# Norman Banks (broadcaster)

Norman Tyrell Banks, MBE (12 October 1905 – 15 September 1985) was an Australian radio announcer, sports broadcaster, and television presenter. He was one of the first people to broadcast a live report of Australian rules football. He was also a charity worker and the founder of the annual Carols by Candlelight event in Melbourne. In later years, he was known for his strongly conservative viewpoint on talk radio.

## Early life

Banks was born in Sandringham, Victoria, on 12 October 1905, as the youngest of five siblings. His father, Charles Cecil Banks, died before he was born. His mother, Alice, worked as a draper to support the family after her husband's death.
Banks studied at St Aidan's Theological College, Ballarat, and later at Ridley College, Melbourne, with the intention of becoming an Anglican priest. However, at the age of 24, he decided to pursue a career outside the clergy and abandoned his training although he remained a member of the church throughout his life.
He worked as a car salesman for S.A. Cheney Motors and travelled to England and the United States as a representative of the company. After falling on hard times and returning to Australia, he worked on a farm in Colac owned by Joseph Gilmore, before marrying Gilmore's daughter, Lorna May at Christ Church on 6 May 1930.

## Early radio career

While in the United States, Banks became interested in the radio industry and gained some experience in broadcasting. Soon after his marriage, Banks sought a position at 3KZ, following the advice of his mother. He began as a radio announcer, his success with audiences resulting in competition from other stations to poach him from 3KZ. Over the next 20 years, Banks broadcast from Melbourne, pioneering programs such as Voice of the Voyager, Voice of the People, Voice of the Business Girl, Voice of the Shopper, Husbands and Wives, Junior Information, Spelling Bee, Victoria Varieties, Myer Musicale plus "OBs" (outside broadcasts) of football, tennis, athletics, swimming and other events.
Although not the first to broadcast the Victorian Football League (VFL), (Melbourne's 3AR was broadcasting ex-Carlton player Rod McGregor's descriptions of play at least as early as 1927), Banks was one of the first football radio broadcasters. In the early days of radio, the VFL was suspicious of the new medium and feared that the spectators would react negatively to the presence of a radio broadcaster. Thus, Banks was not allowed to broadcast from the grounds but found ways of observing the games without being seen. At Princes Park, Carlton in 1931, he broadcast his first football match while standing on a ladder at the end of the dressing room. On another occasion at Princes Park, he broadcast from a hardwood plank protruding from a ladies' toilet. At Lakeside Oval, he once broadcast from an 18-meter steel tower.
On Victory in Europe Day, 1945, Banks was assigned to report from the celebrations at the end of World War II. Despite having been injured recently in a car accident, he broadcast the victory celebrations from central Melbourne.

## Carols by Candlelight

On Christmas Eve, 1937, Banks saw a woman listening to carols alone by the light of a candle. The image prompted him to organize a community event to help those lonely at Christmas. Banks staged the first Carols by Candlelight in 1938. On that first night, 10,000 people gathered at midnight in Alexandra Gardens to sing carols with a 30-strong choir, two soloists, and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Band.
The event quickly became a tradition and is now broadcast by 3AW on radio and Nine Network on television as a fundraiser for Vision Australia.

## Move to 3AW

Banks applied to 3KZ management in 1952 to be allowed leave to attend the Helsinki Olympics. Banks told the station boss that if he was not allowed to go then he would resign. His resignation was accepted on the spot.
Within a matter of days, he had signed with the rival station 3AW and he was allowed to go to the Helsinki Olympic Games, publishing his notes as The World in my diary; from Melbourne to Helsinki for the Olympic Games in 1953.
At 3AW, he covered the Olympics, football, current affairs, outside broadcasts around Melbourne, as well as in-studio programs. He became effectively the station's News Editor for a time. He worked at 3AW until 1978, a 26-year career.
Although Barry Jones was the first to talk to people live on air in Australia, Banks pioneered talk radio in 1960.
Banks became well known on radio in the 1960s and 1970s for his strongly conservative viewpoint, including a strident defense of apartheid in South Africa, and the monarchy. These views were often played out on air in debates with the radical journalist Claudia Wright or the broadcaster Ormsby Wilkins, who called him "a sanctimonious old hypocrite". Furthermore, despite his moral conservatism and appeal to the traditional Anglo middle class, his own personal relationships were subject to press speculation.
An accident at a football event, followed by another in the 3AW corridors, severely impaired his vision. His final on-air words were "the humble people, the little people… for your trust, loyalty and support."

## Honors

In 1953, Banks was made an MBE for his services to broadcasting.
He was inducted to the Melbourne Cricket Ground's Rogues Gallery in 1998, with his citation reading—
    An original football caller with 3KZ in 1931, he later moved to 3AW, combining sport and current affairs. (He) Called football for three decades. (He) Covered Helsinki and Melbourne Olympics.
In 1996, Banks was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in the Media category. His citation read—
    A pioneer of football broadcasts on 3AW and 3KZ. In 1931, (he) broadcast his first match from Princes Park standing on a ladder at the end of the dressing rooms. (His) Broadcasting career spanned 60 years.