Article by Steve Butler courtesy of The West Australian.
Spirit of WA on show as Telethon weekend breaks ANOTHER RECORD It could only happen in WA.
Telethon came to a close last night with the annual Channel 7 charity weekend raising an astonishing $71.4 million for sick children. The record figure meant the total tally raised by Telethon over the past 55 years is now more than $500 million.
Premier Mark McGowan donated a remarkable $11 million from the State Government. And Anthony Albanese — who made good on a promise to this year’s Little Telethon Stars Ari, Emily and Leo to wear pyjamas on air — donated $6 million from the Federal Government.
Big miners, including Gina Rinehart’s companies, dug deep as did the many charitable foundations that make WA so unique. Seven West Media chair and “father of Telethon” Kerry Stokes donated $3.5 million from Australian Capital Equity. Mr Stokes said every donation was special and what made Telethon the most successful charity appeal in the world was the generosity from all walks of life.
“The most important donation we get is the $5 pocket money,” he said. “From the first Telethon to now, it’s still about kids helping kids. As long as we stay there we’re going to get bigger and better every time.”
Mr McGowan said the donation from the Government, which took the tally over $70 million for the first time, was on behalf of the people of WA.
“It’s not my money, it’s the people’s money and I know the people support it,” he said.
