Well I guess by now most of you will know that I have to edit my profile and remove the item that lists me as the presenter on the 4BC gardening programme. After almost 29 years at the job, I said an emotional farewell to all the listeners and have now left the programme in the capable hands of my friend, Clair Levander, who I know will do a great job. She will be ably assisted by Murray Shoring who is much more than a panel operator. His on air contribution to the programme while I was there was significant and it will be equally so now that Clair is on her own.
I think it was quite significant that Murray was the panel operator on my very first day on radio, then after a few years he moved on to greener pastures. I am so pleased that he returned to 4BC some months ago and was the panel operator again on my last show.
At the end of my last show I had intended to make few relevant comments and to thank a number of people who supported me over the years, but I'm afraid emotion took over and the words just couldn't come out so I am going to do it here.
Being a commercial radio station, it meant that we had to have advertisers in order to stay on air and over almost 3 decades there were too many to name individually, but there were a few that stayed with me for quite some time. Barry Kriedemann came to me with a product called sugar cane mulch. He tried to get retailers to take it on but no one showed any interest so he decided to advertise it on the programme and create a market. He did just that and we all know now that sugar cane mulch has got a huge following and it all started on the 4BC programme.
As I was still working for Garden King when I started the programme, it was good that they came on board as the first sponsor of the programme. When they pulled out, we had Seasol, Yates and Batphone, all of whom stayed for varying lengths of time. Yates certainly stayed the longest and Judy Horton's contribution to the show, right up until my last day, was truly magnificent.
Denis, Christine and Brad Neilsen started a native plant nursery down at Loganholme and their support of the programme lasted for many years. It really thrilled me to hear Denis, in accepting a nursery award, mention the fact that they wouldn't be where they are today had it not been for the support they got from me and our listeners.
Bryan Hillier, along with Bronwyn, Sharon and Amanda, have made a huge contribution to the garden industry, not just in Queensland but right across the country. Their continual support of the 4BC gardening programme over the years has been remarkable. Whilst Bryan was busy doing his thing for the Nursery and garden Industry in his various committee roles, the business was kept going by Sharon and the girls and I sincerely hope that their contribution to gardening in Australia will be properly recognised.
At this time I hope you'll bear with me while I look back over the past 3 decades and see what we - the listeners and I - have achieved as far as gardeners are concerned. Not long after I started it was illegal for gardeners to use any irrigation systems in their gardens. The argument put forward by the Brisbane City Councillor, who was responsible for water, was that irrigation systems could be used only by wealthy people and that this discriminated against poorer gardeners. The fact that timed micro irrigation systems actually saved water was ignored by him. Graham Quirk, Brisbane’s current Lord Mayor, was a young Councillor at that time and he could see the benefits, giving me a great deal of support. We eventually got systems legalised in Brisbane and the rest of State soon followed. I think Graham Quirk will be a good Lord Mayor for Brisbane.
THE DROUGHT AND GARDENERS
When we were at the peak of the drought there is no doubt that gardeners were penalised, both by the Government and by the media. I heard countless examples of gardeners who were legally watering their gardens from tanks and bores, but were being abused by others for doing so. I argued the case vigorously on the radio and eventually got under Premier Peter Beattie's skin, so much so that he told one of the 4BC News people to tell me to back off. Apparently he was sick of me talking about it. That led to an interview with then Deputy Premier, Anna Bligh, who, after considerable argument, agreed to meet with the garden industry for the first time to discuss the impact of the restrictions. We at last achieved some small concessions.
ROMA STREET PARKLANDS
Although it won't be recorded in history books, Roma Street Parkland is there because of me and the listeners. When the Roma Street railway yards were closed down, there was a strong push from vested interests to fill that vacant space with high rise buildings. Having seen so many beautiful gardens in other parts of the world, I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to create a world class garden in the middle of Brisbane city. With this in mind, I wrote an article in the “Courier Mail” suggesting just that. The suggestion was taken up by the then Queensland State Treasurer, Joan Sheldon, and, after a few meetings with her and various members of the bureaucracy, the idea was progressed. My initial thought was that we should hold an international competition to get designs for the garden, but it was eventually decided that it should be done by a local landscape designer. I asked a designer who I knew quite well if he would be interested and, of course, he jumped at the chance.
This fellow also had the dream of having a world horticultural expo in Brisbane and as a result the emphasis shifted from the garden to the expo, the legacy of which was to be the world class garden. Unfortunately I was not a part of the expo committee and got called on only if some publicity was needed. This happened when the conservative government was defeated at the ballot box and Peter Beattie became Premier. He didn't agree with the concept of a horticultural expo and in fact complained bitterly to me about the considerable sum of money that the expo committee had racked up during their numerous meetings and investigations which they expected the Government to pay. At that stage Premier Beattie was considering dumping the gardens idea and going back to high rise buildings. That was when I and the listeners mounted an on air campaign to have the gardens at Roma Street and the support from the audience was outstanding. Eventually Peter Beattie rang to tell me that he was prepared to compromise. There would be apartments built along the railway frontage and a smaller, less expensive garden, created on the rest of the land. And that was how the Roma Street Parkland came into being. I do think it is a marvellous asset to Brisbane City. I congratulate Bob Dobbs, the Curator, for the foresight and vision that he has for the future of Roma Street.
