Radical Australia

Calling in from the dead centre of Melbourne, on this week's show we welcome the intriguing and disarming Barbara Hall. Barb is a member of the West Papuan Rent Collective in Melbourne and grew up roaming the streets and waterways of Williamstown. In this conversation, Barbara muses on her early life with her parents as well as her time as a teacher. She extends a warm welcome to one and all to th...

This week we're delighted to welcome Brian Laver onto the show. Brian is a long-standing anti-war activist and anarchist from 1960s UQ. He is the Director of the Institute for Social Ecology and has been a part of the fabric of Brissie's radical community for a very long time. In this conversation we find Brian reflecting on his time in Prague '68 and as an international tennis coach, just down th...

On this week's show we are delighted to have Sally join us from the bush. Growing up in a politicised family, Sally was an early debater and once stopped Pauline Hanson's election bus at the school gates. That was her first taste of the rush of direct action. Sally is a trained educator and has taught both in Australia and in Europe. She knows the value of care for self and others in the struggles...

Compulsive artist, musician, storyteller, raconteur, poet: welcome to this week's episode of Radical Australia featuring second-time guest, Mr. Tony Millman. A honey-voiced wordsmith, on this week's show you'll find Tony and Joe engaged in a free-wheeling conversation about everything from art, modern society to living free. Tony also brought in his guitar and treated us to two live numbers: an or...

What can we say about this week's guest, Eirene Tsolidis Noyce? A force to be reckoned with, that's for sure. Eirene is the inaugural secretaty of the Renters and Housing Union (RAHU), Melbourne's new union born in the fire of the 2020 Rent Strike at the beginning of COVID-19. Hailing originally from Moonee Ponds, Eirene played piano from a young age and eventually discovered blues, playing in a r...

A lifelong 'fish out of water'. That's how this week's guest, Chris Lynch, desribes himself and when you hear him talk about his journey on planet Earth thus far it's not hard to understand why. Chris spent his formative years growing up in Papua New Guinea and had, by all accounts, an idyllic childhood, engrossing himself in the world of books and faraway places. He has travelled a bit, once walk...

This week's guest is Dean Lim, 3CR broadcaster on 'Behind Closed Doors', a peer sex worker show kicking goals since its inception just 2 years ago. Dean has many years experience as a male-to-male sex worker and is a sex positive individual who has lived a thoughtful life learning about himself and others. A great peer educator and broadcaster, no doubt! Dean currently supports other male-to-male...

This week's guest, Matt Costigan, is a firebrand. He stands up to those who would try to exploit and those who try to lord it over. A golf enthusiast since childhood, Matt has had some success as a competition golfer in Victoria and knows the difference between private and public golf clubs! A self-educated person who has been inspired by the works of Chomsky and Pilger, Matt has striven to be fre...

This week's conversation with Charandev SIngh was raw, beautiful and powerful. It had a profound effect on us. We were deeply honoured to hear Charandev share some stories about his life, from Malaysia to Melbourne and beyond. A street-trained paralegal, Charandev has used his own difficult experiences as a child to care for others for the last 30 years. As he tells it, he has been 'walking with m...

It's always an honour to have an elder on the show and this week is no exception. Max Ogden, born in 1938, was a youngster during WWII and remembers camping and hunting rabbits with his father in Epping. An apprentice fitter and turner in the good old days, Max played for Preston in the VFA and has been a lifelong trade unionist. A long-time member of the Communist Party, these days Max is a short...

On this week's show we welcome the thorougly nice and thoughtful person, along with exciting political artist, Van T Rudd. Hailing originally from Nambour, Queensland, Van grew up doodling in his school books, surfing and playing 'the world game'. Moving on to study humanities and partying at university, Van had quite a long sting playing in bands in both Queensland and Melbourne. These days, Van...

This week we invite you to be our guest on the show by looking back through the Radical Australia archives and talking about just what the show is all about. We look forward to you joining us.

What a delight to have Mini Miller, aka Racerage, as our guest this week. A childhood spent moving around quite a bit, Mini ended up at the end of her teens as dux of her high school. Impressive! Graduating with an ENTER score of 99.1%, Mini went on to study communications and eventually social work. For the last few years Mini has been the rap queen of Collingwood, finding home and communiity the...

It was fantastic to welcome Ric, aka Pope Fred, onto the program this week. A great guest. What can we say about Ric? He's a spoken word poet, insurrection anarchist, human biology graduate and a Discordia enthusiast, amongst other things. A very interesting person, making for an entertaining conversation. We thank Ric for being our guest this week.plastique-poetry.blogspot.comirlinfoshop.org / @i...

We were really honoured to have John Smyth on the show this week. John is a 3CR stalwart, having been invovled in the station since its inception in Armadale. A very long time indeed! John has a breadth of knowledge about all the technical 'stuff' that goes into broadcasting radio and for a long time carried out many of 3CR's outside broadcasts. John has also been hosting 3CR's 'Jazz on a Saturday...

We welcome Mark Spartacus onto the show this week. An anti-authoritarian from day one, what's not to love about him? Oh yeah - he's also a real estate agent renegade. One that actually helps tenants. He's one of the good ones. A good egg, you could say. He's also really funny. Mark came on the show and filled us in on how things are playing out with Victoria's COVID-19 era rent moratorium. Thanks,...

We were really honoured to have Lanz on the show this week. Lanz knows a thing or two about housing and homelessness and has been active for many years in this space. You may have heard about Lanz through the street kitchen and tent city in Sydney's Martin Place a few years ago. Lanz continues to live on the streets to this day and is active working with people and groups across the country. We th...

John is a veteran Queensland journalist, among wearing many other hats, and is the author of a new book titled 'Jessie's House of Needles'. It is a story of a courageous missionary nurse working in West Papua who established a network of village medics and midwives. We thank John for coming on the program. If you would like to know more about John's book, take a peek at Booktopia (booktopia.com.au...

Wow - what an amazing person Jill is! A Canadian by birth but a truly committed Australian since 1995. Jill has had a full life, that's for sure, and now she sponsors asylum seekers to get to Canada from Manus. To freedom. She's a bit of a legend and an inspiration. We're sure you'll enjoy this conversation. Here are some links Jill recommends:https://chuffed.org/project/khan8yearsprisonpnghttps:/...

Grammar school expellee, young hitcher, exotic and rare fruit pioneer, musician

Our lovely guest this week is Hal Peck, At just 97 years young, Hal has lived a full and varied life. What hasn't this man done? An engineer, architect, designer, prolific reader....it was a pleasure hearing some things about Hal's long and productive life. We're sure you'll enjoy meeting him too. 

Ray Bennett, seated right, at the #bendigost homelessness and housing occupation, Collingwood, Melbourne, 2016

Shae Anderson is a peace activist. He is passionate about his family, nonviolent intervention (bystander training), online privacy and security for activists. Here are some links he recommends: Brisbane Arms Fare (June 2021):facebook.com/SwanIslandPeace / @SwanIslandPeacewagepeaceau.org / facebook.com/wagepeaceau South Pacific Christian Anarchists:facebook.com/groups/322467914462637