Veteran political journalist Ken Randall dead at 88

The highly-respected and well-known Australian presenter died aged 88.

Former ABC political journalist Ken Randall has passed away “peacefully” at the age of 88.

He was highly respected in the industry, having spent 60 years reporting for newspapers, magazines and on radio and TV, as well as being the longest-serving president of the National Press Club.

The organisation issued a statement following news of his death on Monday night, describing how Mr Randall had made an “indelible imprint on Australian journalism” and left a “magnificent legacy”.

“Ken was literally the first person I ever worked with when I came to Canberra and he was a kind, generous and wise colleague to me and other young reporters,” current NPC president and 7.30 host Laura Tingle told the ABC.

“His immense contribution to steering the Club through some tough times is something I have only really come to appreciate since following in his footsteps.”

National Press Club president Ken Randall sits between then-Opposition spokesman for the Status of Women, Dr Sharman Stone (right) and Status of Women minister Tanya Plibersek in Canberra in 2010. Picture: AAP Image/Alan Porritt

Meanwhile, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s chief political correspondent, David Crowe, also paid tribute to Mr Randall in a post on X.

“Ken Randall helped make sure the National Press Club survives and thrives to this day. He’ll be missed. RIP,” he wrote.

Mr Randall’s career began at the ABC in Hobart. He later moved to positions in cities across Australia including Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.

He was also a member of the original staff of The Australian newspaper, launched in 1964, taking on the role of defence and diplomatic correspondent before becoming feature editor, then associate editor, and later, chief political correspondent.

Australian journalists who accompanied then-Opposition Leader, Gough Whitlam, on his historic trip to China in July, 1971 – including Mr Randall (fourth from left). Picture: Whitlam Institute

During his tenure as president of the Press Club, Mr Randall hosted Australia’s first televised election debate.

Then-prime minister Bob Hawke squared off against opposition leader Andrew Peacock ahead of the 1984 election, with the host later describing how both took “quite different approaches” to the big event.

“Bob Hawke liked to play to the live audiences around him, and he did that quite effectively, but as far as the television audience was concerned, Andrew Peacock just stared down the barrel of the television cameras when he answered anything and got his message out very effectively,” he told the ABC in 2010.

“It was a novelty for everyone concerned, I suppose Bob Hawke and Andrew Peacock had had their share of exchanges in parliament but not like this — the rather more disciplined atmosphere of a television debate.”

Mr Randall was honoured with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to Journalism and Public Affairs in 1997.