Radical Australia

Special repeat broadcast from July 2019fatherbobs.com

On this week's show we welcome Margaret Bannan, a radical Catholic woman who has pretty much dedicated her life to advocating for the marvellous natural world we all share in. Margaret was born in Bendigo in 1948 and came home from the hospital in horse and carriage. When not looking after her eight siblings, Margaret always enjoyed sport and she went on to become a religious education teacher when she graduated high school. Margaret has raised five children, written a doctorate and many environment books for students and is involved with numerous environmental groups. She's a strong, hardworking lady. We thank Margaret very much for being our guest this week. Check out Margaret's iso book, Climate Change: the consequences of the changing climate may still take us by surprise.

3CR Thursday Breakfast and Women on the Line producer, Priya Kunjan, was our guest this week. Priya is one of those really smart people who excels in academia, currently researching their PhD on January 26th and media representation, but they already have a whole life of learning in anatomy and neuroscience behind them. Priya is enjoying their time at 3CR, having learnt the ropes pretty much throughout the pandemic and when they are not producing radio they like to cycle and feed people. That's nice. Keep up the most excellent work, Priya, and thank you for gracing our shores this week.Thursday Breakfast, 7am - 8:30amWomen on the Line, Mondays 8:30am - 9am

On this week's show we are extremely honoured to welcome the indefatigable Laurie Levy, a man who was there during the beginnings of whale rescue in Australia in the late 1970s and who has dedicated half his life to banning duck and waterbird shooting in Australia. Before his activism, Laurie was a cameraman at GTV9 when television began and worked alongside greats such as Don Lane and Bert Newton. He watched technology change before his eyes. Laurie is a bona fide legend and should be honoured, having achieved many great changes and mobilised many people to bring about justice to some of our fellow creatures on our lands and in our seas. We thank him greatly for being our guest this week.duck.org.au1993 Lake Buloke duck recoveryFreckled duck2018 Lake Cullen

The Popcorn Princess. That's what we can also call this week's guest, Bree Taylor, the founder of Melbourne Duck Save. Bree was born in '77 Melbourne and she's really good at 'The Claw', winning many stuffed toys and such courtesy of the teachings of her grandfather. Bree has been a union organiser and has worked on campaigns for the Greens. Before that she was on a healing journey for a while after quitting alcohol. These days she likes to keep fit, eat well and rescue ducks. She's a good gal. Thank you for being our guest this week, Bree.November 7, 2019 Melbourne Duck Save's first public rally@melbourneducksave

This week's guest is Tjiwarl mother, grandmother and activist, Vicky Abdullah. Vicky joins us on the blower from the side of the road on country as she looks over a mining dump. Vicky has always been caring for country and learnt this from her mother. Her father was a cammalier from Queensland and Vicky grew up going from station to station. In her early adulthood, Vicky set out on her own, travelling to and through many different communities in the Kimberley and Pilbara, hearing and learning many different languages. She loved it. Vicky is a staunch anti-uranium and anti-mining activist and is well known across the continent. She can't wait to get back to Melbourne. She really loves it here. Thank-you very much for speaking with us this week, Vicky. We hope to see you in Melbourne down the track.Vicky stands with her Aunties Shirley and Lizzie Wonyabong

This week we get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the private life and upbringing of Pas Forgione, one of the hardworking activists fighting for the rights of low income people everywhere, but in Adelaide, as part of the fantastic anti-poverty network. When Pas isn't doing awesome work elevating the voices of people on Centrelink, he loves getting away to New Zealand and hiking its southern island mountains. We love your work, Pas. Keep it up! Thanks for being our guest this week.antipovertynetworksa.org'Liveable Incomes for All' rally, March 2021, Parliament House, Adelaide

Our special guest this week, Alison Broinowski, has initials after her name. Is that a first for the little radio show?.. Alison, who turned 80 years young recently, has lived a rather marvellous life travelling the world with her husband as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs, at a time when women were few and far between, and has lived and learned in countries as diverse as Myanmar, Iran, Philipines and Korea. Alison knows her stuff when it comes to Australia's relationship with Asia and has led a full life as a diplomat, writer, lecturer and journalist, to list a few of her capabilities. Alison grew up in Adelaide and is now the president of Australians for War Powers Reform. We thank Alison for being the first cab off the rank this year. Thank-you for your time, Alison.warpowersreform.org.au

A Summer Special, 'Limerick Fightback', with Canberra Corresponent, Kerry Crossley. Listen as Kerry covers everything from politics to space by way of a limerick. She's a marvel!

This week's guest, and returning guest at that, is Adele O'Connor. Adele has written a PhD on the complex, nerver-ending history that is Indonesian populism and oligarchy. In this conversation she speaks about the history of Indonesia, including the involvement of the Dutch East India Company when the islands where known as the Spice Islands. Adele's reserach involved her travelling to Indonesia and getting interview access with interesting interviewees. We hope you enjoy the listen. Great work, Adele.

