South Australians, let us all be proud that two of the state’s products, Fran Kelly and Sally Sara, are hosting the two bookending news/current affairs interview programmes on the agenda setting ABC Radio National network (on729AM in South Australia), Fran Kelly, who hosts the Radio National Hour 6pm to 7om and also podcast, led the Radio National Breakfast programme from 2005 to 2021, following another long-time South Australian presenter Pru Goward.
Sally Sara took over the Breakfast role in 2025. Fran Kelly grew up in Adelaide with five siblings including visionary global thinker Gabe Kelly. Matriculating from St Dominic’s Priory, North Adelaide, Kelly completing an Adelaide University arts degree while also g involved in the women’s movement, theatre and music. She went on to work as an activities officer, booking bands and organising events, first at Flinders University and then La Trobe University, Melbourne, from 1980. She fronted an all-female band called Toxic Shock, with a single, “Intoxicated”, in 1981. Working in journalism for the ABC, including United Kingdom correspondent, led to the Breakfast role. Kelly also hosted the Friday night show Frankly debuted on ABC TV , making its debit in 2022 with two South Australian guests Shaun Micallef and Richard Harris. In 2024, Kelly started presenting a podcast called Yours Queerly.
Sally Sara, also an award-winning Australian journalist and author, was Port Pirie-born and grew up in the nearby Port Broughton district. She has extensive experience reporting from more than 40 countries as a foreign correspondent for the ABC, including postings in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sierra Leone. Sara was also known for her work on The World Today and has authored the book Gogo Mama. To further wallow in state pride, the economics correspondent for Sara’s breakfast show is South Australian Peter Martin.
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