A lively discussion touching on many subjects was had when this blog phoned Pete Steedman in Melbourne the day of Bert Newton's funeral.
Steedman had fond memories of the King of Showbiz and is shown, on the left, being interviewed by Bert on Channel 10 .
The subject of the interview was Ausmusic , a not for profit organisation founded by Steedman in 1989 , of which he was executive director at the time . It boosted and promoted the music industry , particularly in young people , schools , and launched the highly successful week of playing Aussie music throughout the nation .
While Newton jokingly opened up by saying he hoped Steedman , former ALP Member for Casey , would not not say anything political , Bert ended the jovial session by cheekily asking him how the Liberals could overcome their problems .
When Ausmusic passed into the hands of education services provider , Entertainment World Limited , the Australian Financial Review quoted Steedman as saying it was the best option for Australian music education and young people . EWL would spend $350,000 in the next two years developing the Ausmusic copyright assets and expand the business.
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The article speculated on the next instalment of the " turbulent career " of Pete Steedman . By most people's standards , he had already gone through his fair share of incarnations-campaigner against the Vietnam War, a federal politician , newspaper columnist , tourism policy consultant .
In 1967 , it continued, he had been the subject of an unsuccessful bid by ASIO to amend the Treacherous Offences Act to include Vietnam War protesters. He had decided to leave the country for a while to let things cool off, but ended up in the headlines again in the famous Oz magazine trial in London as the publication's managing editor.
As a result of our telephonic conversation, Steedman obliged by not only sending Little Darwin the video of the Bert Newton interview but another in which Pete, known as the Black Knight , crossed swords with shock jock Alan Jones in a lively debate about South Africa , in the Crossfire series , conducted by Clive Robinson.
Steedman confessed to this blog he had personally found the early days of television in Australia exciting . Indeed, being a man of ideas, he had played a quirky part or three in it , suggesting content , items, stunts to contacts in the industry .
In one stunt he was personally sent out to try and convince an unsuspecting female that she should come and dine with him . If he was successful , he would receive a portable television set.
Giggling somewhat, recalling the odd celebrity cooking event , Steedman said he did manage to induce a girl in need of nourishment to dine with him, and he was given a television set as a reward, which he flogged for $100.
You don't get high class entertainment like this anymore on Australian television.
Some of Pete's words of wisdom recently got a run at the head of letters to the editor in The Age . The subject : branch stacking,very topical .
