When Barrie Cassidy arrived in Canberra in 1979, Malcolm Fraser was Prime Minister, the political shockwaves of the 1975 dismissal were still reverberating through Australian politics, and Fraser was already fending off the leadership ambitions of a rising Andrew Peacock.

The press gallery was smaller, the media landscape less fragmented, and for a young reporter who had discovered a passion for politics while covering Victoria's state parliament, Canberra offered a front-row seat to power.

What followed was a career that would take Cassidy from the corridors of Parliament House to the Prime Minister's office itself, before carrying him overseas to report on some of the defining political stories of the late twentieth century.

As part of our ongoing profile series, Barrie Cassidy joins Tina Quinn to reflect on those formative years, his time working for Bob Hawke, and the experiences that shaped one of Australia's most respected political journalists.

This is part one of a special two-part conversation.

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