Interview with David Lauder, Radio Fremantle

DAVID LAUDER, HOST: Well, I think we’re just going to move straight into it and introduce you to a couple of people sitting opposite me at the desk this morning. And part of community radio, of course, involves – community radio. We’re a true not-for-profit community radio station, and we rely on certain things to keep us alive. And part of that is the support we get from the Community Broadcasting Foundation, and that’s a big part of enabling us to do what we do here at Radio Fremantle and provide the community service that we do.

Firstly I’m just going to mention the people who we’ve got here today. We’re honoured to have the presence of the Federal Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland. Good morning, Michelle.

MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Good morning. Great to be here.

LAUDER: Thank you. And also with me this morning is the sitting Member for Fremantle, Josh Wilson. Good morning, Josh.

JOSH WILSON, MP: Good morning, David. It’s lovely to be here with you.

LAUDER: Yeah, thank you. It’s good to have you both here. So what brings you to Perth, Michelle?

ROWLAND: I haven’t really been to many community broadcasting places in Perth, so I’m really happy to be here. I did towards the end of last year a little trip where I also opened a new parcels facility in Perth for Australia Post, which is part of the portfolio. But I’m here to do some really great announcements, including with my good friend Josh Wilson. This morning we were in the City of Cockburn announcing a new NBN Business Fibre Zone. This is a great collaboration between local government, the Chamber of Commerce support as well as NBN Co, making sure that we’ve got that investment to bring the highest quality fibre and broadband services to that city. And that really is part of the whole connectivity piece. It enables small businesses and local communities to thrive.

Also, of course, Josh is very keen on ensuring all his constituents have access to the best broadband services. As part of the Albanese Government’s upgrade from copper to fibre we’ve got some 7,000 premises, I think, Josh, in your good electorate of Fremantle that are getting upgraded to the best quality fibre. So here to talk about those good things but absolutely delighted to be here at Radio Fremantle as well.

LAUDER: Well, we’re honoured that you’re here. I thank you for coming along this morning. Josh, how’s things going from your perspective in Fremantle?

WILSON: I think things are always going well here in Fremantle. You know, I’m privileged to represent this community in the National Parliament, which means I spend at least 20 weeks of the year on the other side of the country with Michelle in Canberra.  I love doing that work, but there’s nothing better than being back in Freo, East Fremantle, Cockburn, or here in Hamilton with you.

LAUDER: Because you’re a Fremantle resident, correct?

WILSON: Yes. I’ve lived in Fremantle almost all my life. Went to primary school at South Terrace Primary, as it then was, Fremantle Primary now, and John Curtin after that. And, yeah, raised my family here, so.

LAUDER: You told me something interesting when you came in this morning that your father had been involved in community radio, is that correct?

WILSON: That’s right. My dad was involved with 6UBS FM when they got their FM licence, at the University of Western Australia-based radio station.

LAUDER: It’s now RTR FM.

WILSON: That’s right. When it became RTR, in fact my dad was the inaugural chair of RTR for the first sort of seven or eight years. He and a number people who had been part of the Sunday morning Coming Down crew, which is the Sunday morning former 6UBS now RTR FM program. They were part of seeing RTR take its current form. So I was definitely a kid of radio. I grew up around my dad making stacks of vinyl records and adjusting track sequences and having friends around and swapping records.

He’d occasionally let us in the studio [indistinct] for the broadcast and play, you know, some kid’s songs and some Christmas tunes and get up on air. So, we still have some cassettes of those, which I don’t play because they’re quite embarrassing to hear your sort of squeaky childhood voice but it was a big part of my life.

LAUDER: What about you, Michelle? Are you a music lover?

ROWLAND: I am a music lover. And I remember vinyl records very well, and long may they reign. There was something about the move to CDs where a bit of character got lost, don’t you reckon, Josh? And now we’re listening to music over so many other services, including streaming.

And, look, the thing about radio – and again, this comes back to the importance of community broadcasting – all these streaming services were supposed to mean the end of radio, which, of course, was one of the first communication forms of media. But instead I think it’s just underscored the principles of the importance of localism, the connection that people have with presenters such as your good self and Kay and how, you know, people just enjoy that interaction.

LAUDER: Absolutely.

ROWLAND:  You don’t get that through a one-way sort of process. There’s something about a vinyl record for me as well, having been born in the 70s and established a little record collection. And I’d be interested to see what Josh has brought in as well. If I had have known I would have packed some.

LAUDER: Well, one of the things about Radio Fremantle, and as you look around you here you can see we’ve got some lovely vintage equipment. And this station was built in 1987, but we moved here in the year 2000. But one of the things the man who set this station up, Dr Ted Walker, was adamant that we would keep turntables. And, of course, as you just alluded to, Michelle, there’s been a major resurgence in vinyl in the last few years.

I was involved in the audio industry when compact disks first came out. And that was going to be the killer of vinyl. And it was for a little while. But all the old fellas that love their hi-fi, they’re called audiophiles, still swore by vinyl, that it was the better sound. And I think history proved them correct.

