February 19, 2023
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 19 February
The scientific and technological developments of the last 80 years - since the end of World War Two, are phenomenal. Some of...
February 19, 2023
What is the Question – February
For this month’s What is the Question Roland talks with Ballarat-based filmmaker Ben Plazzer.
What is your name? Ben Plazzer. What is your occupation? Film...
February 12, 2023
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 12 February
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war against Ukraine is criminal; but when you add to his barbarity the suffering he has wrought...
February 5, 2023
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 5 February
I left Western Australia in 1968. I have returned many times since then; however, the most recent visit proved a re-awakening of...
January 29, 2023
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 29 January
Greece's last king, Constantine II, died in Athens aged 82.
I CAME to know His late Majesty only slightly, but I did...
January 15, 2023
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 15 January
When it comes to the extinction of flora and fauna, Australia has, since 1788, the most dubious record of any country in...
January 8, 2023
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 8 January
I wish the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - Harry and Meghan - would, for everyone’s benefit, including their own - stop...
January 8, 2023
What is the Question – January
For the first What is the Question of 2023, Roland chats with ear, nose, throat and head and neck surgeon, Mark Guirguis. What is your...
January 1, 2023
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 1 January
The death of another year is cause for pause and reflection; a time to take stock, and with determination and pluck, to...
December 25, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 25 December
It has been a momentous year. The death of The Queen of Australia. Monarchist or republican, there was consensus: the world lost...
December 18, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 18 December
Is the Federal Parliament censuring of the former Prime Minister Scott Morrison a political stunt or an important symbolic gesture?
CERTAINLY, results from...
December 11, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 11 December
There is a growing groundswell for Australians to embrace a four-day working week. In the event, is this the answer to the...
December 11, 2022
Classic Christmas carols return to the cathedral
THE Royal Melbourne Philharmonic will present three Christmas concerts in St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne, one of the most acoustically perfect spaces in Australia. The...
December 4, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 4 December
To the thief: possession is nine-tenths of the law, but what about the victim. What are their rights?
THE annals of history are...
November 27, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 27 November
In 2022, few are inclined to believe King Charles III was ordained by God to rule over his peoples. The Divine Right...
November 25, 2022
Notions of political loyalty
“Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous,” Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
IT...
November 20, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 20 November
From the grave I can hear my late mother, Beria, saying, “And about bloody time, too. What they did to us kids...
November 13, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 13 November
It is difficult to understand why a company providing you with a telephone line - albeit mobile - requires so much personal information. IN the...
November 6, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 6 November
It is sheer madness for a country which is bathed in such brilliant, endless sunshine, and vast, azure skies, to implement daylight saving. It...
October 30, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 30 October
Of the mass media triumvirate, radio is the most intimate, and, possibly, the most rewarding in terms of immediate audience reaction. THAT was before our...
October 23, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 23 October
Recently, I spent time exploring photographs on the website of Lost Melbourne. It was both fascinating and heartbreaking to see what has been lost...
October 16, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 16 October
Since when did it become de rigueur for a politician’s ‘no’ to carry more weight than a constituent’s ‘yes’?
OUR system of government...
October 9, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 9 October
The ratings results for the funeral of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth speaks volumes about the state of Australian television, specifically the...
October 2, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 29 September
The funeral for Queen Elizabeth II - The Queen of Australia - was a grand gathering of the good and the great. THE concourse...
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