Episode 1 – The ABC Of Ita Buttrose
Tuesday 28 June 8.00pm
David Wenham tracks back through the ABC Archival life of Ita Buttrose, much admired publisher, businesswoman and, since the 1970s, Australia’s unofficial, unelected Minister For Women. Now 80, the indefatigable Ita - we’re all on first-name basis - is also currently chair of the ABC.
To kick off the conversation, The ABC Of researchers uncovered 1959 vision of Ita at 17, on her very first job as a journalist. Ita reminisces about her early days at Cleo and The Australian Women’s Weekly. She also tackles the difficult but rewarding years as chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on AIDS (NACAIDS) in the 1980s and being fired from her radio job at the time. She details the journey of her namesake magazine, Ita, and the lean times that followed before the highly successful Paper Giants television series brought her back into the public eye.