0:15

Good evening and welcome to Focal Point here

0:17

on Vision Australia Radio 1190

0:19

7 a.m. in Adelaide, on line at

0:21

VA radio. Org VA

0:24

Radio Digital in Adelaide via

0:26

Radio Digital in Darwin through the

0:28

TuneIn radio. Up through the Community

0:30

Radio Plus app. Look for Vision Australia

0:32

Radio Adelaide your favourite podcast

0:34

or streaming service. Peter Greco,

0:37

on behalf of Philip Valpy are saying great

0:39

to be here. A big cheerio to Wendy

0:41

McDougall listening in this program.

0:43

Come to you from Gardaland

0:45

come to you very, very shortly. We'll speak

0:47

to Marjorie Anderson about a wonderful

0:50

service, one three yarn where

0:52

people can ring up and get some wonderful,

0:54

safe support. Find out much more about

0:56

that particularly relevant during National Reconciliation

0:59

Week. Then speak to Carol Wickham.

1:01

Deafblind Awareness Week is coming up very

1:04

soon. Some wonderful events happening

1:06

in Perth in particular that Carol will share with

1:08

us. Then catch up with Ria Andriani

1:11

and Lamorna Nightingale.

1:13

They've got a show, a production called

1:15

trace. A chance for you maybe to

1:17

get along. It's happening in Sydney in July.

1:19

It is very, very unique. You will

1:22

love it. You will love hearing about it, I'm sure.

1:24

And Phil Vanderpool will join us. Co-Founder

1:26

and co presenter for Focal Point. Or whilst

1:28

lots of things to Phil to talk about, I reckon

1:30

he might talk about the budget, maybe the

1:32

NDIS and even even maybe

1:35

a little bit of politics as well.

1:37

If you're listening through 1197

1:39

in Adelaide and 8:00 for your listening

1:41

pleasure, Lizzie and Sam are here with

1:43

Studio One just before we

1:45

hear what's on their program. I

1:47

did mention National Reconciliation

1:50

Week few weeks ago. We spoke to

1:52

an Marlee McCormack from

1:54

Vision Australia. A tremendous event was

1:56

held on Monday for

1:58

people involved with Vision Australia. To

2:00

all those that were involved with that particular event,

2:02

very, very moving, extremely well

2:05

done, thought provoking, most worthwhile.

2:07

Congratulations to all involved.

2:09

Let's find out what's on studio one tonight.

2:12

Sam and Lizzie here from studio one.

2:14

Join us after Focal Point.

2:16

When is the right time to see an eye

2:18

specialist? And which one should

2:21

you see? We talk to May Chong

2:23

from Optometry Australia.

2:24

Join us at eight.

2:28

Watch National Reconciliation Week,

2:31

very important week. And that organisation

2:33

that. Ah well I was going to say celebrating, but maybe

2:36

recognising a very important achievement

2:38

in the last little while is a group called

2:40

one three Yarn. They're a national

2:43

program manager is Marjorie Anderson

2:45

and Margie Jaundice. Marjorie, thank

2:47

you so much for your time.

2:48

Oh, thank you for having me, Peter.

2:50

Now, I said, uh, hesitated

2:52

to say you celebrate, uh, because,

2:54

uh, 50,000 calls. I guess it kind

2:56

of means you're a very worthwhile, uh,

2:58

organization and provide a worthwhile

3:00

service. But in a sense, maybe something not

3:03

to celebrate.

3:03

Yeah. It's, um, it's difficult. The celebration

3:06

is that, you know, Aboriginal people

3:08

are really reaching out and we're

3:11

saving Aboriginal lives. But

3:13

the sadness is that this line is

3:15

needed at all. Um, I'd really like

3:17

to, you know, work my way

3:20

out of the job and have, you know,

3:22

mentally healthy and resilient

3:25

and thriving Aboriginal community

3:27

so that they're doing yarn won't be needed

3:29

just.

3:30

About the work that you do then. Now, how long have

3:32

you been around and how did you get started?

3:33

Well, I, I've worked

3:35

in Aboriginal affairs for over 40 years,

3:38

and I came over to lifeline to start this

3:40

service. Um, it was co-designed

3:42

with the community. They got the funding came

3:44

from government. There was a recognition

3:47

that if you really wanted to

3:49

impact the suicide rates of Aboriginal

3:51

and Torres Strait Islander people, they

3:53

would have to have a culturally safe

3:55

line to ring where

3:57

Aboriginal people felt comfortable ringing.

4:00

So they brought me

4:02

on into lifeline to

4:04

set up this line, and I co-designed

4:06

it with the community, uh, built a team around

4:09

me and, um,

4:11

got some crisis supporters trained

4:13

and on board and delivered what

4:15

the community asked for. So

4:18

I had no preconceived ideas

4:20

on what this line should sound

4:22

like, look like, feel like what

4:24

the values should be. I went out with a

4:26

blank sheet of paper and asked the community what

4:28

they wanted and delivered on

4:30

what the community told me they wanted, and.

4:32

Justification in setting it up is,

4:35

uh, sort of amplified by the numbers

4:37

that of people have been called.

4:38

Absolutely. What we were hearing

4:40

when we're out there, Co-designing is, you know,

4:42

lines like lifeline are great, but

4:45

you've often got to educate the

4:47

people on the end of the line about your

4:49

culture, about your family, about

4:52

your responsibilities within family,

4:54

your responsibilities within community,

4:57

your connection to land.

4:59

You know, the complexity of intergenerational

5:01

trauma. You know, the complexity

5:04

of Aboriginal families,

5:06

um, before you can get the help you need.

5:08

But with 13 yarn, because every

5:10

single person who works for 13 yarn

5:12

is either. Aboriginal or Torres

5:15

Strait Islander. When you ring through,

5:17

there's an understanding there already so you

5:19

can get right to the issue that's really worrying

5:21

you.

5:22

So I guess, you know, both parties, if you like,

5:24

can kind of speak a bit more freely.

5:26

Would that be a fair thing to say?

5:28

Yeah, I think the difference big difference

5:30

between 13 Yan and Lifeline

5:32

is we're much more

5:34

casual and like

5:37

having a yarn rather than, um,

5:39

the formality of

5:41

a lifeline. Lifeline is much more formal

5:44

than, um, than 13 yard

5:46

knees. It's like we're conversational, you

5:48

know, we're having a yarn. We're, you know,

5:50

just there to listen and support.

5:53

Yarn is such a cool word, isn't it?

5:55

It kind of says it all, doesn't it? In four letters.

5:57

It does, it does.

6:00

Marjorie, I was interested to note in some of the information

6:02

that was sent out about it that, um, you

6:04

had a steep increase in calls

6:06

after the voice referendum. And the result.

6:08

We certainly did, and I luckily

6:11

I'd planned for that. I thought

6:13

that the referendum would really impact

6:15

our calls and our community. And

6:17

I was right. Um, the whole debate

6:20

around the referendum was

6:22

just appalling. And, you

6:24

know, bad behavior came out, racism

6:26

came out, and we've had a

6:29

real increase in calls for, you

6:31

know, that night of the referendum and

6:34

the following day and also

6:36

for the two weeks following that. But

6:38

what we have noticed is that since

6:40

the referendum, there's been a rise

6:42

month on month for calls and racism,

6:45

for racism and discrimination.

6:47

Now, you know, that's appalling,

6:50

that in this day and age, Aboriginal

6:53

people like 1 in 4 at

6:55

some stages are ringing

6:57

because they have been the

6:59

victim of racist abuse.

7:01

And that's appalling in this day

7:03

and age. And like last

7:05

month we had a bit of a dip. We had a 10%

7:08

dip. I hope we've turned the corner

7:10

because the debate really

7:13

almost gave permission for people

7:15

to speak out in,

7:18

in a racist way. And

7:20

that's just not on in this country.

7:23

Hard to believe, I must admit, from an

7:25

observer, Marjorie, that that seems

7:27

hard to believe that. I mean, regardless

7:29

of what the result was, it didn't give permission

7:31

for anyone to do anything like that. I wouldn't have thought.

