Pirate radio in Australasia

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Australian radio audiences have had little to no exposure of pirate radio, with the exception of Dave Cullens Pirate Radio on Triple J. There were no broadcasts as part of the World War II propaganda campaigns and only commercial stations were available during the late 1980s and early 1990s - a period when the U.K was experiencing a surge in illegal broadcasts during the early days of acid house and the Second Summer of Love. A mere handful of incidents are documented:

[edit] Australia

  • Early 1970s: University students and draft resisters, protesting against conscription in Australia and the Vietnam War, set up pirate radio stations broadcasting on the AM band called Radio Draft Resistance at Sydney and Melbourne Universities for short periods of time.
  • December 1986: A series of test broadcasts from a radio station calling itself Radio Uranus was heard in Melbourne on 98.4 MHz. They said that they were preparing for a major broadcast on Christmas Eve. The test broadcasts consisted of two people (possibly the station's founders) playing music and talking in between tracks. The second test broadcast sounded like they were on a boat, as a boat engine could clearly be heard in the background, and they may have even said that they were on a boat or ship.
  • November 18-19, 1989: Radio Uranus was heard once again, with another series of test broadcasts, one on each day, heard on 97.7 MHz. It was not until 5:00 p.m. on November 19, when the test broadcast ended and a proper broadcast began, that the identity of the station was known. The broadcast consisted of the same format of music and talk as in 1986. According to the presenters, they were using a 10 kW transmitter located in Kinglake (in the outer east of Melbourne. The transmission even featured a cross to their 'stereo cruiser' located near the City. The broadcast ended suddenly some time after 8:30 p.m. when the presenters interrupted the song being played to say that they were raided.
  • December 30, 1992: A pirate radio station calling itself 3PPP was heard on the FM band in the inner suburbs of Melbourne from before 10:30 p.m. till some time after midnight. The broadcast featured music and talk.
  • 1990s: Two pirates broadcasting on shortwave from Australia were heard world wide. The stations were called Radio G'day and Tasmainia Radio Int.
  • 2001: Radio Eureka made several broadcasts with power of approximately 12 Watts on frequency 6235 kHz.
  • 2004: 22 August. Tower Radio 11412 kHz also 6270 kHz 50 Watts.


[edit] New Zealand (from international waters)

  • 1966: Radio Hauraki broadcast from the MV Tiri, and in 1968 from the MV Tiri II. This was the only ship-based pirate station to ever broadcast in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • 1980: Kiwi Radio began broadcasting as Radio Freedom on both shortwave and FM, changing the name to Kiwi Radio in 1983. Kiwi Radio ceased in 1997.
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