JEREMY FERNANDEZ, one of the ABC’s most accomplished presenters and journalists, is to take up the post as main anchor of the NSW 7PM NEWS.
He takes the baton from Juanita Phillips after her outstanding two decades in the role.
Jeremy Fernandez: “I am tremendously humbled to be entrusted with this role alongside colleagues I’ve admired for so many years. I look forward to continuing my work across the ABC network, alongside the nightly NSW 7PM News.
“I’d like to thank my colleagues in the NSW newsroom for their support. I also honour and congratulate my friend and colleague Juanita Phillips for her outstanding service and mentorship to me and others.
“Through my years of reporting I’ve met so many people who’ve generously trusted the ABC to share their stories. Their accounts of hardship, achievement and community service – and their resilience and sense of humour – have made an imprint on me and my journalism.
“Our audiences always inform everything we do.”
Juanita Phillips: “Jeremy is a dear friend and one of the most talented broadcasters I’ve ever worked with. He has that rare combination of warmth and gravitas that audiences connect with. The viewers already know and trust Jez from his weekend presenting and I am delighted that we will be seeing more of him at 7PM.”
ABC Director, News Justin Stevens: “Jeremy is a huge asset to the ABC News team, talented, dedicated and a terrific colleague who is liked and respected by audiences.
“While we are sad to farewell Juanita Phillips, our flagship NSW bulletin is in the best hands. We will also continue to deploy Jeremy in other presenting roles for News and across the ABC.”
ABOUT JEREMY FERNANDEZ
Jeremy began his career with the ABC in 2000, working across roles in Perth, regional WA and Melbourne, where he anchored ABC News on the network’s Asia Pacific television service.
Over the past two decades he has become one of the ABC’s most experienced news presenters, as well as playing a key role in our coverage of state and federal elections and budgets. He was one of the founding members of the ABC NEWS channel team and has had an integral role in its success.
Jeremy has extensive experience anchoring breaking news coverage, including the deaths of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Sydney’s Martin Place Siege in 2014, the ANZAC Centenary, the election of Xi Jinping in 2012, the 2015 Paris terror attacks, the UK’s Brexit referendum result, multiple royal visits and Bob Hawke’s memorial service. Major news events he has covered from the field as a reporter and presenter include the Black Summer bushfires and last year’s Northern Rivers floods.
His work across the ABC has included leading our live coverage of multiple Australian of the Year Awards, New Year’s Eve telecasts from Sydney Harbour, Australia Day Live at the Opera House, the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras and Sydney World Pride.
He has been a guest host of The Drum, Q+A, ABC News Breakfast, Weekend Breakfast, Compass and Media Watch. He fronted the special COVID series The Virus and pioneered the ABC’s explainer series produced by ABC News Video Lab. He has also starred in segments for Play School.
