John Laws - 70 Years "On the Air" (November 28th, 2023)

has been named in the All Australian team for the eighth time. The North Melbourne captain is the only person to be named in every AFLW All Australian team. Eleven of the selected 21 are first timers in the squad. In finance, oil is worth 76 US dollars a barrel. Gold is trading at 2,001 US dollars an ounce, 1 Australian dollar buying 66.07 US cents. Welcome to the John Laws Morning Show. We, the staff, have organised a very special program in celebration of John's 70th year on air. It's a milestone many of John's friends wanted to recognise and there's a good chance that many of his friends are your friends too. Now for the intro we've all heard a thousand times before. Hello world, I'm John Laws. What's on your mind Australia? Give us a call, tell us all about it. 1-300-564-652 is the telephone number that you dial. If you would like to send a text message, 0458-049-209 is our text number. So there you've got a couple of ways to get in touch and we'd love you to do that so that you can tell us simply what is on your mind Australia. OK, give us a call, tell us what's on your mind. 1-300-564-652. I see that already we have the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the line. Good morning Prime Minister. Good morning John and congratulations, what an achievement. The 70th anniversary of being on radio is quite remarkable and you have made Australia better for your contribution. Isn't that a nice thing for you to say? Thank you very much for those extremely kind words. It doesn't seem like 70 years but it is when you say it, it is a long time. It is John but you're going strong still and over the 70 years, one of the things about that longevity is that I can remember listening to you as a young lad and I'm 60. So you've been a constant in a world of change which is often too fast. You know we all want the world to slow down and I think the reliability, your professionalism has been extraordinary. You are respected across the political spectrum but most importantly across society as well and I just am amazed at your energy that you have. You are undoubtedly the most significant broadcaster on radio that Australia has seen. Isn't that a lovely thing to say? That's a really nice thing to say and particularly coming from the Prime Minister. Well it's all true John and you and I have had the opportunity as well to catch up and have lunch and you're just an engaging character and you're a feature. You are loved in the cities, you're loved in the regions right around the country and it's just amazing that you've just kept going from starting I think at 3BO in Bendigo but working around the regions before you ended up of course on Metro Radio but broadcast nationally as well. You're the 16th Prime Minister to whom I have spoken and that's a hell of a lot of Prime Ministers. Well we were changing too regularly for a while there. That's true. John, my comment about constancy that you've provided and that stability. We've had in a short period of time, you know John that a little fun fact is the next election I'll be seeking to be the first Prime Minister in over 20 years to be re-elected. All the elections since 2004 was John Howard of course and then we had successive elections. We've had Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison and myself. So no one's actually won two since John Howard and that says something as well about just the pace of change and all of that and one of the things that people have been able to rely upon though is turning on their radio and listening to John Lewis. You're very kind. I hope because of your superior position in our society now that we can still have a lunch together. Oh absolutely John. I enjoyed the last time that we caught up and perhaps we can over December or January. That would be a good thing to do. Okay well I'd love to do it and I appreciate your time and I particularly appreciate your call because it's very important to me. It makes me feel good and it makes the listeners feel good that the Prime Minister of this great country would take the time to pick up the phone and say good luck and good on you and good on you too Prime Minister. You're doing a great job. Thanks very much John and for all of your listeners it's a bit early to do a Christmas shout out but I will. I just hope that the festive season is a good for everyone to spend time with their families and with their friends and loved ones. I'm hoping that we don't suffer from bushfires over this summer. It's quite a dangerous combination of heat and dry coming up but I sincerely hope that everyone has a very good summer ahead. And I hope you do and the people you love. Thanks very much John. I look forward to catching up. All the best. Thank you very much Prime Minister. Anthony Alban is very, as I've said from the outset, like or dislike his politics. That's entirely up to you but you're not going to find a nicer man. You really are not. He's a very nice human being. And Albanese. I really am delighted to say that John Howard is in the studio. Well thank you John. Very nice to be with you. Would it be reasonable to describe the conversation that you had as not being very cordial? Well it depends on your definition of cordial. I'm quoting his spokesman today. Prime Minister good morning and welcome to the program. G'day John. Always good to chat. Pleased to say that the current Prime Minister and now the 16th Prime Minister that I have interviewed incidentally. That's a lot. The 16th Prime Minister that I've interviewed joins me on the line. Prime Minister good morning and welcome to the program number 16. Thanks very much John. It's very good to be on your program. John it's Paul Keating. I've heard you're approaching your 70th anniversary when you first got on the airwaves. That's an amazing record. I mean I was there for your 50th and the 60th and I'm still here for your 70th which is pretty amazing. But I don't know anyone would have had 70 years of active participation on radio. All these people now taking big salaries and big contracts out of the radio business is a business broadly you created and popularized. And of course during my period you and I broke many important stories and educated millions of people in fact. So it was not just entertainment but infotainment of a very high standard. Anyway all congratulations to you John. You know it's a record that'll never be bettered and you have much to be proud of with it. Hello John. This is John Howard. I wanted to congratulate you on a remarkable achievement of 70 years of great broadcasting. You've become in every sense of the word quite a legend. You were hard at it and quite experienced when I first started politics and over the years we've gone a few rounds so to speak and I've enjoyed each one of them and the fact that you're still doing it is quite remarkable and I join many others in paying tribute to the contribution you've made to political commentary, social insights and the like. It's been quite remarkable. Well done and keep going. That's very important. Cheers. G'day. Kevin Rudd here. Congratulations Lawsey. 70 years. Golden tonsils behind a golden microphone. Extraordinary career achievement. Well done mate. Another 10 to go. Tony Abbott here John. Just wanting to say what an extraordinary stint you've had as a king of Sydney radio. 70 years and still going strong. Absolutely magnificent. Keep it up. Australia needs your voice. Congratulations John. 70 years. That is amazing and it makes you think. We've been talking together on your radio show for more than half of them and when I think back to when I started in radio in the 70s you were already a legend, an awesome towering figure over Australian radio. John, congratulations. You've done such an incredible job. Your zest for life, your eloquence, your poetry, your passion. Wow. What a great Australian. Well g'day John. It's Scott Morrison here. I just want to wish you a happy 70th anniversary and mate over all of this time thanks for keeping the dream alive. I've been listening to you for a very long time from when I was a young man all the way through and there are none like you Lawsey and I hope you enjoy this important milestone and those tonsils keep cranking on in the future. I certainly don't wish to have your longevity in my current job but I think your experience really shows and it is a great credit to you that you've actually, that makes you having spoken to more than half given that I'm the 31st Prime Minister of Australia. I said well that's true I've spoken to more than half the Prime Ministers. Yeah well that makes me feel even better. No, congratulations to you.