7:33

No. And and also, it makes

7:35

it more of an issue

7:38

for Aboriginal people, too, of course, because

7:40

we've been basically rejected

7:42

by our own country. And then having

7:44

somebody sing out racist things to you on

7:46

the street, of course, it's going to trigger

7:49

you more because you've already got the rejection there.

7:51

So people who might not normally

7:53

ring 13 yard because

7:56

of, you know, the racism they

7:58

get in the community, they might get

8:00

triggered more because of the referendum.

8:02

And they do ring us and say, look, you

8:04

know, it really triggered me that somebody sang that

8:06

out to me on the street. Whereas before

8:08

I used to just, you know, rub it off.

8:11

But that's the thing, you know, we we've got

8:13

to stop it from occurring in the first place.

8:15

We've heard with quite some time now about

8:17

the, uh, the amount of, uh, you

8:19

know, people that sadly take their

8:21

lives and it is much higher than the

8:23

First Australians, uh, community.

8:26

Have you got any idea how much, uh, one

8:28

three yarn might be helping? I guess it's pretty

8:30

hard to kind of, uh, put that into

8:32

numbers, isn't it? You can't quantify that. Or can.

8:34

You know, we can't quantify it at this stage.

8:37

Uh, we know that every time we go out

8:39

and undertake community engagement,

8:42

that we have somebody come up and say,

8:44

you saved my life. So

8:46

saving one life is enough for me.

8:49

Yeah, that makes us go on.

8:50

What about the people who maybe not so much

8:53

be in metropolitan areas? Is one through

8:55

yarn available to them? And do you receive

8:57

calls from sort of outer metropolitan

8:59

sort of rural remote areas as well?

9:01

Absolutely. We are 24

9:03

over seven anywhere in Australia

9:06

you can ring from, and the calls are free.

9:09

And one of the things we do do as

9:11

a team is we go out

9:13

to those remotes, regional

9:16

and urban areas to let people

9:18

know about 13 yarns to come up

9:20

and have a yarn with us to make sure that they

9:22

understand that the lines confidential

9:24

and safe and there's no

9:27

judgment, there's no shame. You can ring

9:29

any time. And the best way to

9:31

get that out there is face to face

9:33

with Aboriginal communities. For example,

9:35

we've just come back from the, uh, Broome

9:37

Black Pride Festival where we're

9:39

up there for, you know, seven out of the eight

9:41

days of the festival talking

9:44

to mob about, you know, how

9:46

they're doing, yarn can be a safe space

9:48

to go if they're feeling unwell

9:50

or triggered or, um, need

9:53

a little bit of help.

9:54

And a good response.

9:55

Yeah, yeah. Great response.

9:57

People love 13 yard. They

9:59

come up and say, look, you know,

10:01

like, why haven't we had this earlier?

10:03

Why is this only been going for two years?

10:06

You know, this should have been it

10:08

should be 60 years old, the same as lifeline.

10:11

They can't believe that this service

10:13

has only been. For two years.

10:15

We've got a great name across the community.

10:18

We've just won a national award

10:20

through Suicide Prevention Australia.

10:23

The priority populations, um,

10:25

you know, that national award means a

10:27

lot to us. Um, so,

10:30

you know, our crisis supporters are doing a

10:32

great job sitting there answering the phone

10:34

and making sure community safe

10:36

and mob are safe. Tell us a.

10:38

Bit about the training that goes into your people that answer

10:40

the phone.

10:40

Well, we we've used, um, we

10:42

used lifeline training. And what we

10:44

did was we put a cultural lens

10:47

over that training. So we we

10:49

changed it to suit us, to suit

10:51

Aboriginal people. It's accredited

10:53

training. And what I say is

10:55

that 13 Jan crisis supporters are

10:58

more highly trained than

11:00

lifeline crisis supporters, because

11:02

our crisis supporters actually do two

11:04

extra modules and that's around,

11:07

you know, intergenerational trauma

11:10

and also the complexity

11:12

of social and emotional well-being in Aboriginal

11:14

communities. So our

11:16

crisis supporters are highly trained.

11:18

It takes a whole year to get accredited,

11:21

to be a crisis supporter. And

11:24

then once you're an accredited crisis supporter,

11:26

a lot of our staff are going on to mentoring

11:29

other staff, you know, really

11:31

going on to training. You know, there's

11:33

a real career path for our people.

11:35

Um, within here, we've even had a couple

11:38

of, um, our, our early crisis

11:40

supporters that came on early in the piece

11:42

have now moved on to become centralized

11:45

in shift support workers, which is

11:47

the workers who support crisis

11:50

supporters while they're in a call, if they get

11:52

lost or they get overwhelmed,

11:54

they can reach out and get this support

11:56

during a call. And some of

11:58

our crisis supporters have moved up that step

12:00

to become those, um, centralized

12:03

in shift supporters. So they're highly

12:05

skilled, they're highly trained, and

12:07

they also bring that extra

12:09

qualification of being,

12:12

you know, Aboriginal and culturally

12:14

aware and understanding of,

12:16

you know, intergenerational trauma

12:19

and social and emotional well-being for

12:21

Aboriginal people. So, you know,

12:23

they they're really highly skilled people.

12:25

I was going.

12:26

To say they'd be pretty highly motivated too,

12:28

wouldn't they?

12:28

Are really highly motivated. The

12:31

biggest thing I've got is stopping people from

12:33

stealing them once I train them.

12:36

Well, I guess that's a compliment in itself, isn't

12:38

it?

12:38

It is, it is. And really,

12:40

when you think about it, when they do leave

12:42

and go out into the community, they're taking those skills

12:45

with them, you know, to their to

12:47

their next position. So

12:49

and they're still, you know, real

12:51

gatekeepers for their community too, because

12:54

they will talk about, you

12:56

know, suicide and its consequences in the

12:58

community. And we need to just take the sting

13:00

and the shame out of that so that

13:02

people talk about it like, you know,

13:04

a broken brain is the same

13:06

as having a broken, you know, leg

13:08

or a broken arm. You know, it's it's

13:10

it's something that we should all not be ashamed

13:13

about and just deal with it

13:15

like a broken heart or a broken soul

13:17

or a broken brain is exactly the same

13:19

as having a broken leg or a broken arm.

13:21

But a very powerful way to put it. Marjorie, we're

13:23

running out of time rapidly. I've enjoyed so

13:25

much talking to you. Can I ask

13:27

you just sort of briefly, if that's

13:30

a fair question, what you think of National Reconciliation

13:32

Week?

13:33

Look, I think it'd be great if we

13:35

could reconcile. Um, but the

13:37

referendum told me we're a long way from

13:39

that in this country. A lot of work to do.

13:41

By everyone, I mean absolutely

13:43

everybody.

13:44

Yeah, a lot of work to do. And

13:46

I think the disappointment of the referendum is

13:48

still stinging. Yeah.

13:50

I mean, yeah, I guess there's a

13:52

said kind of earlier or hinted at earlier

13:54

kind of, you know, the day after, some of

13:56

us, not so much I've forgotten about it, but I guess

13:58

we kind of move on. But it's much easier

14:00

said than done if you've been impacted in some of

14:02

the ways you've explained so well with

14:04

us, uh, in the last few minutes that we spent with

14:07

you.

14:07

Well, we're a resilient Melbourne.

14:09

We are. We'll live through it.

14:10

Well, you've been you've been around longer than

14:13

the most other race or any other race,

14:15

I guess that shows resilience just in, uh,

14:17

it's literally in your DNA. Exactly.

14:20

Do you have any difficulty in terms of recruiting?

14:22

You talked about people pinching your staff. Do you have

14:24

any trouble recruiting staff?

14:25

No, no, not at all. Because that onions

14:28

got such a good name. We get people

14:30

emailing us and ringing us all the time wanting

14:32

to come and work for us.

