216 – The Don Dunstan Foundation

Whether you loved him or hated him, there is no doubt that former premier Don Dunstan changed the face of South Australia for the better with even many opponents agreeing the net result of him living among us was positive. From enlightened liquor laws to sexual discrimination, “the Don” made his mark while staying anchored in face-to-face accountability as he mingled deeply with his constituents. Welcome, David Pearson from the Don Dunstan Foundation.

Dr Dino Hodge interview about Don Dunstan, part one.

Dr Dino Hodge interview about Don Dunstan, part two.

David, will we ever see a politician like Don Dunstan ever again? A man happy to go inside and have a cuppa, house by house, and who frequently just mingled with people in his beloved Norwood?

David, do you need to be an active ALP person to head up this Foundation?

Sadly, I have become increasingly disillusioned by politics. We see the successes and battles that Don Dunstan had and I heard from Greg Crafter at the recent Dunstan event that Don doorknocked and mingled ceaselessly, must we have the evil of factions and machines and grubby choices to enable the ability to do the right things from time to time?

The Foundation has rebooted the Thinker In Residence program to position Adelaide as the “social” capital of Australia. What do you mean by that?

Your first thinker has been, Allyson Hewitt, who leads the social innovation programs at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, Canada, which bills itself as one of the largest urban innovation hubs in the world. Where has she taken us thus far?

Can you tell us about the Zero Project and what makes it different from other approaches at dealing with homelessness?

Have you been able to measure the success of your Fringe Guide that pointed out productions with social themes?

I note the Foundation has paused it annual migration update conferences. What is the state of migration looking like in SA? We have things like the Asia Festival and Glendi that highlight cultures but are we breaking through to develop social cohesion?

I just spent time in Arkaroola in Adnamatna country, and got a whole new appreciation for a sense of home and of land, and for the significance of dreaming stories. The Foundation has Aboriginal economic development as one of its core charges. Are there real things happening in SA?

Nigel Dobson-Keeffe challenges the panel to pick the fake story from three stories from South Australia’s past.

‘Woroni’ – July 1961
UPPER HOUSES – LEGISLATIVE ACHRONISM
Mr. Don Dunstan, who is the deputy leader of the Opposition in the South Australian House of Assembly, addressed a lunch-time crowd of about 50 at the Arts Building on the subject “Upper Houses — a Legislative Anachronism.” He came straight to the point by declaring the function of parliament, ‘which is to represent the people’. In order to do this only one house is needed, as a second chamber, if democratically elected, would only mirror the composition of the lower house, thereby becoming pointless.

Canberra Times – October 1979
Dunstan TV host
Mr Don Dunstan, the former Premier of South Australia, is to become the host of a national television program. The ABC announced on Friday that Mr Dunstan, 53, had signed a contract to be the interviewer for the third series of “Capriccio” program.

Canberra Times – November 1993
Dunstan Exhibition Gardens
Adelaide: Hundreds of people swarmed into Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens to see the new exhibition area, soon after they were officially opened yesterday by the Governor of South Australia, Sir Donald Dunstan. The extension to the existing gardens cost $I.5 million, took three years to complete, and cover 3 hectares of land which had been adjacent vacant bush. In explaining the naming of the Dunstan Exhibition area, Sir Donald quipped that as much as he would enjoy having such a fine exhibition area for sculptures named after himself, the truth of the matter is that the former Premier contributed infinitely more to the arts within South Australia and is a fine and deserving recipient. He also stated that unfortunately health issues had prevented the former premier from attending the opening.

And here is Steve’s Captain Adelaide, as discussed during the discussion.

And our song this week is Nadia by Fleur Green and the Keepers, selected by our musical curator, Todd Fischer.

This week we’re bringing you a song from Adelaide alternative pop trio, Fleur Green and The Keepers. They have just released a single called Nadia and are set to release their debut album When The Tide Rushes In on November 3.

With an intricate instrumental arrangement of bounding sounds varying between sweet and heavy pop melodies, ‘Nadia’ is a percussion-laced ballad weaving between chiming vibraphone, brittle xylophone, heavenly strings and glorious horns. The film clip also features one of my favourite humans in the world, Giovanni Clemente, performing a baritone sax solo so epic his hat flies off his head.

Fleur explains that “Nadia is the name of a friend of hers who she met on set at the Adelaide run of the Opera Australia production of La Boheme. They developed a great friendship after sharing a dressing room. She always loved her name and she based the song on the role she played in the opera – a lady of the night,”

The full 12-track album touches on themes surrounding mental illness focusing on the humour, light, grace, love and persistence that can come from it. Fleur is a strong supporter of the destigmatisation of mental illness and the creation of artistic work that provides insight into the many facets of having a severe mental illness. Mental health issues are still stigmatized in this country and Fleur suggests that perhaps they should be revered in some instances. “Given the right education and resources, broken brains can create necessary beauty and insight in this world and we need to give people who suffer the resources to do so.” She explains.

If you like the track and want to check out Fleur Green and The Keepers live they have a gig on October 20 at the Jade Monkey and then there’s the Album Launch on November 4 at the Grace Emily.