Responding to discussion in the “Classic TV Listings” thread here to avoid going too off topic:
And of course, Stateline was launched in February 1996 (remarkably Wikipedia got the launch date right, although no mention of airing at 6pm for the first five years there) so that the ABC could continue to cover state/territory-based current affairs.
Presumably all* local presenters of The 7.30 Report of the time would’ve taken on the role as the host of Stateline in their respective markets?
*The most notable exception being New South Wales, with The 7.30 Report’s 1990-94 presenter Quentin Dempster becoming the host of our edition of Stateline after the death of Andrew Olle (who presented the NSW version of The 7.30 Report during 1995 AFAIK) in December 1995.