from factional fighting and dancing to the tune of vested, extraneous obligation.
Roland can be heard every Monday morning – 10.30 – on radio 3BA and contacted