BRISBANE CITY BOTANIC GARDENS
Also the listeners and I took up the cudgels to fight for the restoration of the City Botanic Gardens. At that time they were being decimated by the thousands of non gardeners who were trampling over the grounds when they attended the FREEPS concerts which were being held on the lawns. Sallyanne Atkinson was the Lord Mayor at the time and she has stated many times that I nagged her into doing something about it. A committee was set up with architect, Robin Gibson, as Chair and a plan was devised to build a concert stage around the back of the gardens, where it is now, and to redesign the paths and tidy up the gardens generally. At that stage the old fern house was tumbling down and the Walter Hill drinking fountain was in a serious state of disrepair. The fern house was pulled down and the drinking fountain restored, but I must confess to feeling that much more could and should be done. These gardens are now only officially known as the City Gardens but in reality they should still be called the City Botanic Gardens because they are the cradle of Queensland’s horticulture. The first jacaranda in Queensland was grown here, as was the first cultivated macadamia. Also, the first sugar cane crush in Queensland took place in the dead of night in the same City Botanic Gardens.
So, as you can see, there have been a few battles fought and won during the almost 29 years on radio, but it has been so satisfying because none of it would have happened had it not been for the incredible support I received from the listeners. Of course it is them that I am going to miss most now that I don't get to talk to them every week.
I am not cutting my ties completely though. I will still be doing the recorded segments on sister station 4BH and it has been agreed that I will do a few spots with Clair from time to time, join her at the Nambour Garden Expo outside broadcast, and stand in for her when she has to have time off.
WELCOME TO THE YEAR OF THE FARMER
In case you didn't know it, and the chances are you won't because it hasn't been very widely publicised, this is the Year of the Farmer.
You might also know that I am passionate about supporting the Australian farmer and protecting the land on which he or she farms. I have repeatedly stated that in a few generations time, when we are competing with other countries for food grown in what little land left that hasn't been raped by coal and gas industries, our greg grandchildren will be asking why we let this happen.
So before you pick up fruit, meat, vegetables and food in general, find out if it comes from Australia and if it doesn't put it back.
A few weeks ago I was in a Coles supermarket and as I walked past the milk shelves a man looked up at me and said he was looking for the cheapest. He said "it all comes from cows doesn't it!' I am so angry with myself for not pointing out to him that the Supermarket price war is putting Queensland dairy farmers out of business because it is driving down the price that the farmer gets. If it continues then, in the next drought, the chances are that the milk we buy could well be reconstituted powdered milk from New Zealand or China. So if you want to ensure that our supply of fresh milk from Queensland dairy farmers continues I beg you to ignore the house brand milk and buy a branded product.
Remember this is the year of the Australian farmer , not one in some obscure country in the world.
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In early January Bev and I went a few times to the Brisbane International Tennis tournament that was held at Tennyson. To get there and back we caught buses and trains which meant that we went through the centre of the city. I couldn't help but notice the difference between King George Square and Anzac Square, the former being a boring block of concrete pavers with a few apologies for shade trees scattered about. Anzac Square, on the other hand, has nice soft cooling green lawns, complimented by massed plantings of red and white salvias, and the magnificent old bottle trees to give character and shade. I really can't forgive the Campbell Newman administration for taking out the trees, lawns and water features simply to kowtow to the non gardeners who made gardeners feel guilty because they were using water to keep oxygen producing plants and lawns alive. In King George Square the cooling effect of these features was just so important. If you think about it logically, if southeast Queensland was to have completely run out of water during the drought, the amount of water the Brisbane City Council would have saved would amount to only another hour or two.
One of the greatest challenges the garden industry faces is that of convincing members of the general public and the bureaucrats that gardening and leafy green public parks are vitally important for the health and well-being of all citizens, not just gardeners.
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TOURS
This year we are looking forward to our Floriade cruise which has been fully booked for more than a year.
If you would like to do a trip with us later in the year, we have a beauty lined up for September. It has been planned with our mate, Alan Smith from Outback Aussie Tours, and we will be using his 4 wheel drive bus to travel The Kimberley from Darwin to Broome. This is a five star tour seeing and doing everything that there is in the region. For more information, please contact Sally at Outback Aussie Tours, phone 1300 78 78 90 or email info@oat.net.au
The tour is filling rapidly so I would suggest you get on to it without delay should you be interested.