14:33

Now you've got a website, you've got your own website, haven't

14:35

you? I think, yeah.

14:36

Just um, Google that and yeah, that'll come

14:38

up.

14:39

Yeah. I just love that name. It's such

14:41

uh, it's so appropriate isn't it? To whoever

14:43

came up with that was a you merger. They came up with the name.

14:45

No, no, it was the community.

14:47

Okay. Uh, it sounds like you might

14:50

have had a bit of a hand in it, but you're too modest to say.

14:52

Uh, Marjorie.

14:55

No, it's been, uh, it's been

14:58

enjoyable, enlightening and uplifting. And

15:00

by the same token, very, very moving speaking

15:02

to you. Congratulations to you and all

15:04

those that have been involved into the 50,000

15:06

plus people that have called. I'm sure every

15:09

one of them has been helped to a lesser or greater

15:11

degree. And keep up the great work

15:13

and. Well, let's hope in 60 years time you

15:15

are still. Or as you said, maybe you

15:17

will do yourself out of a job. And I'm sure you

15:19

find a job somewhere else.

15:21

I'm not sure I'll be around in 60 years.

15:24

That would make me 104.

15:26

Well, I'll tell you what. I'll sort that out.

15:28

Are not you

15:30

glad to talk to you? Thanks so much for your time. Thank you.

15:32

Peter. Bye.

15:34

It's better to lie. That's Marjorie

15:36

Anderson there, who's the national program

15:39

manager for one three yarn

15:41

just recently celebrated their 50,000th

15:43

goal. For

15:46

Deaf Blind Awareness Week is coming up very soon

15:49

and coincided with the Helen Keller Day. Let's

15:51

find out particularly what's happening in Western Australia.

15:53

Some exciting things I think could

15:55

tell us more about. We've got Karen Wickham gray.

15:57

Karen, love you to catch up. Thanks for your time.

15:59

Thanks, Peter.

16:00

Sounds like, uh, all this sort

16:02

of stuff has been in the planning for quite some time,

16:04

I would imagine. Yes.

16:05

We've been doing events for Deaf

16:08

Blind Awareness Week well,

16:10

since our inception. Really going

16:12

right, right back to the Deaf Blind

16:15

Association, which was formed,

16:17

uh, 1988. So

16:19

we've been doing an event on

16:21

a huge variety of scale.

16:23

Obviously, it depends on the

16:26

support and the sponsorship and the motivation

16:28

of the people that are, you know,

16:30

really immersed in the in the community

16:32

at that time. But the last few years,

16:35

we've done some really fun and really significant

16:37

community events, and this year is

16:39

a continuation of that. It sure.

16:41

Is. You talk about, uh, June 19th,

16:44

first of all, absolutely.

16:46

So we host

16:48

a community drop in centre

16:50

in Maylands in West Australia

16:52

once a fortnight. Um, and

16:55

the drop in centre, we've been running there for two

16:57

years. And it's about

16:59

people who are deaf, blind, having some social

17:02

connection, but very much about

17:04

community connection and being able

17:06

to access information

17:08

and resources about everything that's going

17:11

on in the world, in an environment

17:13

where their communication is supported,

17:15

um, where there's trusted people that they can

17:18

rely on, that the information they're

17:20

getting is is accurate and in a format

17:22

they can access. So we decided

17:24

to have our Deaf Blind Awareness

17:26

Week event this year at the hub.

17:29

It's really close to public transport, really

17:31

close to, uh, really easy for people to access,

17:33

and people are familiar and comfortable

17:36

with it. So this year,

17:38

we're opening the Deaf Blind

17:40

Awareness Week event on the 19th of June,

17:42

1:00. We are doing an

17:45

art installation. I

17:47

don't know if you've heard of Yarnbombing Peter,

17:49

but, um, Yarnbombing came around

17:52

early 2000. I think

17:54

I applied for a grant,

17:56

oh, 2009

17:58

just a little grant because I really liked the concept.

18:01

Um, it's very tactile. So it's

18:03

it's either crocheted or knitted

18:05

or fabric or tactile or

18:07

felt or whatever you want when it's deaf,

18:09

blind community is used

18:11

to make something to cover

18:13

an item within the community. So

18:16

it can be it can be bike

18:18

racks or bikes or bollards

18:20

or staircases or I've

18:22

seen it done on, uh, telephone boxes

18:25

in internationally. I've seen it done on buses,

18:28

I've seen it done on a train. So

18:30

it can be as big or as small

18:32

as your community allows. And

18:34

it's just a beautiful tactile experience.

18:37

So we had got a little grant in 2019

18:41

and were just sort of working away at

18:43

it very slowly. And

18:45

um, I wrote an article

18:47

about it and it got

18:49

published in Deaf Blind International and

18:51

the paper for Deaf Blind International

18:54

went, oh my God, this is so

18:56

perfect for our community. Do

18:58

you mind if we jump on board?

19:00

So they did, which was

19:02

fantastic. So they've run a

19:04

an event, uh, 2021,

19:08

2022, 2023,

19:10

a yarn bombing event right through Covid,

19:12

which was some

19:14

took some juggling, but it actually gave

19:17

lots of time for people

19:19

to make the squares and to make their

19:21

contributions to the art installation.

19:23

So that actually worked in our favor.

19:26

Really. Um, um, and this

19:28

will be the fourth time that

19:30

Deaf Blind International has run

19:33

the Connect Act Yarnbombing

19:35

international project. So we

19:37

decided we would do it again this year. We

19:40

did it two years ago, and we decided

19:42

we would do it again this year. So we are yarn

19:44

bombing the rise, which is a very

19:46

large community centre, um,

19:49

where there's a big glass staircase.

19:51

So we're yarn bombing the staircase.

19:53

I have, uh, death by Crochet,

19:55

I call it, joining all these

19:57

squares together slowly.

20:00

We've had a huge amount left

20:02

over from when we yarn bombed before we

20:04

had contributions from all over Australia

20:06

the first time we did it. Um, and we're running

20:08

a little workshop next Wednesday

20:11

to do a few more at the hub to add to

20:13

it, and I've had some volunteers doing some

20:15

extra, so we're madly joining it all

20:17

together. So we have this incredible staircase

20:19

and, um, probably a balcony.

20:22

I think we should have enough to do a balcony

20:24

as well. Just some information

20:26

for people what yarn bombing is

20:28

they're walking in. But really importantly

20:31

about Deafblind Awareness Week and about

20:33

deafblind West Australians, which is

20:36

which is the group that's supporting it and

20:38

running it and who we are and why

20:40

we're there. And we're quite immersed in the

20:42

community, community being there. They

20:44

see us every fortnight. That spilt

20:46

quite a lot of relationships, but we

20:49

want to take it further and further and further

20:51

if we can, so that that's going to be

20:53

a lot of fun. And, um,

20:55

a really different way to present

20:57

deafblind awareness in a really positive,

21:00

fun, interactive way.

21:01

And I guess it's a great way to kind of get the message

21:04

across to, you know, people who aren't deafblind

21:06

that see it.

21:06

Absolutely. What's this all about? Yeah.

21:09

Yeah. And and we will happily

21:11

tell them coming to our event,

21:13

you know, and we'll probably

21:15

leave it up for a couple of weeks. So it'll be up

21:17

for a couple of weeks at least. Last,

21:20

last time we did, we did a pub that

21:22

we go to all the time, which was lovely

21:24

of them, and it stayed up there for months

21:26

and months and months. They didn't want to take it down.

21:29

Yeah, it sort of rotted off in the

21:31

end once things got wet and now

21:33

that's enough sort of thing. But yeah, we'll

21:35

have it up for at least a couple of weeks. That's

21:37

brilliant.

21:37

Now, obviously, uh, members,

21:40

particularly those listening in Perth, uh, or I guess

21:42

anywhere can come along to the day as well.

21:44

Absolutely. If people could contact

21:46

me and just let me know for, for

21:48

numbers and any specific communication

21:51

needs, that would be great. Karen

21:53

Wickham gray at gmail.com.

