The Lone DJ

Beyond the odd jukebox, it’s not easy to get a music fix in Coober Pedy. We spent our first few days looking for a local band to interview, or maybe a record store of some sort, and found absolutely nada. Then, just when we were beginning to think that all hope was lost, we turned on our hire-car radio and heard a relentless mix of amazing party tracks (Iggy and the Stooges, followed by Bryan Ferry, followed by Sabbath and so on and so on) and we were like “Alright!”. We called the station and found out that the reason for that uninterrupted playlist was due to the DJ having a fairly serious stutter and not wanting to speak on air. So, we cornered the guy who came on directly after him and he invited us in for a chat.

he local station in CP is called Dusty Radio and it’s run out of one of the classrooms of the local high school. I’ve been doing a Blues show on Wednesday nights, playing Mississippi Blues, Chicago Blues, Aussie Blues and all the contemporary Blues for six years now. On Thursdays, I do a more informative show to try to help fill in some of the gaps left by the local paper, which only comes out fortnightly. I used to do a sports show too but, as things do here, it kind of died over time. I came to CP because it was the only place I could get a job at the time. I finished uni when I was 40 and struggled to find employment. Nobody wants you if you’re over 25. It’s really ageist. People either love it or hate it here. If they’re not going to make it they’ll generally leave within the first few months but I like it because you can get involved in the community. There’s a hell of a lot of drink and a hell of a lot of drugs, but it doesn’t all have to be about that. I have been active with the Drive-In and the Youth Centre Network and we’re in the process of building a skate park for the kids, which will make a huge difference as there’s not a whole lot for the kids to do as it is. We only get limited funds to keep the radio station running (there’s a little bit of sponsorship and a few donations), just dribs and drabs really. The last time we did a listener survey, back in 2003, we found that about 49% of people in CP listened to Dusty FM but most of them probably don’t any more. The programs come and go and there’s a lot of dead air now. We had three or four key people who were really good for the station but they all got jobs elsewhere and left so I do all I can to keep it alive. I’m a financial counsellor also, so I get to do my sermon bit on my Thursday show and run government ads and tutorials about managing money and things like that. We have the lowest average income, the highest unemployment and the highest youth unemployment in the state. Youth unemployment at one point was something like 26%, which was incredibly high plus average unemployment is something like 19%, which is over double the national average. The government recognises these issues but it’s a small community so they can’t spend a whole lot of money here to fix things. Then you’ve got the indigenous population and a few problems there. Not the local mob, they’re pretty good but the mob coming off the AP lands (an area in the far north west of South Australia protected under the Pitjantjatjara Lands Right Act) who are really transient and will all move for funerals, weddings, birthdays and all that. They move between here, Ceduna and Port Augusta mainly. If there’s a funeral down at Ceduna then half the indigenous population from CP and off the land will make their way to it any way they can. When they come here though, it causes all sorts of problems and puts a massive strain on our services. This is the nearest alcohol to the land. All the surrounding areas are completely dry, so they come here and drink. Actually, Mintabe isn’t dry but they’re not allowed to sell alcohol to any indigenous people at all. So, they come here and binge drink and bludge on all the people they know. It’s some sort of class system so they roll in and help themselves into the booze, the food and the women. Then, when they’re not well, the demand on the hospital is huge and we’re just not funded for it. It’s a huge ongoing problem. Not to mention all the problems on the lands themselves. I think the Government has it all wrong. For instance, there are seventeen TAFE campuses on the AP lands and only indigenous people from the area can attend (because you need a permit to go there otherwise), but the problem is it’s unlikely they’re going to get jobs after they finish school anyway. What jobs are they going to get? What are they doing about job creation? They spend 90 million dollars on schooling for 2,500 people to make up for what we have done to them, but to me it’s a waste. We have created this welfare dependant society, which is not the fault of the indigenous people at all, but they are now so used to hand outs and not working that they know no other way. For thousands of years they have been hunters and gatherers and lived a day-by-day existence. They never had to think about the future until we came along. There are all these problems which the politicians ignore. Sooner or later somebody is going to have to make the tough decisions and do something about addressing the real problem and accept that it’s going to take generations to change. I don’t know what the solution is exactly but it’s long term. Maybe we start with the kids but maybe we don’t even have the right to do that? The fact is it’s a European society and they’re living in these towns and cities so they have to get used to this way of living. It’s not going to be easy. I think the kids are the future of this place so I’m trying to get them involved in as much as I can. The younger generation aren’t following their parents into opal mining but Oxiana (the new enormous gold and copper mining company 100kms from CP) has a lot of jobs for them. Other than that there’s not a lot besides tourism and hospitality, and they’re all low paid jobs. I don’t think people will stop coming here just because opal mining is declining; they’ll come here for the outback experience too. I believe that’s where the future is. KEVIN WOOD AKA BIG BAD KEV