The ‘golden tonsils’ of John Laws fall silent, aged 90

By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne

John Laws was one of the most influential, commercially successful yet polarising figures in the history of Australian radio broadcasting. He has died at the age of 90.

He was among a handful of pioneering presenters who swiftly took advantage of a critical change in the broadcasting laws in April 1967. Until then, regulations enforced by the Postmaster General’s Department and the Broadcasting Control Board prohibited telephone conversations being put to air.

Laws was at the Sydney station…

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