Christine Anu has joined 702 ABC as a new presenter on the station, broadcast in Sydney, thus doubling the number of females – by which they mean going from one to two.
Anu will be replacing Dom Knight on weekday evenings next April. Before this, she will be co-hosting alongside Knight in the early months of 2016. Wendy Harmer is also joining the ABC, taking over for Linda Mottram in the mornings.
“That side of things is definitely ticking the boxes and I’m very proud and privileged to represent [women and indigenous Australians]. However, Christine Anu has got to be good at radio first,” Anu tells Sydney Morning Herald. “But I want to bring variety, I want to talk about things that are a lot more general [than being a performer] and the strength of a female presenter and having an indigenous background will broaden the variety of things I can bring to the table.”
Anu has released four studio albums between 1995 and 2007 and has been nominated for 16 ARIA awards over the years. She has said that this new job will be exciting because “it’s a totally new skill set”.
Let’s hope more women take on the challenge of radio presenting in years to come.