Ita Clare Buttrose AO OBE (born 17 January 1942) is an Australian journalist and businesswoman. She is probably best-remembered as the celebrity founding editor of Cleo (magazine), a high-circulation magazine aimed at young single women that was ground-breakingly frank about sexuality (and, in its infancy, featured nude male centrefolds), and later as the editor of the more sedate Australian Women's Weekly. Insignia of a Companion of the Order of Australia. ... The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... February 2003 Singapore edition of Cleo magazine. ... The Australian Womens Weekly, published by Australian Consolidated Press (part of PBL), is a monthly womens magazine published in Australia and sold mainly in Australia and New Zealand. ...

Buttrose was born at Mittagong, New South Wales in 1942. She worked as a journalist before taking the Cleo appointment in 1972, a position she held until 1975, and was the Weekly's editor in 1975-6 and then was editor-in-chief of both publications from 1976 until 1981. She has also been a radio broadcaster, editor of the Sydney tabloids the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph in the early 1980s, served on the board of News Limited, among many other prominent roles. Mittagong is a small town with a population of approximately 4000 in the Southern Highlands, New South Wales, Australia. ... Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 50  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $305,437 (1st)  - Product per capita  $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006)  - Population  6,817,100 (1st)  - Density  8. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... News Limited was the principal holding for the business interests of Rupert Murdoch until the formation of News Corporation in 1979. ...

Another prominent role was as chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on AIDS (NACAIDS) from 1984 until 1987. On one notable occasion, she appeared personally in a nationwide TV campaign to explain that donating blood at a blood bank did not pose a risk of catching AIDS (the fear of which caused a significant drop in donations). Australia's early AIDS public information campaign was widely regarded^{[citation needed]} as one of the best in the world, and contributed to a very low infection rate. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ...

Buttrose's slight lisp was instantly familiar in the 1970s and 1980s. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1979, and became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1988. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... Insignia of a Companion of the Order of Australia. ...

Amongst other roles, Buttrose currently works on the professional speakers' circuit.

She is the sister of the late Will Buttrose.^{[citation needed]}

In the tell-all book by Gerald Stone, "Who Killed Channel Nine?", published in 2007, it was revealed that Buttrose had previously had a long-running adulterous affair with the late Kerry Packer, then the richest man in Australia. Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer AC (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian publishing, media and gaming tycoon. ...

Trivia

• The Cold Chisel song, Ita was written about her.
• Ita is currently editor in chief of Bark! magazine.
• Former lover of Kerry Packer.

This article is about the Australian pub rock band. ...

External links

• National Foundation of Australian Women Archives Project biography
• Buttrose's page on her agent for speaking engagements.