Past Programs
Indigenous - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander - 2008
Chicka Dixon and the Tent Embassy
18/10/2008
Charles 'Chicka' Dixon is one of the most influential figures in contemporary Aboriginal Australia.
He grew up at Wallaga Lake and Wreck Bay on the New South Wales south coast. At 14, he worked as a labourer on the waterfront at Port Kembla, where his involvement in strike action sparked an interest in politics. He then moved to Sydney, where he became active in trade union circles and took a leading role in the campaign for the 1967 Referendum.
Chicka Dixon was both an instigator and an organiser of the 1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy. As one of the few experienced campaigners, he acted as a mentor for a firebrand group of young activists who sought to bring Aboriginal rights issues into the mainstream. His influence helped the tent embassy activists gain direct access to senior government figures and was instrumental in encouraging the media to question the living conditions of Aboriginal Australians.
In 1984 Chicka Dixon was nominated for Aboriginal of the Year in recognition of his contributions to Aboriginal health, community development and culture. He continues to travel the country, lecturing and sharing his wisdom.
Also, a profile of Carly Wallace, a young Aboriginal woman from the Atherton Tablelands, who is set to one day be a leader in Indigenous media.
Ships Of The Desert
20/09/2008
Nazmeena Cummings grew up in an Afghan cameleer family in Central Australia. Her unique nomadic childhood, traveling with the Muslim cameleers, at the beginning of the twentieth century, is captured in this radio feature.
Her father, Fiad Mulladad, traveled with his extended family, delivering supplies to places beyond the train line. She describes a harsh but exotic lifestyle that revolved around the work, the camels and Muslim worship.
They managed up to 50 camels in one camel train, with the camel breeding season causing some problems. The families lived in what was called Ghantown, which was always on the edge of town. Male members of the community would go to the Mosque in Ghantown where they cooked spicy curries that were then distributed amongst the rest of the families.
She also remembers living and working with Aboriginal families, who were employed by the Afghan cameleers. Nazmeena's mother would assist at their births as the local white settlers would not assist the Aboriginal people with medical problems.
Nazmeena told her story to her grand nephew Adrian Shaw, who wrote:
"Ships of the Desert' is probably the most important radio documentary that I will ever produce because it's about my family history. It was a privilege to be able to tell this wonderful story about how the camels and Afghans helped build this country, delivering fences, wool bails and food to people in the bush"
