The ABC\u2019s radio networks pivoted to the dulcet tones of classical music and pop hits.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy colleagues and I are on strike,\u201d Hilary Harper told listeners to Radio National\u2019s Critics Corner program before a pre-recorded episode of The Law Report began at 11am AEDT. \u201cNormal programming will resume at 11am tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
ABC radio Melbourne and Sydney entered the first minutes of the strike with Boy Meets Girl\u2019s 1988 hit Waiting for a Star to Fall.<\/p>\n
Melbourne\u2019s mornings host, Raf Epstein, told his listeners that staff were striking \u201cbecause it\u2019s an argument over how best to provide sustainable, secure work\u201d. \u201cWe don\u2019t like not talking to you and being with you but I\u2019ll be back on your radio on Friday morning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sydney\u2019s mornings host, Hamish Macdonald, gave the last word of his shift to his boss, with a clip from an earlier interview with ABC managing director Hugh Marks saying he was \u201cvery\u201d sorry about the strike and its effect on listeners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be back Friday morning,\u201d Macdonald concluded, before Boy Meets Girl warbled \u201cI hear your name whispered on the wind \/ it\u2019s a sound that makes me cry\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Hundreds](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/8000.jpg\")
Hundreds of ABC staff walk out of Melbourne office as Australia-wide strike begins – video<\/p>\n
Triple J staff downed tools with a more pointed message, going out at 11am with Express Yourself by NWA<\/a>, which the station had played 82 times in a row in 1990 in response to ABC censorship.<\/p>\n After emerging from ABC\u2019s Ultimo office in Sydney to the cheers of union members and supporters, a breakfast newsreader at Triple J, Jack James, told Guardian Australia it was \u201ctough to see a future\u201d at the organisation.<\/p>\n For the remainder of Wednesday, the ABC\u2019s radio stations largely relied on fill-ins, re-runs and soothing music. Some local radio programs on Wednesday afternoon and evening were broadcast across each state and were hosted by James Findlay, Spence Denny and Nikolai Beilharz.<\/p>\n ABC staff walk past shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson at the start of 24-hour strike action at Parliament House. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAP<\/p>\n