Barrie Sutherland started taking pictures of the surf at Bells, year after year, in the 70s, with his family living just up the road in Torquay since the 40s. If anybody has seen Torquay change over time, it's Barrie, and he has strong views about it. On this week's show, Barrie speaks fondly of his parents and recalls the time his father came home from war as he watched him walk up to the house through the kitchen window. Barrie was a keen footballer back in the day and went on to train as a civil engineer. He is proud of his Scottish ancestry and urges anyone to follow their passion in life. We thank Barrie for being our guest this week and for the images.watermarksphotogallery.com.au 

On this week's show we welcome Prue Licht, a Grandmothers for Refugees activist who spent 25 years and many long hours working in the welfare system, predominantly with women and families. Prue originally hails from England but has lived here in the Dandenongs ever since she arrived on these shores in the 1970s. Prue was involved in the amazing No Macca's in Tecoma campaign a few years back and is now very passionate about the rights of refugees here in Australia. Prue's advice for life is to 'be critical' but also 'be kind'. We like it. Thank-you for sharing some of your life with us, Prue. Keep up the good fight.grandmothersforrefugees.comCasey Grandmothers for Refugees will be at the office of Tony Smith, Federal member for Casey, on Friday 10th December, International Human RIghts Day, 1 Eastridge Drive, Chirnside Park, 2pm Refugee Action Collective will be at the Park Hotel, Lincoln Square, Carlton on the same day at 6:30pm 

'Question everything'. That's the motto this week's special guest, Maria Millers, has lived by ever since she was turned onto philosophy many moons ago. Maria was born in Harbin in 1937, a Russian city in the far north-east of China, to a family of Russian intellectuals in a time of Japanese occupation and has lived in Australia since she was a babe. Maria is an extraordinary person who has lived a full life rasing seven children whilst pursuing a life of communication - from writing, editing, teaching and radio broadcasting to founding the Woorilla Poetry Prize in the Dandenong Ranges. It was a treat to have Maria as our guest this week and we are sure you will enjoy her story. Thank-you, Maria.woorilla.org.au

On this week's show we have a soulful conversation with journalist, radio broadcaster and sound engineer, Kirstyn Lindsay, currently working with First Nations Media. KIrstyn hails from Logan City, Brisbane, and got her early learnings in listening at Musgrave Park among its Murray elders. Spending time in Sydney's anarchist, punk and feminist circles before living and learning in Melbourne for 20 years, KIrstyn has recently returned home on her long healing journey. She encourages everyone to find their magic, what they are good at. Not bad advice for a former 'bad apple'! It was a treat having Kirstyn on the program this week. We hope you enjoy the episode. Thank-you so much, Kirstyn.

John Lawrance was our special guest this week on Radical Australia. John has been a musician and theatre actor for many years in and around St Kilda and he shared with us the story of how he became an orphan at the tender age of six for the next ten years of his life. John told us how it was a crystal set radio that eventually saved his life after many years of not wanting to live and how he has made his life a life of music and creativity. It was an honour to hear John's story and we thank him greatly for being our guest this week.Listen to John talking about his latest album on Planet X: 3cr.org.au/planetx

On this week's show we welcome the charming Sasja Sydek, co-host of 3CR's Behind Closed Doors, a show which explores the world of sex work. Sasja is a trans woman of colour hailing from Singapore who has been jailed many times for simply being who she is. She is the co-founder of Trans Sisters United and Trans Pride March Melbourne as well as turning her hand to short film production of late. Sasja is a total fashion tragic and speaks four languages. One sassy, smart cookie right here. We thank Sasja for being our lovely guest this week. Here are some links to her activities:Behind Closed Doors, Thursdays 6:00pm - 6:30pm, 3CR 855AMA love letter to my mother, a short film, November 13 - November 27, smallwonderarts.org

This week we learn more about (and unmask!) the mysterious Innez Tulloch, who is currently filling the shoes of the Volunteer and Training Coordinator here at 3CR. Her snake-filled upbringing in Rockhampton comprised a bookish childhood and some rebellious teenage years, always driven by her natural propensity for music, where playing at their various live venues earned comments such as "chicks with guitars...don't tell my daughter!". Ditching Rockhampton halfway through her BA, she moved to the bright lights of Brisbane, landing smack bang in the middle of their DIY live music scene. Around this time of active grassroots community-building, she began (as many of us do) volunteering as a receptionist at a community radio station - Brisbane's 4ZZZ, eventually with a brief stint as acting station manager. Meanwhile, the musical side of life continued within the small but diverse and supportive Brisbane music scene, leading to live mixing gigs and international tours with her band to the US, Europe and Japan. Fi

Early busker, wannabe photographer, musician and faithful Melbournite - what doesn't this week's guest, Dean Lombard, not do? Born into a family of Queensland Italian cane cutters, Dean was a sensitive young person who liked writing and became a busker in 1980s Melbourne, entertaining the punters after hours. Learning a lot about people and the world during this time lead Dean to eventually get social work qualifications and he has been a policy advisor tackling structural disadvantage for numerous not-for-profits. Dean is currently busy playing in three bands, being a Dad to two kids and generally being an awesome guy. He's also really looking forward to some post-lockdown gigs.We thank him for being our guest this week.https://deanlombard.com.au/http://deanlombard.bandcamp.comhttp://deanlombard.bandcamp.com

What an amazing gal our guest this week, Fiona McWhirter, is. Fiona was diagnosed with a rare blood disease last year and is extraordinarily busy living her life to the full for herself, her family and community up in Rocky. What doesn't she do?!  An activist in the political, health and environmental spheres, Fiona is a champion person and was recently awarded the Courage Award from the MDS Foundation in the US. It basically means she's a legend. So much so that Joe will nominate Fiona for a Eureka Australia Medal this year, the first time he has announced such an honour on the show. We thank Fiona for being our wonderful guest this week and to her partner, Craig, for putting her up. Here are some links to Fiona's activities: healthyfutures.net.aumds-foundation.org

On this week's show we were treated to a few poems from poet and writer, Rob Wallis, a lifelong teacher who grew up in 50s Australia, a time when being queer was taboo and hardly any positive representations abounded. Rob was a bonded teacher before breaking out into adult teaching for many years, teaching many different subjects to all kinds of people. He is a bona fide teacher's teacher. These days Rob spends his days in Castlemaine writing poetry and sometimes pottering around his garden. Rob's sixth book is a poetic history of the gay male experience in Australia, focussing in on particular instances and people, titled 'Down Rainbow Road', published by Clouds of Magellan Press. We thank Rob very much for being our wonderful guest this week.robwallispoetry.com