21:55

Uh, starts at 1:00. We'll probably,

21:59

I don't know, finish 3:30

22:01

ish. So give yourself a good

22:03

two 2.5 hours. Book your

22:05

supports now. So,

22:08

um, yeah, because everybody wants

22:10

to come and sometimes we end up short on

22:12

support. So book your supports as soon

22:14

as you can. And we really, really want

22:16

to encourage people who aren't

22:18

members of our community to come along

22:21

and learn more about us, that that's

22:23

a very big, um, focus

22:25

for us always at Deafblind

22:27

Awareness Week events. It's about letting

22:29

everybody else know. We know. We

22:31

know how great deafblind are. We know how much

22:33

they can achieve with the right supports, but

22:36

we want the rest of WA to know as well.

22:38

Now you're doing a really cool sounding thing, another

22:40

cool sounding thing, a history project.

22:42

And I guess, you know, there's never the wrong

22:45

time to start a history project, is there?

22:47

Well, it's always the right time. It's probably a better way to put it.

22:49

Do you know, I've I've wanted to do this

22:51

for a really long time. We've had some

22:53

amazing people through this

22:55

organization over the years, and

22:58

I really wanted an opportunity to honor

23:00

them and to respect those,

23:02

particularly from the very early days.

23:05

Um, and just give them

23:07

a little bit. This is just the start of it. We're hoping

23:10

to get some funding so we can do it properly

23:12

and, you know, maybe do a publication

23:15

or a video or

23:17

but we're still in the working

23:20

that out stage. This is just to say we

23:22

think this is important, and we want you

23:24

to know where we came from and

23:26

really, really about acknowledging

23:28

all of those people that have just made such

23:30

a difference in the world of deafblind.

23:32

Another great thing about this project, Karen, it's

23:34

going to be very wide ranging. You're trying to get

23:36

your hands on as much information as you can.

23:39

That's right. Peter. Absolutely.

23:41

Um, so I've sourced I've

23:43

just done some research on my own and

23:45

with the help of the Deafblind West

23:47

Australians chairperson Hannah

23:49

Makepeace, we sourced

23:51

back to when census

23:54

the Census Foundation was formed

23:56

in 2001, and that was the

23:58

merger of the WA

24:01

Deafblind Association and the Royal Institute

24:03

for the blind, which has been in West Australia

24:05

for about 180 years. So

24:07

they merged in 2001

24:10

and um, when census

24:12

moved from the old Masland

24:14

site to Victoria Park, they

24:16

put a lot of their, uh, documents

24:19

from the Royal Institute for the blind

24:21

into the state archives.

24:24

So we've had a great few days

24:26

in it, the WA State Library

24:28

going through the state archives,

24:30

just seeing pictures of all these people that,

24:33

you know, I've known for a really long time

24:35

and seeing their journey and

24:37

all the celebrations and the challenges,

24:40

and so that that was really fueled

24:42

the fire even more, getting that little bit of

24:44

information. And we've managed to source people

24:47

for this event right back

24:50

from the to the very, very founding

24:52

members. It was actually parents

24:54

who formed the original group to

24:57

support their children who were deaf, blind,

24:59

who were connected with the Royal Institute

25:01

for the blind. But deafblind,

25:04

blind, deaf, single

25:06

sensory loss organizations

25:08

don't always accommodate.

25:10

They have their speciality, speciality

25:13

and deafness or speciality in

25:15

blindness. But blind organisations

25:18

don't necessarily know how to support. Deaf

25:20

and deaf don't necessarily know how to support

25:22

blind. So deaf blindness has always needed

25:24

that really unique approach

25:27

to make sure that their unique

25:29

needs are properly accommodated and

25:31

supported. So yeah, it's been a lot

25:33

of fun and it's something I've wanted to do for a

25:35

long time, and I just want to. I'm

25:37

looking forward to seeing everybody getting up

25:40

and sharing their lived experience

25:42

of peer support in West Australia

25:44

and how it's evolved. And applauding

25:47

their efforts.

25:47

I think a really great point you made earlier, Karen,

25:50

was kind of acknowledging those that have come

25:52

before us, I guess, in any sort of sphere,

25:54

particularly of advocacy. I mean,

25:56

they have, you know, they have been the trailblazers. And,

25:59

you know, I'm sure there was a time when maybe advocacy

26:01

wasn't looked upon as favorably as it might be today,

26:03

and maybe it's not looked upon favorably enough today, but you

26:05

know what I mean? Like, it's, uh, there was a

26:07

time when probably either trouble makers or, you know,

26:09

get them out of the office sort of thing, that type of attitude.

26:12

And to kind of acknowledge the work that's

26:14

been going on beforehand is a

26:16

wonderful thing.

26:17

Absolutely. And it's a really

26:19

challenging time for advocates

26:22

at the moment. Um, uh, funding

26:24

wise particularly, it's

26:26

a very, very challenging time for everybody

26:29

in the, in the sector, um, for

26:31

peer support groups as well. Um, it's

26:33

a really different climate. And, you know,

26:36

there's lots of things happening and

26:38

that we need advocates more than ever.

26:40

The NDIS review, the Royal

26:42

Commission. We need a

26:44

strong advocates more than ever.

26:46

And I think it's so important

26:48

that people are acknowledged, but

26:51

also that the strong advocates

26:53

we do have don't burn out.

26:55

I think that has happened. I've seen

26:57

it happen and by acknowledging

27:00

is one step. But the second step,

27:02

and this is something I'm really interested

27:04

in and and hoping these events and events

27:06

like this support is that next

27:08

generation of deafblind and

27:10

how that's going to evolve and support. You know,

27:13

my peers, all of us, we're all getting

27:15

old. I'm semi-retired. And, you

27:17

know, we're all getting older and it worries

27:20

me a lot. Yeah. Across

27:22

Australia, not just in West Australia, but in

27:24

the deafblind community, that next

27:26

generation of young leaders, people

27:28

with deaf blindness and their supporters.

27:31

We need to be supporting them. Coming through,

27:33

I was.

27:34

Going to say they need the encouragement as well to kind

27:36

of keep going and to kind of, you know, feel like there

27:38

is a carrot that, uh, is at the end of

27:40

it all as well. Oh my.

27:41

God. And and that's one of the things of beauty

27:43

of a history project, is that you can actually

27:46

see from the beginning to

27:48

where we are now, how much

27:51

has been achieved, I'm sure, you know,

27:53

working in the disability sector

27:55

or living as a person with a disability,

27:57

so often you feel like, oh my God, I

28:00

can't believe I am still having

28:02

the same arguments. 20 years

28:04

later, I'm still saying the same

28:06

things. So it's really good to be

28:08

able to focus on the things that have changed

28:10

and the areas where we really have progressed

28:12

and made a massive difference.

28:14

Yeah, well, things like access to information,

28:17

access into a cabinet for a person with

28:19

a dog guide, all that sort of stuff, as you say,

28:21

is still an issue today. So

28:23

great to hear from you. Really appreciate

28:25

that. You're such a great contributor off air to

28:27

this program, and I do appreciate that you've been that

28:30

for a long, long time. So good luck with

28:32

the week. Now, if people do want to find out

28:34

more, uh, they can email you. Is there

28:36

a website as well that people can kind of check

28:38

out or a Facebook page?

28:39

Uh, definitely Facebook page. Deafblind

28:41

West Australians, please

28:44

join us. And also,

28:46

um dbe wa

28:48

connect. That's the drop in

28:50

centre. So all the information

28:53

and all about us and everything else we

28:55

do, please join our Facebook groups.

28:57

We'd love to have you.

28:58

And just give us your email address. We want to contact

29:00

you directly.

29:01

Yep, it's Karen Wickham Rae

29:04

Gray with an E at gmail.com.

29:07

We'll put that up on our Facebook page as well.

29:09

Karen, again, thanks for all you do. Keep up the good work.

29:11

And, uh, I reckon we might get you back after the

29:13

event in June and tell us how it went. That's such

29:15

a cool idea. I, I really love it.

