Irvin Rockman

Tributes are coming in for former Melbourne Lord Mayor Irvin Rockman who has died at the age of 72 from eye cancer. He was Lord Mayor for two terms in the late 1970s. A young Lord Mayor, with his wife, Yvonne Rowe, who shook the Town Hall up in more ways than one.
 
In a tribute, another former Lord Mayor, Ron Walker, said: ‘He was a reformist Lord Mayor at a time when the Town Hall was far too traditional in the modern world. He served the people of Melbourne well.

‘He was also a fine sportsman and was a very happy-go-lucky person who enjoyed life to the full.’ There were a  couple of other Rockman stories  that won’t rate a mention in the obituaries… especially when illegal drugs are in the news right now. Rockman was known as a cocaine user.

The former Lord Mayor featured heavily in an inquest into the tragic death of a young woman here in Melbourne in the late 1980s  when I was doing the HINCH program on Channel Seven.

I remember talking to her distraught family.  She died in mysterious circumstances. Supposedly a suicide after drinking heavily and allegedly putting her head in a plastic bag.

She had been due to give evidence in another court case.  There was evidence that a young man (her former teacher) named Peter Cross whom she met in Columbia, had smuggled cocaine back to Melbourne. He was travelling on a ticket reportedly paid for by Irvin Rockman.  From memory, Cross was the errant son of a NSW judge.

In the late 1980s Rockman was investigated by the National Crime Authority over allegations of drug trafficking  but no charges were ever laid.

My favourite Rockman story  concerns the day I  had lunch  at  the Hilton with writer Jackie Collins, sister of Joan.

She had just come from a meeting with the lord Mayor at his Town Hall office. He was a passionate underwater  photographer and had shown her some nude pictures he had taken.

She said: ‘That Lord Mayor of yours, is it? We just had a crazy meeting. I think he was hitting on me’.

Jackie said that after showing her the nude photos he had insisted she examine his tie which had a strange pattern on it. Up close she realised it said f-u-c-k.

Well, as Ron Walker said, the man we called Pervin’ Irvin, ‘enjoyed life to the full’.

September 2, 2010

© Copyright Derryn Hinch 2010