Tributes have poured in for Australian radio veteran John Laws following his death at the age of 90. Laws was a giant of talkback radio for decades retiring only last year.
Warning: This report has statements that some readers may find upsetting.
Laws’ decades long career saw him interview seventeen Australian Prime Minister and he ruled the airwaves in Sydney with his reach extending across the country.
Speaking to 2GB, the station that Laws was associated with for much of his career, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the radio icon.
“John Laws was an iconic voice, but so much more than that. He’s someone who, when you were on his program, would allow you to speak, would put his views, and he’s someone who was so in touch with Australians for such a long period of time. It’s an extraordinary career that I don’t think will ever be matched.” the Prime Minister said.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns also put out a statement noting Laws powerful career.
“It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of John Laws, a towering figure in Australian radio whose voice resonated across the nation for more than seven decades.
“John’s career was extraordinary. Few broadcasters have left such a deep and lasting mark on Australian media.” the Premier said.
“Beginning in 1953 at Bendigo’s 3BO and later becoming a household name on Sydney stations such as 2UE and 2SM, his distinctive tone earned him the affectionate title ‘Golden Tonsils’.
“On behalf of the NSW Government, I extend my deepest condolences to John’s family, friends, colleagues, and all who listened, learned and were challenged by him.
“His legacy lies not only in the thousands of hours on air, but in the connection he forged with millions of Australians.” Premier Minns said.
Across the country radio broadcasters have paid tribute to the once King of Talkback.
Laws career however was not without controversy. At the forefront of this was the ‘Cash for Comment’ scandal. In 2004, Laws and rival talk-back host Alan Jones were accused of taking payment to make favourable comments on products and services under the guise of merely expressing personal opinion, after entering into deals with Telsta. Australia’s communications watchdog found that Laws had breached the standards, while Jones had not.
The same year Laws and 2UE colleague Steve Price were found to have vilified homosexuals after an on-air discussion about a gay couple appearing in the reality TV show The Block. They described the couple as “young poofs”.
Laws had previously apologised for making harsh comment about Queer Eye for the Straight Guy host Carson Kresley, who he described on air as “pillow-biter” and a “pompous little pansy prig”.
While in 2015 he described a male victim of sexual assault as a “wet blanket” and told him to “brighten up”. In 2020 he was in trouble with the broadcasting regulator after responding to a listener who critical of the content of his show by telling them to “say something constructive, like you’re going to kill yourself.”
The radio legend died at his home in Sydney after recently spending time in hospital.