Now,  Josh,do you want to explain the album you brought in here this morning? What’s the importance of this to Josh Wilson?

WILSON: Look, I was going through the record collection in a fairly hasty way this morning as I was ironing the shirt and doing the various other things. I did want to bring in something Australian, notwithstanding that it is American Independence Day. To me the 4th of July, it's my younger brother’s birthday, so shout out to Mo Wilson. I think he’s having a couple of days with his family down south. He turns 49 today. So I send him birthday wishes. But, yeah, I chose an album by Men At Work. I think Colin Hay was a great songwriter, and I still like listening to some of those old tunes. I brought in Business as Usual.

LAUDER: You did, indeed. And, of course, Men At Work, Business as Usual, their first album,  was pretty well played in Fremantle back in 1987 for a very good reason, as you might recall.

WILSON: Yeah, well, that’s right. And Freo, obviously when Australia won the America’s Cup in 1983 we then looked forward to hosting it in 1987.  I finished primary school in 1983 and started high school at John Curtin in 1984. And those days in Fremantle were pretty heady because we were looking forward to being the centre of world sailing. And the build-up to 1987 was colourful.

LAUDER: Yes, well, it was indeed. I was a big part of it. I mean, I found myself down there quite often, just about every day, in fact, and cheering the Aussies on. It was a shame, wasn’t it? I mean, it took so long to win it and it didn’t take very long to lose it. I can only begin to imagine what would have happened to Fremantle had we just hung on to it at least one more time and had it back here again maybe.

WILSON: It’s one of those sort of historical forks in the road. Someone should write an alternative novel in which we won in 1987 and kept it. I mean, the Americans obviously had it for some hundred years.

LAUDER: Yeah, I know.

WILSON: We had a reasonable expectation that we would have it for slightly longer, but that wasn’t to be.

LAUDER: Yes, Dennis Conner, he’s a good sailor, that’s for sure. I mean, I seriously thought being the Indian Ocean and, you know, I just thought we had had advantage that they didn’t. But, gee, it was great.

Well, you know, on that score, let’s have a listen to Josh’s pick.We’ll start off with a pretty well-known track from this particular album.

ROWLAND:  Good choice.

LAUDER: Yeah, well, so what’s happening in Canberra? How are you going with it all?

ROWLAND: It’s a busy time. I mean, there’s a referendum but at the same time, that work is sort of finished in the Parliament and it’s now over to the people. It’s hard to believe the budget was, you know [indistinct] nearly six weeks ago.

LAUDER: [Indistinct]. Is that one of the main reasons you’ve come over?

ROWLAND: It’s one of the main ones. I’m doing some other NBN work [indistinct].

LAUDER: Have you got any vinyl stories for us?

ROWLAND: I do. So I grew up in Western Sydney, lived there all my life. Married my husband, we’ve got two young daughters aged 11 and 6 who keep us quite busy, especially when I’m away a lot. But this does lead into my vinyl story as well – I know I skipped over a lot there. I think you and I are the same age, actually, Josh. There’s so much we’ve done in between. But I got my first job working in a super market in Blacktown and I actually worked right through high school and university. And my first pay packet – it was actually back in the days when you had cash in the pay packet – and I earned about $30 in my first pay packet. I’d worked about four shifts.

LAUDER: Familiar story.

ROWLAND: A familiar story. And I spent every cent of that pay packet on the first vinyl record I ever bought, and it was Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi.

LAUDER: Good old Bon Jovi.

ROWLAND: I’m also ticking the 4th of July box there. So to this day I know every word of every song on Slippery When Wet. And they are still my all time favourite band. I’ll play them nearly every day, especially when I’m running. But it does mean something. And back then it meant something. Like, I wonder how it feels now if you’re – you know, you’ve worked your first shift. You earn some money and you buy some music online for example –

LAUDER: A download.

ROWLAND: A download. But for me it was walking into the record store, buying that, being able to hold it, feel it, enjoy it, appreciate it. And I remember putting it on for the first time in my room and closing the door and dancing like no-one was watching. And it still means something to me today, about the value of hard work.

LAUDER: Yes, indeed. Well, somebody – I mean, Taylor Swift is making a lot of money, TayTay they call her, Michelle. She’s doing okay. So I guess downloads are making people money still as well. But there’s nothing like the real thing, is there?

ROWLAND: Absolutely not. And, again, it comes back to the experience that people have. I think that the experience of people listening to this program now, connecting with you, it’s a two-way conversation. It’s certainly not something that’s one way and goes into the ether. So there’s something really special about community broadcasting and what you do. And that’s why I’m so pleased, you know, even in our first budget we were able to fund community broadcasting and put it in its rightful place.

