When Antony Green first joined the ABC as a researcher in 1989, the public broadcaster’s new Media Watch show was in its first year under Stuart Littlemore. Acropolis Now debuted on the Seven Network. All the country’s 1645 domestic airline pilots resigned en masse in what became Australia’s most expensive industrial dispute.

In the 36 years since then, he has become one of the most recognisable faces of Australia’s election cycle, covering more than 100 state and federal polls after rising to become the ABC’s chief election analyst. He announced on Wednesday that this upcoming federal election, due to be held no later than May 17, will be his last.