John Laws always knew how to hold an audience in his hand

2 hours agoSun 9 Nov 2025 at 9:12pm

John Laws was above all things a performer — and a highly skilled one at that.

In 2012, Laws — who died on the weekend aged 90 — agreed to join me on the ABC’s 7.30 program for an interview to discuss outrageous remarks made by another powerful radio announcer, Alan Jones, regarding then-prime minister, Julia Gillard.

During the second half of the 1980s, the 1990s and most of the first decade of the 2000s, Alan Jones and John Laws were the dual titans of AM talkback radio in Australia.

There was plenty of rivalry between them and little love lost.

So when Jones landed at the centre of a national scandal after he told a Young Liberals dinner that John Gillard had “died of shame” because of his daughter’s “lies”, Laws was happy to comment.

Laws agreed to the interview, but he didn’t want to come into the studio and instead requested we send a camera to his penthouse on Sydney’s Woolloomooloo wharf.

Technology wasn’t quite so slick then as it is now, and in those circumstances we preferred to pre-record the interview and then turn it around for the live program — just in case the line dropped out.

I headed into the studio an hour or so before airtime and on the screen in front of me, up popped the transmission from Laws’s apartment.

The sight of the then-77-year-old was instantly entertaining, before he said even a word.

He was seated indoors but was wearing sunglasses and had a scarf draped around his neck.

In his right hand, he swirled a glass with a huge pour of bourbon and Coke.

Visible through the window behind him was an immense navy ship docked at the Garden Island military base.

“Please god,” I thought to myself as we waited to roll, “don’t let the cameraman ask him to put down the drink or take off the glasses.”

The universe answered my prayer and Laws stayed exactly as he was.

John Laws on air in 2007. (AAP: Tracey Nearmy)

‘Did you enjoy it?’

We began the interview with me asking Laws about the Jones remark.

Laws began to speak and he then removed the sunglasses with a flourish, before condemning the remark as careless, hasty and cruel.

He was surprisingly kind to his former 2UE stablemate and rival, though, saying — in effect — we all make mistakes.

Perhaps Laws was circumspect, given he was no stranger to national disgrace himself.

In 2004, he was caught in a “cash-for-comment” scandal when he was revealed to have spruiked products and services for a fee, passing it off as his personal opinion without disclosing the kickbacks he received.

On 7.30 in 2012, Laws held forth with his customary flair and confidence and then, as I wrapped up, he delivered probably the most memorable and amusing ending to any interview I’ve done.

“John Laws, thank you very much for making time to speak to us tonight,” I said.

“Did you enjoy it?” Laws replied.

“I did enjoy it, did you?”

Laws chuckled gleefully.

“Yeah, I loved every minute,” he said.

That interview went so viral that people still occasionally mention it to me. The week when it aired, strangers came up to me nonstop to share a laugh about it every time I left the house.

On the Friday night, I was meeting friends for a drink and the bartender unexpectedly presented me with a cocktail and said: “I’ve made this bespoke for you; I’m calling it the John Laws Special.” He’d crafted something bourbon-based.

I’m sure some ABC viewers thought Laws was crazy to show up on 7.30 and attempt to flirt with me while sipping a Wild Turkey. Crazy like a fox if you ask me!

John Laws presenting his last radio show in November 2024. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)

Laws knew how to hold an audience

Why did the interview make such a splash? Because Laws was wildly entertaining. And that’s the reason he lasted on Australian radio for about 70 years and why no other Australian broadcaster has come near his longevity or success.

It was why he was paid a fortune and even furnished by his network with a microphone made of gold.

Like him or loathe him, he indisputably knew how to deliver an engaging broadcast and hold the attention of a loyal audience.

His interviews with prime ministers such as John Howard and Paul Keating were mandatory listening when I was a young reporter. He spoke to the top dogs the same way he spoke to his listeners when they rang in.

Laws adored the attention that his 7.30 appearance delivered him. Ever after, he always warmly invited me on whatever radio program he was hosting if I had an ABC project or a book to promote. And he always finished our encounters by asking, of course, if it had been good for me.