From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 27 March

In the same way that not all Germans were Nazis, not all Russians are supporters of Vladimir Putin and his thuggish regime. Because you are forced to play in the mud does not mean you are dirty.

IT would be folly to assume that Russians living outside of the Federation are supportive of Mr Putin’s war on Ukraine; although, I do know someone who – despite financially prospering under the freedom offered by the Crown in this country, insists Ukraine belongs to Russia and therefore Mr Putin’s war is justifiable. What had been lost on me was, despite the Putin supporter living for almost half a century in Australia, the 20-plus years of communist inculcation lingers on.

My proffered hypothesis of Western Australia choosing to secede from the Commonwealth of Australia, and, subsequently, being bombed into submission by the remaining states, was lost, totally. There is none so blind as those who do not want to see.

The ethnic and ancient history of Ukraine is complicated and dates back to the Copper and Bronze Age – 3300 BCE.

Recently, and most importantly, following the Ukrainian-Soviet War (1917–1921), during which the invading Russian Bolshevik Red Army established control, the Ukrainian Bolsheviks, having defeated the national government in Kyiv, established the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. On 30 December 1922 it became one of the founding members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The alliance was further strengthened by the Ukrainian born Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev.

The initial COVID pandemic gave rise to a farcical, international wave of xenophobia. Chinese nationals living abroad were blamed and targeted for the outbreak, with many Westerners stupidly believing it originated in China as a consequence of someone, in a remote village, cooking-up a pot of bat soup! Sometimes, one is left shaking one’s head in speechless astonishment.

Alarmingly, the same nonsense is happening to those Russians living outside of the Federation. While there are those billionaire kleptocrats who have ruthlessly plundered the former USSR, the average Russian is exactly like the rest of us. The generation born after the fall of communism is fighting to shake-off the yoke of the past. Mr Putin’s fanatical revanchism is the major barrier to their success.

In a disturbing trend, Russian children are being bullied at school; a Prague professor has refused to teach Russian students; a Russian-themed restaurant in Washington was vandalised, and a young, piano prodigy was banned from a concert in Montreal despite speaking out against the war.

Quite rightly, the world is outraged at Mr Putin’s barbarous war; however, while companies are boycotting Russia, we must be careful it does not develop into a hate campaign against the innocent Russian people.

We should not be surprised at the attitude of Federal Environment Minister, Susan Ley!

Disquietingly, Ms Ley has successfully overturned a High Court judgement, arguing she does not have a duty of care to protect young people from climate change when assessing fossil fuel projects.

Let us not forget, she is part of a government led by a Prime Minister who took a lump of coal into the Parliament. Childishly, as if it were a kindergarten show-and-tell, he shouted across the house to opposition members, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be scared, it won’t hurt you. It’s coal.”

Scott Morrison views on climate change were always problematic. His fossil fuel prank occurred in the middle of one of Eastern Australia’s most severe heatwaves, ever.

You could be forgiven for thinking his new-found, climate change support is somewhat disingenuous.

Roland can be contacted via [email protected].