New Year’s Day 25 years ago was marked by a landmark television event to signify the start of the year-long celebration of 200 years of European settlement in this country.
Australia Live: The Celebration Of A Nation was a massive technical exercise in a rare joint venture between three networks — ABC, SBS and Nine — with the co-operation of many regional stations as they crossed live to around 70 sites from around Australia and overseas to give viewers a glimpse of a day in the life of Australia and its people.
The four-hour telecast was a technical feat made possible by the advent of Australia’s first domestic satellite Aussat with the co-operation of Telecom Australia and the Overseas Telecommunications Commission (predecessors to Telstra).
Hosting Australia Live in Sydney were Jana Wendt, Ray Martin and Clive James but in crossing to so many locations around the country, and elsewhere, there were dozens of other presenters (listed below) and hundreds of technical staff involved in what was billed at the time as the largest single television production ever undertaken in Australia — even if some of the dialogue or content was not the most sophisticated, especially by today’s standards.
As well as a speech by Prime Minister Bob Hawke in Canberra there were messages from Queen Elizabeth II, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, US President Ronald Reagan, New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange, Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang, Italian President Francesco Cossiga and a couple of Soviet astronauts on board the Mir space station as it was crossing Australian skies.
There were also performances from John Farnham in Canberra, Olivia Newton-John in Ballina, NSW, and Peter Allen in Reno, USA, and special greetings from Dame Edna Everage in London.
The four-hour event came to a close with Julie Anthony singing Advance Australia Fair outside the old Parliament House in Canberra, accompanied by vision of fireworks displays being held simultaneously across each capital city as well as at Kingoonya, South Australia, a remote town with a population of six.
YouTube: Digital Transfers
Source: Wikipedia
| Location | Presenter (on location unless indicated) | Crew/Facilities |
| Sydney, NSW | Paul Hogan — introduction | (not advised) |
| Sydney, NSW | Graham Kennedy — Aussat HQ | TCN9 (Sydney) |
| Canberra, ACT | Richard Carleton — with Prime Minister Bob Hawke | (not advised) |
| Uluru, NT | Phillip Adams | NBN3 (Newcastle), Telecom |
| Portsmouth, UK | Geoffrey Robertson | Channel 4 (UK), OTC |
| Botany Bay, NSW | Ernie Dingo | TCN9 |
| Thursday Island, QLD | Peter Ross | FNQ10 (Cairns), Telecom |
| Maatsuyker Island, TAS | Mary Delahunty | TVT6 (Hobart), Telecom |
| High Country, VIC | Mickie de Stoop | GMV6 (Shepparton), GTV9 (Melbourne), Telecom |
| Yellow Waters, NT | Clive James (Sydney studio) | BCV8 (Bendigo), Aussat |
| Scarborough Beach, WA | Tony Barber | STW9 (Perth), ABW2 (Perth), Telecom |
| Rosebud, VIC | Denise Drysdale | ABV2 (Melbourne), Telecom |
| Marble Bar, WA | Ray Martin (Sydney studio) | STW9 |
| Milparinka, NSW | Dick Smith | TCN9, Aussat |
| Barossa Valley, SA | Trisha Goddard | ABS2 (Adelaide), Telecom |
| Newcastle, NSW | George Donikian | NBN3 |
| Hamilton Island, QLD | Ray Martin (Sydney studio) | SEQ8 (Wide Bay), Telecom |
| Ferny Hills, QLD | Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum | ABQ2 (Brisbane) |
| Port Melbourne, VIC | Greg Evans | ABV2, GTV9, Telecom |
| Constitution Dock, TAS | Jana Wendt (Sydney studio) | ABT2 (Hobart), Telecom |
| Mount Isa, QLD | Jonathan Coleman | ITQ8 (Mount Isa), QTQ9 (Brisbane), Telecom |
| Kingoonya, SA | Clive James (Sydney studio) | SBS, Aussat |
| Hayman Island, QLD | Daryl Somers | MVQ6 (Mackay), Telecom |
| Townsville, QLD | Ron and Valerie Taylor | TNQ7 (Townsville) |
| Uluru, NT | Phillip Adams | NBN3, Imparja (Alice Springs), Telecom |
| Gallipoli, Turkey | Tony Charlton | Channel 4 (UK), OTC |
| Mount Lofty, SA | Murray Nicoll | NWS9 (Adelaide), Telecom |
| Darwin, NT | Ray Martin (Sydney studio) | NTD8 (Darwin), GTV9 |
| Daly Waters, NT | Ken Sutcliffe | DDQ10 (Toowoomba), ABN2 (Sydney) |
| Darwin Harbour, NT | Clive James (Sydney studio) | ABD6 (Darwin) |
| Fitzroy Crossing, WA | John Jost | BTW3 (Bunbury), Aussat |
| New York, USA | Derryn Hinch, George Negus | A&E Network (USA), OTC |
| London, UK | Dame Edna Everage | Channel 4 (UK), OTC |
| Ballina, NSW | Olivia Newton-John | NRN11 (Coffs Harbour) |
| Arrilalah, QLD | Mike Walsh (Sydney Telephone Exchange) | RTQ7 (Rockhampton), Videopak, Telecom |
| Kings Cross, NSW | Mike Munro | TCN9 |
| Broken Hill, NSW | Rebecca Le Torneau | WIN4 (Wollongong), Aussat |
| Perth, WA | Robyn Turner (ABC Radio) | ABW2, Telecom |
| North Rankin, WA | Peter Couchman | (not advised) |
| Sovereign Hill, VIC | Gus Mercurio | BTV6 (Ballarat), Telecom |
| Kalgoorlie, WA | Bob Maumill | VEW8 (Kalgoorlie), STW9, Telecom |
| Ascot Racecourse, WA | John Michael Howson | (not advised) |
| Canberra, ACT | John Farnham, Peter Russell-Clarke | CTC7 (Canberra) |
| Burnie, TAS | Darrell Eastlake | TNT9 (Launceston), Telecom |
| Melbourne Cricket Ground, VIC | Alan Jones | GTV9, Telecom |
| Parkes, NSW | Barry Jones | CBN8 (Orange), NASA |
| MIR Space Station (via Moscow, USSR) | Jana Wendt (Sydney studio), Joseph Adamov (translator, Moscow) | Channel 4 (UK), OTC |
| Coober Pedy, SA | Clive James (Sydney studio) | (not advised) |
| Carlton, VIC | Vince Sorrenti | ABV2, Telecom |
| Brighton, VIC | Geoff Harvey | GTV9, Telecom |
| Indian Pacific Railway, SA | Brian Bury | GTS4 (Spencer Gulf), QTQ9, Telecom |
| Davis Station, Antarctica | Ray Martin (Sydney studio) | Sony, GEC Marconi, Telecom, OTC |
| Royal Darwin Hospital, NT | Ita Buttrose | NTD8, ABN2 |
| Reno, Nevada, USA | Peter Allen | Media Solutions (Reno), OTC |
| Canberra, ACT | Professor Manning Clark | Nine News, Canberra |
