John Laws, Australian radio’s ‘Golden Tonsils’ who dominated airwaves for six decades – obituary

At his peak, the Australian talkback legend John Laws was one of the highest-paid radio broadcasters in the world. Over his more than six-decade career, it seemed at times that everything he touched turned to gold. He was dubbed the “Golden Tonsils” by his fans for his rich, melodious timbre. Everything from his golden microphone and chunky golden rings to his skyrocketing ratings and the advertising revenue he generated glowed. Laws, who has died aged 90, began his career in regional Victoria as an 18-year-old and grew to inspire a huge and devoted audience, but also condemnation for his role in the “cash-for-comment” scandal and other controversies. To his loyal listeners, Laws was a voice who heard their concerns and spoke up for them. He became immensely influential, securing the friendship of politicians and stars. Mornings with Laws were filled with a mix of pop politics and talkback, interspersed with effusive advertorials. His popularity and the intense relationship with his listeners was such that by the early 1980s politicians began to use their time on his program to make policy announcements. In 1999, Laws found himself entangled in the cash-for-comment scandal “Forget the press gallery; educate John Laws and you educate Australia,” Paul Keating once said. Five days a week, with a rumble of “Hello world, I’m John Laws”, he would begin his morning show at whichever commercial radio station he was then conquering. His voice, once described as “music to a woman’s ovaries”, also added lustre to television advertisements for engine oil, fly spray and Holden cars. Laws did not achieve his fame and success without controversy. In 1999, he was at the centre of the cash-for-comment scandal alongside his fellow 2UE broadcaster Alan Jones. The pair were accused of accepting payments from companies in exchange for favourable on-air commentary. Both denied any wrongdoing. “Nobody has suggested I have broken any law. But you would think from the controversy that it was first-class industrial espionage or industrial rape,” Laws said at the time. Richard John Sinclair Laws was born on 8 August 1935 in Wau, New Guinea, to Richard Laws and Agnes Sinclair. He had one sister, Jenny. During the second world war, the family moved to Sydney, where Laws attended Mosman Preparatory School and Knox Grammar School. He had polio twice, once as a child and again as a young man, but rarely spoke about it. Laws, who said he was not close to either of his parents, also admitted to bouts of depression throughout his life. After leaving school, he worked as a jackaroo in western New South Wales before beginning the radio career that would change his life at 3BO in Bendigo, Victoria, in 1953. At age 16 he met 14-year-old Caroline Cameron Waller at a dance. However, the couple drifted apart, each marrying and having families of their own. Two decades later, they bumped into each other in the Tunnel of Love at Sydney’s Luna Park and, in 1976, they finally married, blending their families and becoming parents to nine children. Laws said he had fallen in love with “his princess” the moment they met. They were married for 43 years and her death in 2020 devastated Laws. Not all were charmed by Laws. Described by one journalist as “an Easter Island head” and a “monument to a vanished broadcast culture”, and by another as like “a Galápagos tortoise on its hind legs”, Laws remained stubborn in the face of criticism and voiced his opinions, regardless of outcry or distress. He was found in contempt of court for interviewing a juror in 2000 and received a suspended jail sentence. In 2001, his show was found to have breached the rules around decency and the treatment of suicide. In 2013, Laws asked a tearful female caller describing her childhood sexual assault if she might not have been at fault. Two years later, he told a distressed older male listener who had called in to describe his childhood sexual abuse to “go to the pub and have a lemonade” and, although he had been empathic, Laws was criticised for his lack of awareness. In 2015, the former Socceroo Tim Cahill hung up on Laws after he repeatedly questioned him about his wealth. In 2021 he was found to have breached the commercial radio code after calling a listener “mentally deficient” and urging them to “say something constructive, like you’re going to kill yourself”. “I’d hate to think I was very cruel. I’m certainly rude and I’m certainly impatient, intolerant and a lot of things I shouldn’t be” he told Studio 10 in 2017. He called his producers “handmaidens” and insisted they wear skirts or dresses to work although at least one former female employee maintained he was always a courteous boss and said “his old-fashioned manner felt respectful” to her. Laws remained stubborn in the face of criticism and voiced his opinions, regardless of outcry or distress Laws gained a legion of new fans in 2012 after appearing on the ABC’s 7.30 program. In an interview with then anchor Leigh Sales, he flirted with her while wearing dark glasses and sipping a bourbon and coke in his harbourside home. “Remember the alleged cash for comment garbage that went on? I’m going to die with that even though all I was accused of was being excessively loyal to my sponsors, and I’m rather proud of that,” he told Sales. Laws worked most often at 2UE, followed by 2GB, with a decade at 2UW. After his first retirement in 2007, he returned to the airwaves, joining 2SM in 2011 as their morning show broadcaster. He appeared in several television shows and films, including alongside Mick Jagger in the 1970 film Ned Kelly. Laws also produced several collections of poetry which sold well, although the journalist Bob Ellis once described him as “the worst poet in the whole history of the world”. Laws also sang and wrote country and western songs. He wrote several books, including a barbecue cookbook, collected art and at one point owned 38 vehicles. Laws was inducted into the Australian Radio Hall of Fame in 2003 and was presented his award by Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. He received an Aria lifetime achievement award in 2008. He is survived by his extensive family. • John Laws, broadcaster, born 8 August 1935; died 9 November 2025.