Daily London
Alan Jones has paid tribute to talkback radio rival John Laws, saying there was never animosity between them, only “enduring respect and friendship”.
Laws was on air for more than 70 years, with former prime minister Paul Keating calling him the “broadcaster of the century” and dubbing the 1983 federal election “The John Laws Election”.
During that time, Laws – known fondly as ”Lawsie” and “the Golden Tonsils” – spent years in a headline-grabbing, bitter feud with Jones.
But news of his death has brought Jones back into the public eye to address their “so-called rivalry”.
“Of course, in any game worth its salt, there is always competitive tension; but there was never animosity, always a lot of great stories, many laughs, and enduring respect and friendship,” he wrote in a statement posted on social media.
Jones, using a cricket analogy, added that “there were a lot of runs, plenty of missed chances, more than a few wasted appeals”.
The 84-year-old went on to pay tribute to his former colleague and friend, saying it would require “volumes to do justice to an idiosyncratic individual”.
“For almost three quarters of that time [a century], ‘the voice’ entertained, cajoled, persuaded, jested, but, above all, spoke with an unapologetic clarity, best summed up by his often personal observation to me, ‘If they don’t like it, they can turn off’,” he wrote.
“But they rarely did because, whether from adulation or anger, John Laws was compulsive listening.
“John pioneered talkback radio which, to him, was the broadcast medium where, while you talked, you also had to listen back and respond. The results bear witness to his extraordinary success.”
Laws and Jones’ long-standing rivalry began when they were caught up in the infamous cash for comment scandal in 1999, which was found to have breached the commercial radio broadcast codes.
Jones’ departure from their workplace at the time, 2UE, for rival station 2GB also fanned the fire after he took the majority of their listeners with him.
The 90-year-old retired after 71 years in radio just last year, telling listeners on 2SM that: “I think it’s time for a rest.”
