Agent TypePersonActivities & OccupationsJournalistsHistoryJohn Henry Austral was a regular program on radio station 2GN; Austral was a fictional character who introduced a fifteen minute dramatised radio programme described as being "part serial, part satire [and] part soapbox". A total of 200 programmes were broadcast twice weekly over the period Apr 1947 to Dec 1948. The programmes were financed by the Liberal Party and played an important part in Menzies' election at that time. These carefully scripted radio dramas often picked up on an everyday complaint, such as the time women wasted standing in queues for food rations, so as to comment on current affairs and criticise the socialistic and bureaucratic policies of the Labour government, as well as alluding to the influence of communism.
Names
Given NameJohnMiddle NameHenryFamily NameAustral
Austral, John H.. University of Melbourne Archives, accessed 09/03/2026, https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/57938
