Goodbye, my brother: IAN LESLIE on how George Negus changed his life, put 60 Minutes on the map – and the single moment in his 82 years the TV legend was lost for words
Ask Ian Leslie what word best describes his legendary late 60 Minutes co-star George Negus, and only one will do.
“Brother,” he says.
Leslie reflects on the lasting bond he shared with Negus after learning of his death Tuesday at the age of 82 following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
“George has been battling dementia for probably three years now, and we all expected this news, but it still comes as a huge shock,” he told Daily Mail Australia from his home in Queensland.
“It’s a very sad, sad moment. We shared a lot of memories.’
Many of those memories are captured on film.
The duo were the first reporters – alongside Ray Martin – to sign on for Nine’s news and current affairs disruptor 60 Minutes when the show first debuted in 1979.
Although Leslie admits that he initially expected them to compete to cover the biggest stories, he soon discovered that Negus loved nothing more than sharing a story; be it while enjoying a beer, with his audience or even with his colleagues.
Ray Martin, Ian Leslie and George Negus quickly became a band of brothers after signing up as the first reporters on Nine’s news and current affairs show 60 Minutes in 1979.
The team was soon joined by a ‘sister’ in the young gun reporter Jana Wendt. From left to right: Ray Martin, George Negus (front), Ian Leslie (back) and Wendt
‘When we first got together, I didn’t know what to expect. I had never met George, I had never met Ray,” Leslie remembers.
‘I had come from news and in my experience there was very stiff competition in newsrooms, in the sense that you were always competing with your colleagues.
‘But on 60 Minutes it was completely different; we shared our information, we shared our thoughts, we helped each other.
“Suddenly it felt like I had some new brothers.”
The group of brothers was soon joined by a sister in Jana Wendt, and together they are credited with changing the way Australians saw themselves and the world around them.
“I think it’s fair enough to say we introduced the Australian audience to the world,” says Leslie.
‘Before 60 Minutes, we actually relied on the Americans, the French and the British to bring us the images, the stories, the news and politics of the wider world.
‘But with 60 Minutes our role was to say, ‘Let’s get Australian journalists telling these stories through Australian eyes, and let’s bring the news to Australian audiences.’
Ian Leslie says he was used to battling it out to cover the big stories in competitive newsrooms
But Negus always enjoyed sharing a story with a colleague, whether over a beer or at work
‘It was a very special time in broadcasting. And I can speak for George and say, we were all very proud at the time to take on that role.
“We felt this deep privilege, you know, that we shared with each other.”
Of course, when it comes to telling stories through the eyes of Australians, he says Negus was a natural.
“George was an extraordinary storyteller in the sense that he was a man of words,” says Leslie.
‘He was never stuck on a word or an opinion – often very strong opinions.
‘George just had this incredibly curious mind and ability to take in details and images and then talk about them with his audience.
“He was a great, great storyteller, and he loved it — he was a guy who just loved to talk.”
Negus had an innate ability to see and talk about the world through ‘Australian eyes’
Granted, there were a few moments where even Negus was at a loss for words, but Leslie jokes that even then it usually came down to a technical error.
“I remember seeing George in the deserts of Ethiopia trying to make a piece for the camera in the back of a jeep,” he says.
‘He was reporting on a war there and he had remembered all these words [on film] but the problem was that because of the force of the wind, no one could hear a single word he said.
‘It was one of the few times he was speechless.
“We all laughed about it, it was a great memory.”
As for Negus’ impact on the often gritty world of television news and current affairs, Leslie has little doubt about his famous colleague’s legacy.
“People often ask ‘why was 60 Minutes successful?’, and I have to say I give George credit for that,” he says.
Negus was rarely speechless… but he was speechless during a memorable story while filming a piece on camera in the back of a jeep in the Ethiopian desert
“Of the three of us, George must be thanked for spending 60 minutes on the highly regarded program that it has become.
“He was very much the source of the success because he was so visible and so present.
“Ray and I came from more conservative backgrounds, but George…George stuck his neck out, stuck his head out and he said what he wanted to say.
“He had that chemistry, you know? And people were like, “Oh my, who is George Negus?”
“That’s the kind of magic he had… that’s the kind of man he was – and it put 60 Minutes on the map.”