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Australian Census advertisement, 1981
Title:
Australian Census advertisement, 1981
NFSA ID:
452836
Year:
1981
Courtesy:
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Category:
Graham Kennedy presents an advertisement on the benefits of completing the 1981 Australian Census, compulsory for all households. Kennedy mentions close friends Bert and Patti Newton in the script and ends the advertisement with a quip about what he should write down as his present occupation.
Managed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Census is the nation's report of its population and characteristics, required of its citizens every five years. 'On June the 30th, no matter what channel you're watching, at night, you'll not be able to miss seeing me', Kennedy announced on The Mike Walsh Show in May 1981, in reference to this campaign. The 1981 Census marked the tenth national survey since the first held in 1911.
Never short of offers for television work, the vast majority of which he turned down, advertisements were the one constant in Graham's working life. Advertisements promised large payments for a minimal disruption to his schedule, allowing him the financial stability to channel his creative energies into meatier acting roles for both cinema and big-budget television productions during the 1980s.
Notes by Simon Smith