{"id":367036,"date":"2025-11-09T14:28:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T14:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/367036\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T14:28:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T14:28:28","slug":"from-jackaroo-to-golden-tonsils-radio-titan-the-life-and-career-of-john-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/367036\/","title":{"rendered":"From jackaroo to ‘Golden Tonsils’ radio titan: the life and career of John Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Laws, the man with the “Golden Tonsils”, is being remembered as one of the pioneers of Australian talkback radio.<\/p>\n

The veteran radio broadcaster died aged 90.<\/p>\n

The broadcasting stalwart retired from Sydney’s 2SM in November 2024 after a 13-year stint but was arguably best known for his tenure at 2UE.<\/p>\n

Once described by Paul Keating as “the broadcaster of the century”, he was both loved and feared by prime ministers and premiers for his political pull.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While his primary success came from the airwaves, he also lent his iconic voice to radio and TV commercials, and at times appeared on the small screen as a presenter and talk-show panellist.<\/p>\n

He also released several singles as a recording artist and was a published poet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ultimately, there was more to the man behind the golden microphone.<\/p>\n

From jackaroo to radio titan<\/p>\n

Born Richard John Sinclair Laws in Wau, Papua New Guinea in 1935, he was evacuated to Australia during World War II.<\/p>\n

As an infant raised in Sydney, Laws suffered two bouts of polio \u2014 yet he persevered and started out as a teenage jackaroo in Wellington in Western New South Wales after leaving school.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

John Laws did a few TV appearances in his early career. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

He maintained he had no ambition to pursue a career in radio and considered himself more of an entertainer, or on-air salesman, rather than a journalist.<\/p>\n

In 1953, Laws landed his first job in radio at 3BO in Bendigo, regional Victoria.<\/p>\n

By the 60s, he had transitioned to talkback radio, joining Sydney stations where he would rise to become one of Australia’s most powerful broadcasters.<\/p>\n

Between 1979 and 1989, Laws would go on to make multiple major moves as part of a radio bidding war, shifting between 2UE, 2UW and 2GB.<\/p>\n

Throughout the 90s, Laws was believed to be the country’s highest-paid radio host, having reportedly earned $11.6 million in one year, according to the Australian Financial Review.<\/p>\n

It was his influence on politics though that made him equally well-respected yet feared by politicians.<\/p>\n

Laws was one of the few commercial radio hosts to influence public policy through interviews with federal and state leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Veteran<\/p>\n

Veteran Sydney broadcaster John Laws, also known as the ‘golden tonsils’, passed away this week. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)<\/p>\n

He interviewed 17 prime ministers throughout his seven-decade career, his first being Robert Menzies, who he described as a gentleman.<\/p>\n

Laws told the ABC’s 7.30 report in 2017 that the prime minister he admired most was former Liberal leader John Howard.<\/p>\n

“[And] Maybe the one that I’ve liked the most was Paul Keating,” he added.<\/p>\n

“He was a good bloke to have a bit of fun with, a bit outrageous.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 2003, Laws was inducted into the Commercial Radio Hall of Fame to recognise his 50th year on the airwaves.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his success, Laws said his “inquisitiveness” enabled him to achieve things other radio broadcasters could not, but he downplayed his Golden Tonsils moniker.<\/p>\n

“To me, I’ve never thought I had a very special voice,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I think there are a lot better voices around than mine. Whether or not they were used the same way as I used mine, I don’t know.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think my voice is very special, it’s OK.”<\/p>\n

Loading…The controversies<\/p>\n

Despite Laws’s large hold on the Sydney breakfast audience, there were times when he crossed the line.<\/p>\n

In 1999, he was named as one of the key players in the “cash-for-comment” inquiry over his failure to disclose his sponsorship agreements.<\/p>\n

Laws had always disputed the findings, maintaining “nobody received cash” for his opinions.<\/p>\n

“The comments weren’t comments, they were commercials, and it was a legitimate commercial arrangement,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

Laws outside the Administrative Decisions Tribunal in Sydney in 2006, following controversial comments he made on the airwaves. (AAP: Mick Tsikas)<\/p>\n

In 2002, Laws was charged and convicted with contempt of court for interviewing a juror in a murder case. He was handed a 15-month suspended sentence.<\/p>\n

In 2004, a tribunal ruled that 2003 comments made by Laws and fellow radio commentator Steve Price on 2UE were capable of inciting severe ridicule of gay men.<\/p>\n

After an out-of-court settlement, Laws and Price issued an apology and agreed to make a $10,000 donation to a HIV-AIDS charity.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Laws then attracted criticism after he revealed he had an office policy that required female staff to wear skirts and show bare legs to “look feminine”.<\/p>\n

Laws announced his retirement in 2007 but was eventually lured back to the golden microphone, retiring for good in November 2024.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Laws retired for good in November 2024. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)<\/p>\n

He said his 2011 decision to return to the airwaves was out of loyalty to his listeners.<\/p>\n

“I felt I owed it to the people who were loyal, because when I did give it up, people would stop me all the time on the street, ‘When are you going to go back?’ That kind of loyalty you can’t buy,” he said.<\/p>\n

The love of John Laws’s life<\/p>\n

In 1976, Laws married his third wife Caroline, who he referred to as “the princess” to his listeners.<\/p>\n

The couple’s love affair went as far back as 1951, when they met during a dance as teenagers.<\/p>\n

He recalled arriving home and telling his mother, “I think I’m in love”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

Laws often referred to his wife Caroline as “the princess” to his listeners. (AAP: Tracey Nearmy)<\/p>\n

But their union would be brief, with Caroline travelling to London to pursue dance and Laws moving out to the bush.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the early 70s, the pair would meet again in the tunnel of love at Sydney’s Luna Park.<\/p>\n

Less than a few years later, they wed at a church in Woollahra with only family and a few close friends.<\/p>\n

They shared a combined nine children from their previous marriages and were together up until Caroline’s death from ovarian cancer in 2020.<\/p>\n

Caroline told The Australian Women’s Weekly in 1976 that her four daughters were “absolutely crazy about John”.<\/p>\n

Laws said in the same interview they would be married “forever”.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s all going to be wonderful,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I loved her the moment I saw her.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Laws, the man with the “Golden Tonsils”, is being remembered as one of the pioneers of Australian…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":367037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[177464,177465,4740,177463,5052,177471,177467,177363,177361,177468,177469,177462,177461,50,422,177466,177470],"class_list":{"0":"post-367036","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-2sm","9":"tag-2ue","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-talkback-radio","12":"tag-broadcaster","13":"tag-caroline-laws","14":"tag-commercial-radio-hall-of-fame","15":"tag-golden-tonsils","16":"tag-john-laws","17":"tag-john-laws-career","18":"tag-john-laws-controversy","19":"tag-john-laws-dead","20":"tag-john-laws-dies","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-radio","23":"tag-richard-john-sinclair-laws","24":"tag-steve-price"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115520218238091545","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}