I’ll say this: community broadcasting is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to media diversity in this country. And the connections that you have right across Australia, there is nothing else like it. It’s such an important part of the ecosystem, and I really value the opportunity to visit as many community radio stations and broadcasters as I can. Thank you for what you do. Thank you to your listeners for supporting you, and all of your volunteers and your networks and your sponsors who keep the show going. It’s wonderful to see.

LAUDER: Well, and we thank you, just the mere fact that you’re here this morning.

Josh, of course, Fremantle issteeped in history as far as the ethnic community is concerned and that’s a big part, Michelle, of what we do here at Radio Fremantle. We have many ethnic shows that represent our true community. And I guess with what you do as the Federal Member for Fremantle, you would be interacting with a lot of those ethnic communities, I would assume.

WILSON: Yeah, I think the miracle of modern Australia is multicultural Australia and building on our most precious heritage, which is our First Nations heritage. But, I’ve grown up in a place of arrival and, you know, a multicultural centre. My wife’s dad arrived in Fremantle as a refugee from Germany. My great great grandfather arrived in Fremantle as a convict. I grew up in a community with very significant Croatian, Portuguese, Italian and Greek communities. And then in more recent times the federal electorate of Fremantle has begun to welcome people particularly from the subcontinent, people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

So that sort of multiculturalism is a cornerstone of Fremantle, I think. It’s a welcoming place, a diverse place that has been enriched and continues to be enriched by all kinds of different languages and traditions and philosophies and interests. And as Michelle says, at a time when there’s been a sort of consolidation and concentration in some respects in media as there is in lots of areas of life, community radio has swum against the tide. Community radio has been one of those elements of our sort of storytelling and listening and feedback, communication-sharing that still really connects with and represents the diversity of our communities. And you’ve certainly been doing that since 1987.

LAUDER: Yes, we provide also opportunities for people. Kay and I have been heavily involved in our training. We hold a yearly training course here to try and get new people into community radio. But we are 100 per cent all volunteers and giving of our time for the community, but we also get a lot back from the community, which is fantastic. And it provides people, you know, an opportunity to follow their passions and dreams of things that they enjoy. And certainly it’s a juggling act, community radio. But without the support of the Government, the Labor Government that is in at the moment, and the Community Broadcasting Foundation, and just the fact that you are here is great support, and I thank you for that very, very much.

I know you’re both on a fairly tight schedule this morning, so I’d just like to thank you once again for coming in and spending time with us. And thank you for your support with the Community Broadcasting Foundation funding. It means a lot to us. So keep up the good work – that’s all I can say.

Where do you go from here, Michelle? When are you heading back to the big smoke?

ROWLAND: As they say in the classics, I’m here all week. So I’ve got a few things on in the Comms portfolio and look forward to –

LAUDER: Are you living in Canberra?

ROWLAND: I’m basically in Canberra almost full time now. You know you’re in Canberra a lot when you’re changing your toothbrush in Canberra more than you are at your usual home. But it’s a great privilege to be doing what I do. And thank you so much for having Josh and I along. This is my life’s passion. I didn’t mention in my background I had a before life – I was a communications, media and technology lawyer. So I feel very passionately about the transformational power across the whole sector, be it in radio, in media, in broadcasting generally and in telecomunications. It’s really what improves our quality of life and what contributes to the equality of opportunity, irrespective of where you live, including in the most isolated capital city in the world, Josh. And thank you so much for having me along. I hope you and your listeners have a great week.

LAUDER: And, Michelle, we wouldn’t have it any other way. We love the isolation. Thank you very, very much for coming along this morning.

And, Josh, what can our Fremantle constituents look forward to? What have you got? What’s happening immediately around the town?

WILSON: Well, look, a few things. I mean, I haven’t entirely given up hope when it comes to the Dockers. I know that will seem like a risky statement or an overly optimistic statement, but, you know, my focus probably for the next few months, as Michelle alluded to earlier, will be around the Voice campaign. I do think that that will be the defining historical moment for us in 2023. So I’m looking forward to being part of a vibrant community campaign that connects with people in all the suburbs in Fremantle and Cockburn and East Fremantle and have the conversation on how we can take that sort of next step forward in our national evolution and see the proper recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the constitution and the creation of a permanent consultative mechanism in the form of a voice so that they can be heard about matters that affect them.

And I think there are two different Sundays potentially in our future. There’s one where we wake up and we’ll reflect on our capacity as a nation, our optimism and courage and conviction in stepping forward and making positive change. And that’s the Sunday I believe in. That’s the Sunday I’ll be working with lots of community people to help bring about in a few months time.

LAUDER: Well, it is. It’s a very important decision we all have to make. And I’m hoping that the right decision gets made for the right reasons. And I wish you all the best, both of you, with the campaigns ahead in regards to that.

But, Josh, we’ll go out with another Josh’s pick this morning. And I guess it’s reflective of living a little bit in the land down under. But on behalf of Radio Fremantle and all our members, I just finally would like to say once again thank you so much for coming along.

ROWLAND: Pleasure, thank you.

WILSON: Thanks, David. Thank you.