Perth's annual Telethon has wrapped up for another year, raising a total this year of $6,374,775 over the 26-hour telecast.

The total is around $1 million less than last year, reflecting a year of global economic downturn.

This year's total included $1.5 million donated by the Federal Government and a further $250,000 from the Western Australian Government.  The sale of two houses at auction also raised around $1.4 million between them.

PerthNow reports that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a personal appearance at Telethon to announce the Federal Government's donation, despite suffering a painful case of gallstones.  Mr Rudd also paid tribute to the longevity of Telethon, which has been an annual event for over 40 years in Western Australia.

The appeal, telecast through TVW7 Perth and GWN, included a farewell for veteran TVW7 personality Jeff Newman who has retired this year after forty years at the channel. 

The West Australian reports that Telethon featured more than 700 individual performers over its 26-hour telecast and also included performances by Jimmy Barnes, Jessica Mauboy, Guy Sebastian, Ian Moss and Courtney Murphy and guest appearances by stars of various Seven Network programs.

MediaSpy: Telethon