By Calum Jaspan
Talkback radio veteran John Laws has announced his retirement for the second time, following a 13-year stint at radio network 2SM.
Known as the “Golden Tonsils”, Laws, 89, casually told listeners of his Morning show on Tuesday that he will retire on November 8, saying it is “time for a rest” in response to a message from a listener.
John Laws in the 2SM studio in 2014.Credit: Janie Barrett
Responding to listener Paul’s message about their own retirement and their love of listening to Laws, the broadcaster nonchalantly said, “cheers Paul, well you’re not going to be hearing it for long”.
“It’s time for a rest, is what I think. I’ve done it for a very, very, very, very long time, and 70 years – is that long enough? That’s long enough, and I think that I’ll just call it a day and call it a day pretty soon, probably beginning of November,” Laws said.
“First week of November it’ll be 71 years since I started on radio. So I think, you know, I don’t want to be greedy. I’ve had 71 fantastic years, fantastic years. I had a really, really good time and loved, you know, most of it.
“Loved almost every minute of it. But Paul, stay tuned, because I’m here for a while yet, but not very much longer in a way, I’m sorry to say.”
Laws said he still feels young and healthy, but that this time his retirement is final, unlike his previous decision in 2007. He returned to radio four years later.
“When I call it a day, it’ll be a day. I’m not going to go away and then come back again and say, ‘Oh it was all a mistake’. It may well be a mistake that there’ll be no return. No return, that’s it.”
One of Australia’s most recognisable voices in talkback radio, he celebrated 71 years in the profession this year, having started his career at Bendigo’s 3BO in 1953.
He became widely known during his several stints at Sydney station 2UE, and for his rivalry with Alan Jones.
After stepping away from the industry for four years, Laws returned to radio in 2011 with The John Laws Morning Show on 2SM, where he has been broadcasting daily ever since.
In 1999, Laws and Jones were the subject of the infamous “cash for comment” affair in which Laws was accused of editorialising paid advertisements for brands including Qantas, Foxtel and others without disclosing them. He was found to have breached the advertising code in 2004 in a second scandal.
He has breached the broadcasting watchdog’s codes several times since then. In 2014, the communications watchdog, ACMA, found he had breached the code’s privacy provisions after he read out on-air the full name and phone number of a listener who had criticised his program, while again breaching the code in 2020 over a “dangerous” suicide insult to a listener.
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