29:17

Great for the people that are taking part and great

29:19

for the people that are going to be, uh, kind of

29:21

checking it out. But for for those that outside

29:24

the deafblind community or outside the disability community,

29:26

a great way to get that message out there for them

29:29

as well. You know, I.

29:30

Didn't mention Pate that last

29:32

year. So the Connect act,

29:34

which is what this project is called, the,

29:36

um, bombing 30 countries

29:39

around the world participated

29:42

30 countries. How cool is that?

29:45

Changing the world? One country at a time.

29:47

Karen. That's it. I'm

29:49

only about 170 to go. Yeah.

29:53

Thanks, Karen.

29:54

Thanks for your time, Pate. Always good to talk to

29:56

you.

29:56

That's Karen Wickham. Greg, what a character, what

29:58

energy and what a positive thing to be doing.

30:00

Deafblind Awareness Week coincided with Helen

30:03

Keller Day coming up in Perth in June, but

30:05

we'll chat more about it, I'm sure, as things get

30:07

closer.

30:09

To the focal point on being in Australia

30:11

and another 7 a.m. by radio,

30:13

digital and online at VA radio.org.

30:19

Well, there's a fantastic sounding production coming up

30:21

very, very soon in July, in fact.

30:24

And to tell us a bit more about it, we've got Ria

30:26

Andriani, who's the curator. Hello,

30:28

Ria. Good to catch up again.

30:29

Pleasure to be here, Peter. Thank you for having me.

30:32

And I think we can say one of the stars of the show,

30:34

Lamorna Nightingale. Lamorna, thank you

30:36

for your time. I'd love to meet you for the first time.

30:38

Yeah, it's great to be here. Thanks, Peter.

30:40

Now, Ria, the production is called

30:42

trace. How has this all come about?

30:44

You're the curator. So how has it come to this?

30:46

Sure. So Lamorna and

30:49

I, um, met Lamorna

30:51

runs a collective called Backstage

30:54

Music, and we met through

30:56

one of Backstage's previous

30:59

program called shift. Um,

31:01

that happened in December

31:03

2021. We had a concert

31:05

about artists with disability

31:08

and it was called shift. And

31:11

from that point on,

31:13

we then developed the concept for

31:15

trace. So

31:17

my idea for trace is

31:19

is two layers. Actually

31:22

the first layer is tracing.

31:24

Where do our thoughts come from

31:26

especially assumptions and

31:29

also the act

31:31

of tracing a line with

31:33

your fingers. I'm sure you can relate

31:35

to that. Peter.

31:36

Yes, for a person who has a vision impairment

31:38

who is blind, I guess that's, uh, very

31:41

much, uh, something most of us can identify

31:43

with. Yeah.

31:44

So that also goes with

31:46

our assumptions. For instance,

31:48

one of the things that we are going to

31:50

do during the, um,

31:52

performance itself is tracing.

31:54

Where do our thoughts come from with

31:57

a really, really common assumptions?

31:59

For instance, why is the sky

32:01

blue? It's because,

32:04

you know, if you trace it back to

32:06

your childhood, somebody

32:08

at one point said, look, there's

32:11

a sky and it's blue. So then

32:13

you associate that color, which

32:15

is blue with the sky.

32:18

That's very thought provoking, isn't it? Very evocative.

32:20

Yeah. And it does go for

32:22

other assumptions as well. In

32:24

the music industry, there are lots and

32:26

lots of assumptions, and

32:29

we are hoping to,

32:31

uh, pick some of them apart, especially

32:33

through our compositions. We

32:35

have two original compositions

32:38

and another piece

32:41

by a blind

32:43

composer, uh, from back in the

32:45

60s called Moondog. That was

32:47

his stage name. And,

32:49

um, also some other pieces

32:52

as well. And we will be joined

32:54

by other people, artists

32:56

with disabilities and

32:59

also artists without

33:01

disabilities. So the idea is that

33:03

we would collaborate and learn from each

33:05

other, uh, both with

33:07

and without disabilities during

33:09

the Trace show.

33:11

Lamorna, where do you come into it? Uh,

33:13

really reattached on how you got together.

33:16

Yeah. So I suppose I'm involved

33:18

in backstage. I, I set up the,

33:21

the kind of, um, the company,

33:23

I suppose, and we, we present a

33:25

whole heap of, um, shows here

33:27

in Sydney that are all focused

33:29

on the creation of new music.

33:31

So what we call living music,

33:34

and we have

33:36

done quite a few shows where we're

33:38

we wanted to address giving

33:41

a voice to people who don't normally

33:43

have a chance to

33:45

have their music heard or to perform.

33:48

So trace

33:50

is just one of the shows that we put

33:52

on. All of the shows are not about, um,

33:54

disability, but, uh, just

33:57

this one. It's. And I'm

33:59

also a performer. I play the flute.

34:01

So I'll be performing

34:03

in this, this show alongside

34:05

the beautiful Ria, who has a

34:07

wonderful singing voice, and

34:10

several other people. We have two

34:12

composers that are involved in the program,

34:14

Georgia Scott and Jennifer

34:16

Hankin, who both identify as having a disability.

34:19

And we've got a few more, uh,

34:21

performers. Tessa Gutierrez

34:24

and Tony Gorman, uh,

34:27

are going to perform for us as well. So

34:29

my role in backstage is really to kind

34:31

of bring people together and

34:34

to, you know, assist

34:36

with the kind of behind

34:38

the scenes stuff of putting on a music show.

34:41

Now, Red, the show is in July.

34:43

What's kind of happening between now

34:45

and then? Are you in rehearsals? Where's

34:47

all that at?

34:48

Well, funny you should mention

34:50

that, Peter. We've been having

34:52

lots of meetings periodically,

34:55

uh, from time to time between Lamorna,

34:57

myself and other artists.

34:59

So Georgia

35:01

Scott, who Lamorna has

35:03

mentioned, she has written

35:05

a song for

35:08

this show called The Sleepers.

35:10

And, um, as

35:12

part of that, she needed

35:15

to find the

35:17

right balance between what? She's

35:19

composing and also

35:21

how we perform. For instance,

35:24

there is an audio describer

35:26

who will be live

35:28

audio describing aloud

35:31

as part of her piece. So

35:33

she had to write that in into

35:35

the music. You know, she has to

35:37

leave some space and some time for

35:39

the audio describer to describe

35:42

what's happening.

35:43

Oh, fascinating. Is that so? For most

35:45

people, of course, Rear end Lamorna,

35:48

we would be used to the fact that if we go to a show,

35:50

we put some headsets on and we hear

35:52

the audio description of the show sort of on

35:54

and no one can hear the audio description, but

35:56

this is a little bit of a variation on that

35:58

theme.

35:59

Yeah, it is definitely a variation on that

36:01

theme. And it's, you know,

36:03

like we want the audience to be able to experience.

36:05

Yeah, um, that as a performance,

36:08

but also Elias

36:10

who will be audio describing like he will

36:13

be guiding me because I will be moving

36:15

around the stage and

36:17

what he needs to do is he needs

36:20

to communicate with me. So as much as he's

36:22

describing to the audience, I

36:24

am also his audience and his

36:26

performance partner. And

36:28

at the moment, we've been workshopping the

36:30

music. Find out how the elements work,

36:32

how to make the music better.

36:35

And, um, also,

36:37

we've been workshopping Jen's

36:39

new piece, which is based

36:41

on step movements.

36:44

And also, um,

36:46

Jen and Mona are going to

36:49

perform a duet, which I

36:51

really love. It's one

36:54

of the pieces that is inspired

36:56

by her neurodivergence. It's

36:58

called calm is a Dangling

37:01

Carrot, because calm

37:03

is something that lots of people seek,

37:05

and if you

37:07

don't have it, it's a dangling

37:10

carrot.

37:10

That always reaching for it.

