The Canberrans: Dan Bourchier

Posted on 6 November, 2020

Dan Bourchier holds an esteemed place in the city’s landscape.

He is responsible for delivering the nightly news bulletin for the national broadcaster—a position he undertakes as a proud Indigenous gay man.

The plum presenter’s job at the ABC is a long way from the start of Dan’s “journalism” career as a 14-year-old part-time window cleaner at the local newspaper in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.

Having been obsessed with story-telling and current affairs from an even younger age, Dan got his big break one night when there was a gap on the back page, and a local netball game that could fill it. He dropped his sponge and bucket and suddenly found himself the designated sports reporter.

Dan clearly nailed it—moving onwards and upwards to the Northern Territory news, and later, covering Indigenous affairs for Sky News nationally.

While Dan’s appointment to deliver Canberra’s nightly ABC News bulletin came amid controversy—not because of his identity, but because he was simultaneously rostered on to deliver the morning’s radio show—he says he has been embraced by the city of Canberra.

He also dropped the morning radio gig at the end of last year in order to spend more time with his partner, Prime 7 newsreader, Karl Lijnders.

Dan discusses ABC Canberra’s ground-breaking decision last year to deliver an Indigenous welcome on the evening news, as well as his personal reflections on the same-sex marriage laws and what it means for him and Karl—both emotionally-charged topics.

While COVID has thrown a spanner in the works of their wedding plans (maybe next year or early 2022) Dan says he is loving covering local news, helping educate the city’s residents on current affairs, and also challenging the norms and expectations of media presentation.

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