Graham White, who was credited with establishing some of the ABC’s most iconic television series, has died aged 93.
Mr White held several senior roles, including head of rural broadcasting from 1953, controller of TV programs from 1971, and general manager of ABC television from 1973, a position he held for 10 years.
During his career at the ABC, he also worked as a TV producer-director and was one of the three Melbourne Cricket Ground commentators at the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956.
ABC commentators at the Olympic Games in Melbourne, 1956. (Supplied: Leanne White)
Mr White was influential in the establishment of TV series including Countdown, A Big Country, and Rush, and in 1981 he was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contribution to Australian television.
He opened the first ABC shop in Sydney in 1982 and, after leaving the ABC, he worked for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in South America and the Pacific region.
Pioneer for rural radio and TV
In a memoir, Mr White described the creation of A Big Country as his proudest moment.
“I had seen a wonderful series on Canadian television titled This Land Of Ours. I copied it in many ways,” he wrote.
On the set of A Farmer A Day ABC series in 1957. (Supplied: Leanne White)
With a weekly prime-time slot, the series ran from 1968 to 1991 and brought captivating stories of rural and outback Australia into the lounge rooms of urban Australia.
“A Big Country became a big hit … it painted country people larger than life,” Mr White wrote.
The series won international awards and was the precursor to Landline, which continues today.
Graham White (centre) in the 1950s, when recording a story in the field required a technician and a driver. (ABC News)
Former colleague and executive producer of ABC Rural in South Australia, Ian Doyle, said Mr White recognised that regional Australia would benefit greatly from access to the national broadcaster.
“He got the government to provide a satellite service, which then made the footprint even wider, giving the remotest areas of outback Australia TV,” he said.
Graham White’s official ABC photo in 1950. (Supplied: Leanne White)
As a reporter, Mr White was embroiled in a controversy that led to a royal commission into price fixing at the Melbourne Markets.
Mr White had stumbled on a racket that involved agents supplying the ABC with false prices, misleading growers to believe their produce had sold for low prices.
Agents then sold the produce, often for three times as much.
When Mr White refused to broadcast the scam prices, he said he was threatened by an agent wielding a bale hook.
“One of the agents said, ‘If you go on broadcasting those [real] prices, the bale hook won’t stop here and they’ll dig you out of the sand in the bottom of Port Philip Bay,'” White said in an interview recorded a decade ago.
‘Enjoy life, have no regrets’
Mr White’s daughter Leanne White said her father left a note to his family that perfectly summed up the way he lived his life.
“Enjoy life. Have no regrets,” the note read.
Graham White, aged 83. (ABC)
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there, but death is the destination we all will share.
“No one has ever escaped it, and in a way, it is as it should be.
“It is referred to as the change agent, it clears out the old among us and makes way for the new … you.”
Mr White died at home on Sunday, September 21, just a few weeks after passing his drivers licence test.
Leanne White said it was a peaceful end at home with palliative care provided during his final hours.
