{"id":105185,"date":"2026-03-08T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/?p=105185"},"modified":"2026-03-05T22:33:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T11:33:40","slug":"from-the-office-of-roland-rocchiccioli-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/living\/from-the-office-of-roland-rocchiccioli-7\/","title":{"rendered":"From the office of ROLAND ROCCHICCIOLI"},"content":{"rendered":"

THERE are those fleeting moments when one wonders \u2014 figuratively \u2014 \u201cif the lunatics are in charge of the asylum!\u201d What exactly, one ponders, is happening in the minds of those making decisions \u2014 both big and small \u2014 which drastically affect our lives. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Not a day passes when I do not audibly curse a decision taken by the Minister for Energy, the Hon. Liliana D’Ambrosio. She is the genesis of a profound and abiding fury in my daily life \u2014 and we have never met!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having been touched by the cosmos with infallible judgement \u2014 and by osmosis imbued with the wisdom of the Seven Sages of Greece \u2014 Ms. D\u2019Ambrosio spearheaded the decision to remove gas cookers from Victorian homes.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the state government banned gas connections in all new homes. The decision meant no gas for heating, hot water, or cooking facilities for new, and some old, homes. At the same time it became mandatory to replace faulty gas cookers with an electric appliance in existing homes.<\/p>\n

Given the magnitude of world climate change it is \u2014 theoretically \u2014 a sound initiative \u2014 and to be applauded for its far-sightedness. The gas ban is part of Victoria’s move to clean energy and a determination to reach net zero emissions by 2045; however, the radical application was ill-conceived \u2014 even stupid!<\/p>\n

During the limited period of forced electrification I was \u2014 against my will and as consequence of government hide \u2014 compulsorily required to replace a gas cooker with an electric appliance.<\/p>\n

Power failures are not an uncommon occurrence and they render an all-electric household impotent \u2014 eliminating even the capacity to heat water to make a cup of tea. For households with babies, or children under twelve, it creates an intolerable predicament. On those occasions when power companies are rostered to perform regular maintenance work \u2014 and often for some hours in the day \u2014 households are becalmed. I recall one Sunday being without electricity from 8am until 2pm. Despite preparation it was an intolerable bother.<\/p>\n

To my profound chagrin, the minister abandoned the mandatory electrification edict. Homeowners in Victoria \u2014 Ms. D\u2019Ambrosio breezily announced \u2014 are no longer forced to replace broken gas heating systems or cooktops with electric devices.<\/p>\n

The original ruling is unfortunate and one which transforms drastically a significant part of our lives. It diminishes culinary pleasure. Food is foremost and the difference between cooking with gas and electricity is the difference between night and day! I cook \u2014 some say with a degree of accomplishment \u2014 and in the preparation thereof you cannot achieve with electricity what is doable with gas. Electricity radicalises the entire culinary preparation and methodology. Restaurant chefs cook with gas for sound reason.<\/p>\n

I resent \u2014 deeply \u2014 the government\u2019s intrusion. Subsequently, I am now saddled with an appliance I do not want. The minister\u2019s ham-fisted decision \u2014 and her impertinence to determine what I may, or may not, have in my home \u2014 leaves one sceptical of the department\u2019s serious deliberation before implementing the edict. The agitprop surrounding the minster\u2019s decision notwithstanding, it was an unpardonable error in ministerial judgement and revealed a lack of any community consensus. It ought not to have occurred.<\/p>\n

Curiously, in reversing the decision the minster made no passing mention of compensating or replacing to equal value those electrical devices Victorians were forced to purchase at her heavy-handed instigation.<\/p>\n

Patently it is a Labor government case of \u2014 \u201cso sad, too bad!\u201d<\/p>\n

Roland talks with Brett Macdonald radio 3BA \u2014 Monday 10.40am. Contact: roland@rolandroc.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THERE are those fleeting moments when one wonders \u2014 figuratively \u2014 \u201cif the lunatics are in charge of the asylum!\u201d What exactly, one ponders, is happening in the minds of those making decisions \u2014 both big and small \u2014 which drastically affect our lives. Not a day passes when I do not audibly curse a […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":105186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-105185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom the office of ROLAND ROCCHICCIOLI - Golden Plains Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Roland Rocchiccioli critiques Minister D\u2019Ambrosio\u2019s gas ban reversal and the impact of forced electrification on Victorian homeowners.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/living\/from-the-office-of-roland-rocchiccioli-7\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From the office of ROLAND ROCCHICCIOLI - 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