Red Dirt Dreaming

While I package up endless packets of everything organic and Australian that I can lay my hands on, for my fortnightly stall at the Cygnet market, I listen to the radio online…. the stations of Australia and of the world.

As the aromas of Tas. pepperberry vie with South Australian lemon myrtle and saltbush,on my kitchen table, it seems appropriate to listen to Radio National’s new series on mining , called Red Dirt Dreaming. Part one is about The Kimberley…..

Wild. Breathtaking. Bigger than the UK and home to about 2,000 people!!

Should the mining giants be allowed to dig up some of the richest deposits of minerals in the world? Should the indigenous people have the right to decide? Should a state government have the right to decide? Its all about money; but who’s?

To those of us who care about such things the answers seem relatively simple. However, after listening to all of part one, which goes for almost an hour, I truly can say I now know an awful lot more about the complexities, the laws, the multiple sides of multiple arguments and I know one thing, I don’t think much of the Premier of W.A.

….The oldest, continuous  culture in the world…. these Kimberley people saw white people for the first time, in my lifetime…. its all there, in this story….

Listen, if you can. The beginning sets the scene. The middles is the discussion and the end is the heart…. If you can’t listen to it all, then start at about 42 minutes and listen from there to the end.