37:12

Yeah, that is such a beautiful description,

37:15

isn't it? Very, very apt. I'm sure many

37:17

people could identify with that. The

37:20

one of there's obviously a lot of, um, kind

37:22

of ground breaking stuff happening in the show.

37:24

With your background in theater, that

37:26

must be part of the fun of it, but also part of the challenge

37:28

of it. This this is kind of, uh, very

37:30

much outside the proverbial square.

37:32

It certainly is. And

37:34

my background is not so much in theater. It's

37:36

more in, in classical music. But

37:39

I really love the idea of

37:41

of exploring new ways of

37:44

hearing music and, and use

37:46

stories that can be told through music.

37:48

And these this work

37:50

that's been created especially for this show

37:52

has just it's been so fascinating working

37:55

with all the artists, um,

37:57

and their ideas and their experiences.

37:59

So I really love that.

38:01

Now where we're going around Australia on the

38:03

Australian Radio Network, the show is

38:05

on in Sydney. Um, where,

38:07

when and where and when do you answer

38:09

that? I want to ask you another question, which you probably

38:12

can also guess what I'm going to ask you. But

38:14

so when and where is the show on?

38:15

So the show is going to be

38:17

on at studio 107

38:20

in Redfern on July 13th

38:23

at 7:30 p.m.. Yeah,

38:25

that's.

38:25

107 projects, which is 107

38:28

Redfern Street, Redfern.

38:29

So the the the street address and the uh,

38:31

theatre, uh, match up.

38:33

That's right.

38:33

Yeah, yeah. Now,

38:36

the question I was going to ask you, of course, is,

38:38

um, is this a one off show, and

38:40

is there a chance that it could go, um, outside

38:43

Sydney?

38:44

Uh, I think I will

38:46

throw this to you, Llimona.

38:48

We would love to tour both

38:50

these shows that we've created, both shift

38:52

and trace. Finding the

38:55

space and the opportunity to actually do that

38:57

is a little bit challenging, but if

38:59

anyone's interested, then we would.

39:01

We would love to bring both these shows around

39:04

Australia. I think there are a lot of places,

39:06

a lot of people that would really love to hear the music

39:09

and and to experience the

39:11

shows, but nothing planned for just at the moment.

39:13

Okay, well, uh, your paper might

39:15

speak to our people and we'll see if we might be able

39:17

to get some wheels in motion.

39:19

Rear Hawks, our day by this. And

39:21

how challenged are you by this? Because this is obviously

39:24

something a little bit different. And I'm sure

39:26

when it all comes to fruition,

39:28

uh, it's going to be a very satisfying feeling.

39:30

Yeah, definitely. So

39:33

it's kind of a new role

39:35

for me to be able to curate

39:37

a show, because the experience

39:39

is quite different to, let's

39:41

say, singing a piece of music that

39:43

has been written and that

39:46

I just have to rehearse and take directions

39:48

from. I have a lot more

39:51

directorial freedom

39:53

in this. So in

39:55

a way that is quite exciting and also

39:58

quite scary. Um.

40:00

Fun. Scary though.

40:01

Yeah, definitely fun. Scary. So,

40:04

you know, there are lots of theatrical

40:07

elements involved. You

40:09

know, I am also kind of

40:11

integrating other parts

40:13

of myself. I sometimes

40:15

write poetry and there will be

40:17

some of that. In the show.

40:20

So, you know, the Sky Is Blue is

40:22

actually part of a poem which

40:24

I now need to finish

40:26

and practice. And

40:28

also I'm very

40:30

used to performing with

40:32

a piece of score in my hand, but

40:35

for this one, because there'll

40:37

be a lot of movement and a lot

40:39

of things that I need to coordinate, I

40:41

have to memorize these

40:44

new pieces that, um,

40:46

we are doing.

40:48

That's one of the things I was going to ask you. How

40:50

do you feel about obviously having to

40:52

move about on the stage as well? Because

40:54

I guess that's kind of going to be challenging

40:56

and exciting at the same time. Like, like

40:58

the whole show in a sense. Yeah.

41:00

It's really exciting

41:03

actually, because, um, as

41:05

you know, for someone who is blind

41:07

to be able to move freely through

41:10

a space, how can I say it? It's

41:12

between awe inspiring

41:14

and also unbelievably

41:17

scary. It's so unbelievable scary

41:19

for a blind person to be able

41:21

to move through space that

41:24

it's so awe inspiring. But you and

41:26

I know that we do that all the time,

41:28

and it is quite

41:30

a simple concept. And when

41:32

I came on board,

41:35

um, la mano did ask me, you know, what

41:37

do you want to do? And I

41:39

said, I want to be able to show people

41:41

that, you know, a blind person

41:43

can move through a space

41:46

without assistance, quite comfortably,

41:48

without falling into things

41:51

and, you know, hurting myself

41:53

in the process. And so

41:55

we built the show around

41:58

being able to do that.

42:00

That's tremendous. I was going to sort of add

42:02

also that you'll have people watching

42:04

you, but maybe I shouldn't add that

42:06

because you know that anyway. But that

42:09

kind of puts a bit of extra layer of pressure

42:11

in a sense. The fact that you're being watched

42:13

as well, the audience are going to be watching you. Those who

42:15

can see.

42:15

Yeah, definitely. And also, you

42:18

know, like Elias will be,

42:20

um, describing what I'm doing to the

42:22

audience as well. So yeah,

42:25

it's definitely everybody.

42:26

Will see it in their own way, won't.

42:27

They. Well, that's true too, I wonder. Yeah. Well,

42:30

uh, yeah. So it's going to be

42:32

sounds amazing. So what about

42:34

as far as booking goes or people wanting to

42:36

find out more. What's the best way to do that?

42:39

Backstage? Music.com. So

42:41

if you head towards our website then,

42:44

uh, there's there'll be a link to,

42:46

to buy tickets from the website

42:48

and it's just through Humanetics.

42:51

So it should be fairly straightforward

42:53

for everyone. That's very.

42:54

Accessible. I know a number of people that have used that

42:56

for different events, etc. it's very,

42:58

very accessible. Yeah, you've chosen a good one there.

43:00

So at this stage, just the one show.

43:02

Just the one.

43:03

Show, I've got a feeling you might be back by popular

43:05

demand.

43:06

I hope so, I hope so. It's been an

43:08

amazing process to. Yeah.

43:11

Well good luck. We'll remind people

43:13

as it gets closer as well and put details

43:15

up on Facebook as well. And it'll be great to catch

43:17

up with you both when it's all over. So you can tell

43:20

us how well it went. But, uh, thank you

43:22

both so, so much for speaking to us at, uh. It

43:24

sounds very exciting, very groundbreaking, very

43:26

unique. And we love, uh, all those things about

43:28

this. Fantastic.

43:29

Thanks so much.

43:30

Thank you.

43:31

Peter, it's Ria Andriani

43:33

and also Lamorna Nightingale

43:35

throughout the show. Trace coming up, uh, in

43:37

Sydney in July. We'll put those details

43:40

up in our Facebook page as well as the website.

43:42

So and as always, if you have any difficulties,

43:44

please give us a call here at the station.

43:47

Oh, this will turn into this. And

43:50

you sort of have to ask yourself, well what are they worried

43:52

about? You know, I just thought that, uh oh,

43:54

this is I'll ride through this quite easily.

43:56

Even if they were working, it was a case

43:58

of just checking to make sure they were working

44:01

properly. You've got a spare $2 million.

44:03

We wouldn't find this, but it's an interesting

44:05

one.

44:09

Ah, yes, that means Philadelphia

44:11

is underlined. Co-Founder and co-presenter

44:13

for Focal Point. Hello again. Phil.

44:16

Hello.

44:17

Peter.

44:17

Now, since the last time we spoke,

44:20

uh, we've had the federal budget. Uh,

44:22

what are your thoughts?

