Aunty Heads West: The ABC in Western Australia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates the evolution of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in Western Australia between the 1920s and the 1960s, covering the introduction and spread of radio and then television. It considers the visits of ABC commissioners and management to Perth, the appointment of commissioners from Western Australia, the building of radio and television studios, the creation of the ABC’s first state Advisory Committee in 1935, and the operations—in Perth—of the broadcaster’s last surviving capital city Television Viewers’ Committee. It examines local innovations in drama and in children’s, women’s and current affairs programming; the development of a broadcast news service and a symphony orchestra; and the work of key broadcasting figures, including Basil Kirke and Cathering King. The article argues that the history of the ABC in Western Australia was distinctive because of the state’s isolation and sparse population and, crucially, its time difference from the east coast.