Veteran journalist and interviewer George Negus presented Dateline from 2005 until 2010.
George travelled to countries including Bangladesh, Libya, Ireland, the UK, Canada and the United States for Dateline, and interviewed Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Colonel Gaddafi, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and the Dalai Lama... to name just a few.
George was born in Brisbane and studied arts and journalism at Queensland University. He worked as a high school teacher until his late 20s when he began reporting for The Australian and Australian Financial Review.
In between, there was a brief spell as a political reporter in Canberra, and his first political interviews were broadcast on ABC TV's irreverent This Day Tonight program.
Since then, George Negus has made an enormous contribution to the Australian news landscape as founding presenter of 60 Minutes (1979-86) and Foreign Correspondent (1992-99) as well as hosting the live-to-air Australia Talks series, where debates were held around the country tackling national issues prior to the 2001 Federal election.
George's trademark laidback Aussie style continued as he fronted a prime time trends and issues program on the ABC called, appropriately, George Negus Tonight (2003-4).
In his career, George Negus has amassed an extraordinary list of interviewees and profiles. He's interviewed many politicians and newsmakers from around the globe and national icons including Cathy Freeman and Paul Hogan. In his incisive tracking of both the Middle East and Northern Ireland conflicts, he has spoken to world leaders and international peace-brokers.
His passion for international affairs has also found expression in three books, The World From Italy (2001), The World From Islam (2003) and The World from Down Under (2010).
George's broad activities in both his professional and community life extend to various boards and committees including the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal's Violence Inquiry, the Federal Government's Environmental Futures Group, the Order of Australia Committee, Soccer Australia, Saggi (the promotion of Italian language and culture) and LandCare.