44:23

Well, listening to the, um,

44:26

uh, the budget, I didn't

44:28

think there were much in it except for a couple of

44:31

things, because there was a bit more money

44:33

for the NDIS and, and, uh, a

44:35

few other things. I thought that

44:37

perhaps the standout was, um,

44:40

the, um, the money for,

44:42

um, electricity subsidy,

44:45

um, a $300 subsidy for,

44:47

um, everyone, which I

44:49

thought was rather strange because, um, I

44:51

would have thought that they might have, um, uh,

44:54

done it perhaps, but, uh,

44:56

low income families than for people

44:59

who are struggling, but they've gone

45:01

for everyone. And I guess that means that,

45:03

uh, or at all,

45:05

um, uh, I mean, I still

45:07

get it. Yeah.

45:08

I thought that was a bit strange as well. You would have thought that

45:10

they would have, um, you know, means

45:12

tested or or or, uh, made it

45:14

a bit more selective rather than across the board.

45:17

Uh, and, I mean, without being unkind,

45:19

$300 to someone who's very well off

45:21

isn't going to really make much difference. And

45:23

just for those who might be aware, of course, it's

45:25

$75 a quarter, so you don't even

45:28

get the $300 off in one hit. It's

45:30

sort of spread over over a year.

45:32

And I don't think that's going to make a lot

45:34

of difference to a lot of people that probably

45:36

won't even notice that. Um, got

45:38

it. You know, because some people might, uh,

45:40

have, uh, like seasonal change

45:42

or, uh, different set of circumstances,

45:45

which might mean that they, they get $75

45:48

off their bill anyway, if, um, they

45:50

might not know about it, but other other they

45:52

probably will. But for most,

45:54

I don't know that they will

45:56

know that much. And you only.

45:57

Need a really cold winter or really cold summer

46:00

to bump things up.

46:01

Oh, you certainly do. And, uh, I've

46:03

got a funny feeling that, uh, the cold winter's

46:05

going to come very shortly. I believe

46:07

we're in for some, um, rain

46:10

tomorrow morning. I

46:12

believe so, uh, keep an eye out

46:14

for that. That, um, going to be,

46:16

uh, something to look forward to because we haven't had

46:18

a lot of it.

46:19

Well, I know, you know, going back to your

46:21

younger days being, uh, from a farming

46:23

family, I'm sure that many of the farmers had really

46:26

struggling at the moment.

46:27

Yeah, they they certainly will

46:29

be struggling. So that's going to be

46:31

the, um, uh, the thing and,

46:33

uh, the budget speech and reply again,

46:36

I didn't think much came out of that.

46:38

Uh, I know that, uh, the

46:40

opposition were sort of like reeling

46:42

out all of their, um, uh,

46:45

usual promises that they were going

46:47

to do, uh, in relation to,

46:50

uh, the budgetary matters in particular,

46:52

looking to go, um, nuclear

46:54

looking at the nuclear industry to,

46:57

um, have nuclear power.

46:59

But I don't really think that there's much

47:01

in that, um, this time around

47:03

either. So I thought, what's going

47:05

to happen here?

47:06

Hahaha. Well, speaking about not sure what's

47:08

going to happen, uh, do you think it's an

47:10

election budget or do you think we'll get one more in

47:12

March?

47:13

I'd be surprised if they got another one in March.

47:15

I mean, uh, it's

47:17

a possibility, but I just got a funny

47:20

feeling. I think that we're going to go

47:22

for an early election somehow. And

47:24

I'm keeping all rum for,

47:26

uh, November, not knowing exactly

47:29

what dates yet, but, uh, I'm

47:31

still looking for, um, uh, because

47:33

the way things are going, I mean, poor old Albanese

47:36

hasn't had it, um, all his way

47:38

in the, uh, during, uh, the last

47:40

couple of years. I mean, he lost

47:42

the, um, the yes vote. Um,

47:45

um, he's been in a bit of strife

47:47

when, uh, talking about violence

47:49

against women. Um, um, so

47:51

it just sort of wonder what's going to happen

47:53

next. And, I mean, if that's the case

47:55

and he makes another bold

47:58

move, you know, that could be the,

48:00

um, the end of it. And, and the

48:02

Prime Minister, that it's.

48:03

Interesting you say that because sometimes

48:05

I guess in any sort of walk of life, once

48:08

you make one mistake and then another one follows

48:10

up, all of a sudden, are

48:12

you scrutinized much more and

48:14

be you're probably a little bit, uh, afraid

48:16

to do too much in case, you know, you have a

48:19

third or fourth trip up.

48:20

Well, yes, I hope that, um, that,

48:22

uh, if he wants to, um, continue

48:25

on the line that he, um, and,

48:27

uh, uh, look for an election,

48:29

um, next year, he's got

48:31

to keep his head down and and,

48:33

uh, bum up and keep the things going.

48:36

All right? We've got her on tape. You're thinking November

48:38

election. So, uh, we're marching about

48:40

that. Especially if it doesn't happen. I

48:43

speak about elections. Of course I know. Um,

48:45

you've been to the UK. Um, what

48:47

about, uh, the UK election? That was kind of called early

48:50

as well. Maybe it's, uh, it's all in the water or

48:52

something.

48:54

I didn't mention that because

48:56

I was watching something on TV last

48:58

night, and I discovered that, uh,

49:00

when the, uh, the Prime minister made

49:02

its, um, election, uh,

49:04

announcement, um,

49:06

it did it in the rain.

49:08

We're writing. Uh, you know, maybe

49:11

it's time for him to go

49:13

or what?

49:14

There, so to speak.

49:16

More ways than one.

49:18

Yeah.

49:19

Yeah. Right. Right

49:21

in, uh, in the UK, who would have thought there wasn't

49:23

even a cricket match on.

49:25

Uh, no. No one ever bothered to give

49:27

him an umbrella either. I believe.

49:30

I feel before we leave the, uh, budget,

49:32

um, you touched on, uh, the funding

49:34

for the NDIS. It seems to me

49:36

that the federal government

49:38

is kind of, um, kind of asking

49:40

the states to maybe pitch in a bit more as

49:42

far as the disability sector goes, maybe

49:45

getting back to pre NDIS

49:47

days, it seems like the NDIS

49:49

kind of gave the states a bit of a leave

49:51

pass and maybe the federal government saying, well

49:53

come on, you've got to pull your weight now as well.

49:56

Yeah I think that was the wrong mistake.

49:58

The uh, the um, the state governments

50:00

to, uh, to sort of say, oh, well, if you're going

50:02

to, if you're going to fund the NDIS, well,

50:05

we'll let it go. And of course,

50:07

that has now meant that there have been

50:09

services that, um, state governments

50:11

have run or have uh,

50:14

funded for whatever reason, were

50:16

um, curtailed because, um, their

50:19

funding. So I think that this

50:21

is going to be, um, a good thing

50:23

that the government is sort of pushing

50:25

to have the state, the state government,

50:28

um, uh, pull up their socks and

50:30

get, uh, get, uh, going

50:32

as far as getting services going for

50:34

people with disabilities.

50:35

We'll see how that goes, because I think there's definitely

50:38

a bit of an emphasis on that. And I'm sure

50:40

if, uh, the liberals were to win

50:42

federal government as well, they'd probably do

50:44

the same thing because it just takes a little bit of pressure

50:46

off their finances.

50:47

Yeah, I think that's going to be the

50:50

case. I had a funny feeling that,

50:52

um, when the idea of the NDIS

50:54

was going to happen, that this would have

50:56

been their biggest, uh, their biggest

50:58

headache is in the funding

51:00

of it. And, uh, well, it's more or

51:02

less, uh, come true in a way. So

51:04

now they've got to keep their, their,

51:06

um, um, the, uh, the funding going,

51:09

but the measure of faith

51:11

about the Trinity Forum, state

51:13

governments to get involved.

51:15

Yes. Well, I guess everyone's wanting a little bit more.

51:17

As far as services go, prices are going

51:19

up, uh, you know, exponentially.

51:21

And of course, the cost of it does the same

51:23

thing. So, uh, you know,

51:25

you can't sort of, uh, keep dipping

51:27

in for forever and ever. There's got to be some sort

51:29

of, uh, day of reckoning. Yeah, I.

