Megastar of airwaves, John ‘golden tonsils’ Laws, dies
Radio giant John Laws, known as “the golden tonsils”, has been remembered for his distinctive voice and as a pioneer of his craft.
Source: Network Ten
The one-time biggest name in Australian talkback radio, John Laws, has died aged 90.
A member of the Australian Media Hall of Fame, Laws attracted two million listeners to his morning radio program at the height of his popularity during a career spanning more than seven decades.
“Today marks a very difficult day for our family, with the news that our beloved father/grandfather/uncle John Laws has died peacefully at home,” his family said on Sunday.
Rich, influential and controversial, Laws was king of Australia’s airwaves for decades. Photo: AAP
Laws, who spent two weeks in hospital in October, died peacefully at his home in the inner-Sydney suburb of Woolloomooloo earlier in the day, only a year after he finally hung up his microphone.
“While fame and prominence had become a mainstay of his life, for us he was always the person who meant so much, away from the microphone, the cameras, and the headlines,” the family statement said.
“It is comforting to know that John’s was a life lived well – he had remained in good health and even better spirits right up until the last few weeks.”
“John Laws was one of the true originals,” radio host Kyle Sandilands said on X.
“You could never mistake him for anyone else. He said what he thought, didn’t care who he offended, but could also show deep compassion when required.
“I’m devastated to have lost a mentor and a mate. Radio won’t be the same without him.”
Born Richard John Sinclair Laws in New Guinea on August 8, 1935, Laws moved to Australia with his family as a schoolboy, launching his radio career with 3BO in Bendigo in 1953.
He spent four separate stints at Sydney station 2UE after joining the broadcaster in 1957, worked for 2GB, 2UW and 2SM and had short periods with Network Ten and Foxtel.
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Laws pioneered a unique blend of entertainment, information and opinion, delivered with what became one of the most recognised voices in the country.
His shows were widely broadcast across Australia and he was particularly popular in rural NSW.
At one stage in his career, Laws was said to be the best-paid radio broadcaster in the world, with 2UE management presenting him with a golden microphone.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Laws was an iconic voice “and so much more”.
“Generations of Australians trusted and respected him for telling it straight, digging deep and giving his guests and his listeners a chance to be heard,” he said on Sunday.
“John was always a thoroughly prepared and thoughtful interviewer – and wonderful company off-air. My condolences to his loved ones and to all who benefited from his wisdom and guidance.”
Influential, controversial
Laws pioneered a unique blend of entertainment, information and opinion, delivered with a mellifluous voice, easy wit and perfect timing.
His popularity – at his height, “Lawsie” claimed two million listeners each morning – made him very influential.
Paul Keating once said, “When you educate Laws, you educate Australia”. It was while talking with Laws that the then treasurer delivered his infamous “banana republic” warning.
Laws was one of the first DJs to play rock music, with his success helped by using airline contacts to bring him the latest releases from overseas. This gave him an edge when there were often long delays before the music was released in Australia.
Apart from his various stints with 2UE, he worked for 2GB, 2UW and 2SM. He also had short periods with Network Ten and Foxtel.
In between Laws wrote poetry. (The line “My jeans still hug me, why don’t you?” gives a flavour of his style.)
Bob Ellis once called Laws “the worst poet in the whole history of the entire universe”, but all five collections of verse sold well.
He always claimed a special affinity with the bush, while his female fans were legion. Laws’ deep, rich voice was said to be “music to a woman’s ovaries”.
His radio show began with the blast of his theme song, The Lonely Bull (performed by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass), followed by the words “Hello world, I’m John Laws”. He called his studio staff “handmaidens”.
2UE management presented John Laws with a golden microphone in 2007. Photo: AAP
He had the power to transform brands, and his advertisers were loyal.
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Stations, seeing Laws as the key to ratings success, showered him with gold.
In 2004, he paid $15 million for a spacious apartment on Woolloomooloo Wharf, where he lived with his third wife, Caroline, who died in 2020. He had five children from two previous marriages, and Caroline (“the Princess”, as Laws called her) had four from her earlier union. He drove a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Other properties included a home on the Hawkesbury River and a country retreat behind the Central Coast.
In 1999, Laws and rival Alan Jones were caught up in the cash-for-comment scandal, where big companies had paid the pair for favourable comment. A particularly bad example involved the big banks, which Laws had bashed until making a secret agreement with them. Suddenly, the banks became, in his view, excellent corporate citizens.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority found 2UE and the two broadcasters had committed 90 breaches of the industry code and estimated the value of deals at $18 million.
In 2004, Laws was again in trouble with the authority, this time over deals with Telstra.
He seemed genuinely bemused by the fuss. After all, he’d been reading commercials all his working life. That’s why it was called commercial radio.
When a listener sent him a fax saying he was nothing more than a cheap whore, Laws read it on air, paused and commented: “I’m not cheap.”
Laws was particularly angered by the authority’s 2004 ruling that cleared Jones.
He called then authority head David Flint a “posturing, pretentious, pusillanimous effete professor” and Jones “a vicious old tart” who’d be a gold medallist if hypocrisy were an Olympic event.
Laws had the power to transform brands but was caught up in the cash-for-comment scandal. Photo: AAP
Some commentators felt Laws never fully recovered from the cash-for-comment affairs.
In 2007, with his ratings sagging, Laws retired. Prime ministers present and future – John Howard and Kevin Rudd – queued up to make their obeisances.
“I don’t think I’m all that important in the overall scheme of things. I’ve done a job that I loved doing and apparently I’ve done it with some success, but so what?” he told Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope, after almost 55 years behind the microphone.
But he couldn’t give up radio. In 2011, a non-compete clause in his 2UE deal having expired, he signed up with 2SM and Super Radio Network.
More controversy followed.
In 2013, he asked a woman reporting childhood sexual abuse if it had been her fault and if she’d been provocative; and two years later, he called a male victim a wet blanket who should brighten up.
There might never be another John Laws.
Former Keating adviser Bill Bowtell has said Laws’ audience grew up with him and grew old with him. But the medium is much more split now.
“A new Laws can’t appear because no single person can ever command that mass audience, because there is no longer a mass market,” Bowtell said.
Mark Day, The Australian‘s senior media writer, has said talkback has become the preserve of older, more conservative listeners who tune in to have their prejudices confirmed. Audiences interested in broader issues become bloggers.
-with AAP
