Legendary television current affairs journalist George Negus has tragically died, aged 82, after battling Alzheimer’s disease.
Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes program announced the news of the veteran journalist’s death on Tuesday.
‘An icon of journalism. A legendary broadcaster. A friend to many,’ the program said in a statement.
’60 Minutes founding reporter George Negus has sadly died at 82, after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. We will always treasure the stories and memories he gave us all.’
Negus presented 60 Minutes when the show launched in in 1979, through to 1986.
He was diagnosed with dementia about five years ago and since late 2021 had been living in an aged care facility in Sydney’s north.
In a statement, his family said Negus ‘passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones’ in Sydney.
‘Despite the challenges diseases like Alzheimer’s inflict on families, we still shared beautiful times, laughter and happiness together in recent times,’ they said in a statement.
‘We also learnt a lot.
‘While we know he will be celebrated for his unique contribution to journalism, football, and the environment, he would also want to be remembered for the incredible family man he was.’
Before his death, Negus’ wife Kirsty Cockburn relocated to a unit near the Northern Beaches aged care facility in which he was residing, and visited him every day.
His founding 60 Minutes colleagues, reporters Ray Martin and Ian Leslie, had visited him in recent years, along with former prime minister Tony Abbott.
Leslie said while Negus’ battle with dementia was widely known, his death came as a ‘hell of a shock’ and he described him as a ‘brother’.
‘It’s a very sad, sad moment. Lot of memories,’ he told Daily Mail .
‘The three of us had a very, very close bond back in 1979, when we came together. I had never met George before.
‘We instantly came together as a brotherhood, because we sensed this was an amazing time in broadcast history, and we felt this deep privilege, you know, that we we shared with one another.
‘So, it was like, all of a sudden, you had a couple of brothers.’
60 Minutes journalist Charles Wooley, who joined the program in 1993, paid a touching tribute to his former colleague — saying Negus ‘introduced the n accent to n television current affairs’.
‘Before that, we either spoke like the BBC or like Bob Menzies,’ Wooley told Daily Mail .
‘George first raised eyebrows at the ABC with his unabashed broad n accent. But when he went to 60 Minutes that idiomatic style soon became the house look.
‘It worked and now we don’t have to “put on the dog” in front of the camera.’
‘He slipped away from us a long time ago, but his legacy lives on in the n language of everyday broadcasting,’ Wooley added.
Veteran television journalist Ray Martin, who worked alongside Negus on 60 Minutes in 1978, also described him as a ‘powerful figure’ on n TV.
‘He was charismatic, he was loud, he was heavily opinionated, he was funny, but he was just a great bloke,’ Martin told 9News.
‘Negus was a strong character with his moustache and the jacket over his shoulder as he was reporting in some war zone or getting stuck into Margaret Thatcher. He was such a larger-than-life character.’
Martin also said 60 Mintues wouldn’t have become one of the most successful shows on television without Negus.
‘He was very ethical and very honest but he also was a great storyteller,’ he added.
Nine’s director of television Michael Healy remembered Negus as one of ‘s biggest stars.
‘Today, lost one of its greatest storytellers. When you watched a George Negus interview it was thoughtful, intelligent, composed. He was always in control.’
Fiona Dear, director of news and current affairs for Nine, added: ‘Like many ns, I grew up watching George Negus every Sunday night on 60 Minutes.’
‘He opened ‘s eyes to the world, he took us to places we didn’t know existed, and introduced us to the people who shaped society.’
Just months before his death, Negus’ son Ned posted a touching Father’s Day tribute on social media to the man he called ‘Negsy’ after a family outing to the beach.
The post was accompanied by a photo of a frail Negus, wearing a cap and sporting his his trademark moustache, warmly embracing his son on September 1.
‘I was hesitant to post this on LinkedIn, as it’s pretty personal,’ Ned wrote.
‘But then realised you’re all humans and there’s always a place for sharing human realities with your professional network.’
Ned, who is chief commercial officer for the A-League soccer competitions, then referred to his father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
‘He’s now non-verbal most of the time (mind-blowing for me but also any of you that know him),’ he added.
‘Today is Father’s Day in and we had a walk on the beach together.
‘He was clearly not sure why this particular walk was symbolic and sometimes not sure with whom he was walking.
‘At one point we stopped, he smiled broadly and then hugged me for quite some time.
‘It was sad, but it was uplifting to know that even when you can no longer say what you feel, you can still DO what you feel.
‘Love you Negsy.’
Negus made his last notable public appearance at the November 2020 memorial service for television trailblazer Gerald Stone, after the inaugural 60 Minutes executive producer died aged 87.
Brisbane-born Negus was a high school teacher until his late 20s when he began writing for newspapers including The n, followed by a stint on the ABC’s ground-breaking This Day Tonight.
Negus served as press secretary to attorney-general Lionel Murphy during Gough Whitlam’s short-lived Labor government and was handpicked by Stone to help establish 60 Minutes.
Stone had chosen Negus, Leslie and Ray Martin to front the news program in 1979, when Kerry Packer imported the format from the United States to air on his Nine Network.
He worked on the program until 1986, sharing reporting duties with Leslie, Martin, Jana Wendt and, near the end of his tenure, Jeff McMullen.
At its peak in the 1980s, 60 Minutes was a ratings juggernaut, with a third or more of the national television audience tuning in at 7.30 on a Sunday evening.
Negus was the first host of the ABC’s international current affairs show Foreign Correspondent, fronting the program from 1992 to 1999.
He presented George Negus Tonight, previously known as New Dimensions, on the national broadcaster from 2002 to 2004.
The next year he began hosting Dateline on SBS before becoming a regular panellist on Ten’s The Project, followed by presenting 6.30 with George Negus on the same network.
Negus was made a Member of the Order of in 2015 ‘for significant service to the media as a journalist and television presenter, and to conservation and the environment’.