51:31

Believe that the, um, that's going to be the case.

51:33

And they should also, uh,

51:36

that if state government should also,

51:38

uh, foot the bill for going to

51:40

perhaps, uh, do have some

51:42

form of disability but don't qualify

51:45

for the NDIS. And I

51:47

think that that's where the state government should really

51:49

step in and do something.

51:50

And I'm sure as time goes on,

51:52

there'll be a lot of pressure from the over 65

51:54

as well that are not part of the NDIS.

51:57

Yeah, that'll, that'll, that'll

51:59

uh, certainly uh, give the, um,

52:02

the state government to uh, uh,

52:04

the opportunity to do something, but

52:06

I.

52:06

Know something that, uh, you're very, uh, fond

52:08

of and also you practice what you

52:10

preach, uh, National Volunteer Week, we've just

52:12

had that.

52:13

We have.

52:14

And this is a good opportunity to mention

52:16

the fact that, uh, all we're doing

52:18

here, Peter, is that we are volunteering

52:21

our services, and we do it because

52:23

we love doing what we do.

52:25

And there are a lot of people who volunteer

52:28

their services because they love what they

52:30

do, and they're providing

52:32

a service to the community, whatever

52:34

that may be. In our case, of course,

52:36

that's right out to the handicapped.

52:38

And, uh, it gives people who

52:41

are perhaps retired an opportunity

52:43

to do something that perhaps they've never done

52:45

before, uh, or

52:47

to take on a new challenge and, uh,

52:50

to, uh, to take up volunteering is

52:53

a good way to, um, to do it. And

52:55

for young people to sort of get the

52:57

feel of what it's like to, to do,

52:59

uh, particular tasks and,

53:01

uh, to be in particular

53:03

industries and give them a bit of a

53:06

background on, on, um, workplace

53:08

practice and so on. This is a good

53:10

way of, um, of, um, doing

53:13

that by volunteering. And so

53:15

anyone listening to this that

53:17

they, uh, can help with, um,

53:20

radio for the print handicapped services,

53:22

by all means, they're getting contact with

53:24

Vision Australia. They'd be only too happy

53:26

to bring you on board

53:28

and.

53:28

Fill you walk the talk are you've served Taiwan?

53:31

This sounds like a jail sentence, doesn't it? You've,

53:33

uh, served as far as a board member of,

53:35

uh, the Blind Wolf as it was beyond

53:38

blindness. Now, uh, blind since Australia

53:40

and other organizations.

53:41

Yes, I have and I that

53:43

that means but, um, I've been able

53:45

to to put my views and

53:48

to come up with, um, ideas

53:50

and to, to see through ideas that

53:52

have been put forward for the benefit

53:54

of all, um, uh, blind and

53:56

vision impaired people in South

53:58

Australia, and in particular with radio

54:00

for the print handicapped. I maintained

54:03

and and advocated to make

54:05

sure that, uh, radio for the print handicapped.

54:08

It is what it is, but the providing

54:10

services for people who cannot read,

54:13

um, uh, the printed word and in

54:15

particular reading newspapers. And that's

54:17

the most important thing, because one

54:19

of the things that, um, I discovered

54:21

and, uh, I'm sure you did at some

54:23

stage, Peter, when you got into

54:25

conversations in various groups and

54:27

so on, they always talk about something they read in

54:29

the newspaper and you say, what's

54:32

that all about? Now you have the opportunity

54:35

to hear the newspaper being read to you on

54:37

the radio. You can participate in the

54:39

in the conversation and the.

54:41

Other radio stations, the television news do

54:43

a good job. We have to be fair there, but it's

54:45

kind of getting a lot of background, a lot of detail

54:47

about stories that the papers bring.

54:49

Uh, look, uh.

54:50

There has been, uh, newspapers

54:52

and I think they'll always be newspapers around

54:55

because whereas commercial and

54:57

the ABC, uh, can do

54:59

a reasonably good job, newspapers

55:02

have the opportunity to fill in

55:04

the spaces, if they like, and

55:06

to add background to the stories.

55:08

And of course, in the volunteer sector, I mean, there's all

55:10

sorts of, uh, not for profits

55:12

and maybe even some profits that,

55:14

uh, profit, uh, or companies for profit, I should

55:16

say, that benefit from the great work that

55:19

they do. And, uh, we touched on, uh,

55:21

the Beyond Blindness and also BCA.

55:23

It is really important because often we're pretty good

55:26

at criticizing organizations. Why

55:28

that they do this. Why don't they do that?

55:30

You know, if you join the board or

55:32

join a committee, that might be,

55:34

uh, like a client advisory committee or something along

55:36

those lines, you can have a big input into

55:39

where an organization goes and the sort

55:41

of, uh, uh, services that they provide

55:43

and how they provide them.

55:44

Yeah.

55:44

I'm often heard people comment on, on

55:46

various, um, services and various

55:49

organizations. Why don't they do what out there

55:51

that I've often sort of thought, well, you

55:53

know, they joined the organization and

55:55

they joined the board or the committees

55:57

or the, uh, whatever.

56:00

They can make an influence on some

56:02

of the things they do get a get

56:04

things going, get things organized

56:06

and, and perhaps come up with new ideas

56:09

on how to run an organization

56:11

and all of those sort of things. And I try

56:13

to do that to get on the boards.

56:15

I've got to change my watch. It's obviously

56:17

running fast. We're out of time. We'll catch up again

56:19

next month.

56:20

We certainly will, Peter. And, uh.

56:22

But after you're gone by then you.

56:24

Have to go on, I think. And your birthday comes up between

56:26

now and then. So very early. Happy birthday. And also

56:29

the state budget will be up by the time we chat next.

56:31

So, uh, always something to get our teeth into.

56:33

Certainly. Don.

56:34

Happy birthday to you too, Peter.

56:36

Okay. Thanks, Phil. Always something to

56:39

get our teeth and our words into. That's

56:41

great. That's Phil Bradley, co-founder and co-presenter

56:43

for Focal Point. I

56:47

already described show of the week. It's this

56:49

coming Sunday evening, 830

56:51

on NITV, part

56:53

of the SBS network kindred.

56:56

This is an emotional family

56:58

and love story that follows two

57:00

close friends who were adopted

57:02

by a white family at a very young

57:04

age, and in the end they

57:07

reconnect with their bloodlines.

57:09

Rachet em a Kindred

57:11

Spirits this coming Sunday evening

57:13

at 830 on the NITV

57:16

channel. Certainly very, very appropriate

57:18

during National Reconciliation

57:21

Week, our one birthday

57:23

before we go. But one important birthday

57:25

Sonia Moth having a birthday. What a wonderful,

57:27

wonderful time. In particular, Sonia

57:30

mosse and then Sonia Parker

57:32

and Tanya modra had in

57:34

Sydney with winning gold medal

57:36

after gold medal. So happy birthday to you

57:38

Sonia. They made a real hit. They wear,

57:41

they wore green and gold footwear,

57:43

one gold on one foot and

57:45

one green or another foot. It

57:48

certainly was the talk of the town as far

57:50

as the way they were dressed for their events. But

57:53

not only were they dress well, they

57:55

delivered gold. So happy birthday Sonia!

57:57

Whilst our very successful reflexologist

58:00

and massage therapist and other things

58:02

as well. Well, time

58:04

for us to get on our bike as well I reckon.

58:06

Thank you Sam Rickard for your help. Thank

58:08

you Pat green for yours. Goodbye to

58:10

you. That report is available on

58:12

that favourite podcast platform of yours.

58:15

This program has come to you from Ghana land.

58:18

Be kind yourselves. Be thoughtful

58:20

of others. All being well focal

58:23

point back at the same time next week

58:25

on behalf of Philip Vandepeer. And

58:27

a big cheerio to Wendy McDougall listening in.

58:30

This is Peter Graca saying you're listening

58:32

to Vision Australia Radio.