Legendary newsreader and leader Alison (Ali) Drower died on Sunday September 28. After a short battle with cancer she passed away in Canberra Hospital, surrounded by family.
She worked alongside Doug Mulray and his breakfast team for many years and earning many nicknames, later rising to the role of Regional News Director for TV and Radio with SCA.
Ali moved to Canberra, using her media skills to support her son Zach Bates on his motorsport journey becoming his Partnership Manager. She was interviewed by Greg Rust for his Rusty’s Garage podcast in 2024 which you can listen to below:
Ali was passionate about training the next generation of newsreaders and had been working freelance for ARN for the last three years, supporting new recruits to radio.
Her friend and radio colleague Fiona Wyllie shared:
“I was lucky enough to have nearly 40 years on radio and the very best part of being on air, was finding my best friend of 40 years Ali Drower.
Ali taught me like so many others what a good story is? What’s the lead? How to edit, and how to live life fully. Sadly her time listening, watching , writing, shot-listing and critiquing has finished. Not only did I work with her I lived with her and our Hunters Hill parties around the fountain were legendary. She took to TV like everything she did – lots of hard work along with bundles of style.
Ali helped so many get their start and their next step in news.”
Below is Ali while she was working with MTV in 1989 covering Turn Back the Tide. The concert is seen as a pivotal moment in the nation’s environmental activism. Some 200,000 people attended Bondi Beach, with Ali speaking with an all star lineup of Australian talent.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.