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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-05-13 Daily Xml
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Scottish Radio in South Australia

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:29): It was a great pleasure to be welcomed as a guest of honour at an anniversary lunch on Sunday 1 March—a lifetime ago since COVID-19 changed so much everywhere. I joined the gathering to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Scottish radio in South Australia—a very important milestone in this Year of Scotland in Australia, with celebrations now very different from those originally planned. I thank the organising committee for the invitation and vice-president, John Thornton, for much of the information in this contribution.

It all began for them in 1985. Bob Hawke was prime minister, John Bannon was premier, Ronald Reagan was the US president and the wreck of the Titanic had finally been found off the coast of Newfoundland. Here in South Australia, 5EBI FM, under the baton of Walter de Veer, was celebrating 10 years of broadcasting. On the same day, 5 March 1985, a new program was going to air for the first time at 12.30pm—the Scots had arrived. That first half-hour program, prerecorded on reel-to-reel tape, was introduced by Cath MacNaughton and featured contributions from Finella Topping, June Laws and operator Gavin Harper.

In its early days, the half-hour prerecorded Scottish program was broadcast only on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Some 18 months later, it went live and weekly. In 1996, Scottish radio took up the option of extending to 1.30pm and became the Scottish Radio Hour. There is now a second program on Saturdays at 5pm, which was inherited from the Irish and which tries to be as Celtic as it is Scottish.

In those early days, the program consolidated around the on-air skills and dulcet tones of Finella Topping, a native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland. With Gaelic a prerequisite to getting the airtime at 5EBI, Finella was the mainstay of the program for 13 years until 1998, when she returned to live in Scotland. The show may be less Gaelic oriented these days, yet promotion of that culture still remains a central part of the mission.

In the early days, there were many planning meetings conducted over the phone, usually on a Friday evening before prerecording at 3pm on the Saturday prior to broadcast. It is easy to forget what things were like before the internet, mobile phones, emails, iTunes and electronic news from the internet. All the Scottish news came from cuttings from Gavin's father, mailed to him each week. In those days, tapes, cartridges and LPs were the go. Today, Scottish radio volunteers have moved on via MiniDiscs to CDs and now USBs. The technology is daunting, but it is being embraced by all.

Going live, as happened after 18 months, must have been a challenge because many presenters had daytime jobs. It was hard if they needed to rush from their workplace to do the 12.30 program, sometimes to find the prerecorded LPs were not waiting for them in the cupboard. I am told going live today can still get the pulses racing as the same thing can happen, with absent CDs if the cupboard is not checked beforehand.

Any community program relies on people to volunteer their time. It is important to pay tribute to the first committee: chair, Bill Anderson; vice-chair, June Laws; secretary, Finella Topping; treasurer, the now late Jean Lumsden; and the committee of Fraser Barclay, Arthur Littlejohn, Cath MacNaughton, Brett Tidswell and Gavin Harper. In that group are a couple of names that will, I am told, strike a chord. The late Jean Lumsden, who passed away only recently, and honorary Scot Arthur Littlejohn were there at the beginning. Arthur is still there today, though now as treasurer. Thank you all for all you have done.

To acknowledge the rest of today's team, there is president Des Ross, piper extraordinaire, whose portrait graces the front of the radio station. Des is a well-known identity outside the Scottish community, too, through just two of his associations to my knowledge: the RAR Association and the clipper ship City of Adelaide. I must mention here the late Barbara Medhurst, who was heavily involved with the clipper ship's research. The vice-president is John Thornton. The secretary is Margot Mernitz, whose exceptional contribution meant the program survived.

The membership secretary is Martin Campbell Colquhoun, a new member of the team, who worked with Margot to organise the anniversary lunch. Of course, the late Jean Lumsden and Arthur Littlejohn have already been mentioned—such great stalwarts both. Jim Hay is one of the longest standing members, a past president and regular continuity control panel operator. All best wishes go to Jim and to Freda. Sheila Castle is the newest member. It was great to get to know her at the lunch as I sat at her table.

Jill Maden is now holding the community radio fort in Coober Pedy. It is called Dusty Radio. It might be better called radio 'stoor', a Scottish word for 'dust'. Rachel Hay is mostly in Melbourne these days but is still with them all whenever she can be. My longstanding friend Rosemary Mackay has had to stand down because she has so much else on her plate. She is involved in many good causes, yet still finds time for the occasional program, particularly whenever there is the dreaded fifth Saturday in a month.

Also presenting regularly is Eric Ford, who does a Tuesday program once a month, and Malachi O'Reilly, who helps keep the Irish links alive. Past president and life member Gavin Harper has found a new life and love with Eleanor and alternates between the Gold Coast and Adelaide. Sadly, Eleanor has had some health challenges lately, and everyone wishes them both well. Also missing at the lunch was the late and sadly missed Gloria Gordon, a devoted listener and regular caller whenever the program was live.

Where to in the future? Scottish radio will only go ahead. In this Year of Scotland in Australia, I advise all members to keep their eye out for Scotland in Pooraka, which will hopefully go ahead at some stage. I look forward to welcoming you all to all things Scottish then.

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