Ian McNamara AM, radio broadcaster, graduated from Sydney University with an economics degree before leaving the city to become a jackeroo. After performing with Col Joye and the Joy Boys he joined the ABC in 1974. Two years later he became a rural reporter. After a year in television, working on A Big Country and Countrywide, he returned to rural radio in 1980 as a reporter on, and then presenter of, Australia All Over, the program with which he is now universally identified. In 1985 he became executive producer of rural radio programs including Morning Extra, Australia All Over, and Resources. Australia All Over, a mix of music, poetry, anecdotes, book readings and talkback, attracts a weekly listenership of some 2 million. McNamara still performs occasionally, and is also a songwriter and producer. His books include On the Road with Macca (2003) and Why I Live Where I Live (2005); his CD compilations include Macca Tracks (2005), two volumes of Macca by Request (2002, 2004) and The Last Ten Years (2007).
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007
© John Elliott
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