As a rural reporter with the ABC in Brisbane in the 1980s, Kerry Lonergan knew if he ever got the chance to launch a country program for country people, he’d grab it. There’d be none of the well-trodden stories of weary farmers battling drought or the government either, rather a showcase of the cleverness, hard work and optimism of our country’s primary producers. Finally, in 1991 that opportunity arose and today we still know this program to be Landline.
A self-described ‘bush rooster’, Kerry has strong family ties to the land. While his family were farmers, he jokes they ‘thankfully went broke’ long before he came along and endless family and friends on properties convinced him to steer clear of the tough farming gig.
Nevertheless, Kerry’s deep-rooted love for rural Australia never left and in the early days of his journalism career he found himself continually seeking out country stories. While he was, and still is, passionate about sharing news from the bush, that first year into his role as founding executive producer of Landline proved to be a long slog.
With the big bosses keeping an eagle eye on its ratings, Kerry worked hard to cement a future for Landline. It worked. By the second year, it was clear the program was here to stay.
There’s been no shortage of incredible stories over its 30 year history. Kerrie recalls a series on the newly formed Landcare initiative that helped boost the profile for what evolved into one of Australia’s largest, not-for-profit environmental and community organisations.
But when it comes to Kerry’s favourite tale, The Man from Snowy River competition is hard to beat. With Australia’s best cowboys converging on the Victorian High Country with their horses and their whips to compete for the chance to be crowned The Man from Snowy River for a year, it was shaping up to be a cracking yarn.
Yet with torrential rain, freezing temperatures and a cameraman battling sudden illness, it could’ve been a bust but of course, it was just the opposite.
“This quirky reporter came back with the most remarkable story, and the cameraman did outstandingly well, but it was the scripting and the action of the people involved who made the story,” Kerry says.
“The competition and the story completed each other, it was just magnificent and that remains one of my all-time favourites.”
Kerry was inducted into the Queensland Rural Press Club’s Rural Journalism Hall of Fame in 2015 and while his long standing career with Landline ended in late 2020, Kerry’s still very much involved in rural and regional Australian reporting.
He’s now the host of a Beef Central podcast, the Weekly Grill, where he regularly sits down with an industry identity or two, to chew the fat on topical matters across the meat and livestock sector.
And with a career he loves, and the three things most important to him close by, the veteran broadcaster has everything he needs.
“I think probably the best things you can have in life are your health, your family and good friends so I consider myself pretty fortunate.”
Image credit: ABC