April 17, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 17 April
Is Australia so intellectually superior we can afford to summarily dismiss tertiary qualifications from another country’s learning institutions?
THE numeracy and literacy rates...
April 10, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 10 April
The conceit is such it seems they are incapable of believing they could, possibly, be wrong. Such implacability invariably leads to errors...
April 10, 2022
What is the Question – April 2022
For April’s what is the question, Roland chatted with director of local large-scale building company Nicholson Construction, Richard Nicholson. Photo: SUPPLIED What is your name? Richard...
April 3, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 3 April
One of the many lessons to be learned in life is not to take yourself too seriously! We are, none of us,...
March 27, 2022
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....
March 20, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 20 March
In 2013, following an historic public consultation on racial profiling practices within Victoria Police, a broad three-year plan to improve the treatment...
March 13, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 13 March
I have, over the years, spent a total of months in the old USSR, and what is now the Russian Federation. It...
March 13, 2022
What is the Question – March 2022
For March’s What is the Question Roland Rocchiccioli talked with Adrian Misseri. What is your name? Adrian Misseri What is your occupation? Podiatrist. What brought you to Ballarat? I was...
March 6, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 6 March
The non-stop bombardment of news - which has become infotainment - is problematic. Unreasonably, politicians and public figures are expected to be...
February 27, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 27 February
I am salivating in anticipation of The Queen’s Jubilee Platinum Pudding competition!
AN official component of The Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, the pudding competition...
February 13, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 13 February
Are you one of those yobbos who boos sporting champions because you think it is funny and part of the experience?
I’VE got...
February 6, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 6 February
If, on opening your eyes first thing in the morning, and before pulling the doona back over your head, you immediately remember,...
February 6, 2022
What is the Question – February 2022
For February’s What is the Question Roland talked with Ballarat born and bred photographer, Greg Karslake. What is your name? Gregory Michael Karslake. What is your occupation? Former...
January 30, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 30 January
Are you absolutely SURE you want 225 x 5.5-metre aluminium lampposts surrounding Lake Wendouree? It is a profound question which MUST be...
January 23, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 26 January
Once upon a time, in another century, women’s most popular knickers were cottontails, and men wore baggy, white underpants, called Y-fronts. Both...
January 16, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 16 January
An army of Martians, visiting Ballarat as part of a reconnoitre for a proposed imminent invasion of Australia, could be forgiven for...
January 9, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 9 January
Beer loomed large in the lives of kids who grew-up in the heat of the north-eastern goldfields of Western Australia, where the...
January 2, 2022
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 2 January
When I think about it I shake my head incredulously. The notion is too absurd to be true! This year, 2022 marks...
December 25, 2021
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 25 December
Christmas is that time of year when, around the world, Christians gather together in towering cathedrals and small parish churches, to celebrate...
December 19, 2021
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 19 December
Victorian Senator David Van’s yobbish behaviour in the Federal Senate, and for which he later apologised, is an unsettling manifestation of power-drunk,...
December 12, 2021
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 12 December
“It’s un-Australian”, whatever that means? Erroneously, one hears it from politicians wanting to condemn a situation, or a happening, which does not...
December 5, 2021
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 5 December
What the Australian test cricketer/wicketkeeper, Tim Paine, does in his private life is categorically none of our business. We have become a...
December 5, 2021
What is the Question – December
For the final What is the Question for 2021, Roland Rocchiccioli talked with Trevor Walker, a Ballarat specialty baker, about his new home-delivery bakery...
December 5, 2021
Turn off the current lake lights plan
-OPINION
THE proposed installation of two-hundred and twenty-five, five-and-half-metre-tall aluminium lamp posts on the perimeter of the lake is both wrong and regrettable. It...Latest News
Jan 28, 2025
Statewide awards to recognise sporting contributions
Jan 28, 2025
Grants to support women’s health research
Jan 26, 2025
CFA declares total fire ban
Jan 26, 2025
From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli
Jan 25, 2025