Ronald Arthur Casey (5 July 1929 – 2 October 2018) was an Australian television presenter, sports journalist and
talk-back radio host based in Sydney, New South Wales.
Early life
Casey was born in
Lismore, New South Wales
Lismore is a city located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore Local government in Australia, local government area, it is also a regional centre in the Northern River ...
on 5 July 1929, but moved to Sydney with his mother, Nellie Thorne, and brother, John Francis Casey, and settled at
Coogee, New South Wales
Coogee () is a beachside suburb in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, eight kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district.
The Tasman Sea and Coogee Bay along with Coogee Bea ...
, when he was 10.
In 1944, Casey was a New South Wales state swimming champion, and he went on to work for thirteen years as a professional swimming coach at
North Sydney Olympic Pool
The North Sydney Olympic Pool is a swimming and exercise complex located adjacent to Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour at Milsons Point between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Luna Park Sydney, Luna Park.
History
Designed by architects Rudder & Grout ...
after covering the swimming events at the
1956 Melbourne Olympics
The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the except ...
as a freelance journalist.
Media career
Casey's career began at radio station
2KY in 1948. He became well known in the early years of television as a sports presenter on ''World of Sport'' (with
Frank Hyde
Francis Patrick Aloysius Hyde (7 February 1916 – 24 September 2007) was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and radio caller. A New South Wales representative three-quarter, Hyde played his club football in Sydney for NSWRFL Premier ...
) at
TCN
TCN is the flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia. The station is currently located at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Frank Packer, was one of the ...
-9 (
Nine Network
Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
), and later as the sports newsreader at Channel
TEN-10. He was also a talk-back host at Sydney radio stations
2KY,
2SM
2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group. The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's.
2SM's prog ...
, and
2GB, and was also a sports journalist at Sydney's ''
The Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead ...
'' newspaper for many years.
Controversy
Although Casey was a successful sports media figure, he later stirred controversy as an often "politically incorrect" talk-back radio host, famous for his quick temper. He was suspended on several occasions during his career for offensive remarks made on radio.
In the 1980s, Casey became a vocal campaigner against increasing
Asian immigration to Australia although he denied he was ever a racist. Said Casey:
"The conspiracy exists among prominent politicians to stifle any debate on the immigration issue, and among ethnic leaders in the community to diffuse any opposition to unlimited Asian immigration. The facts are plain to see. The majority of Australians are against it, but nothing is done to ensure their wishes are fulfilled. I spoke out and was vilified. Professor Blainey spoke out and lost his job. John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
spoke out and was dumped as opposition leader. Bruce Ruxton spoke out and was labelled a racist looney."
In 1988, Casey was sacked by radio station
2KY after describing Asians on-air as "little bastards". The station's owner, the
Labor Council of New South Wales
The Labor Council of New South Wales, branded Unions NSW, is the peak body for trade unions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. As of 2005 there are 67 unions and 8 Rural and Regional Trades & Labor Councils affiliated to the Labor Cou ...
, passed a motion at its conference that Casey must desist from "making statements inciting racial hatred, sexual assault and sexual harassment" while being employed by the station and thus associated with the Labor Council. 2KY general manager and Labor Party state president
John MacBean said that he had re-hired Casey due to the loss of ratings and revenue, but also for his support for the labour movement and the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
.
On 16 July 1991, Casey was involved in a sensational incident on national television. During a
republican debate on the
Nine Network
Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
's ''
Midday
Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cloc ...
'' show hosted by
Ray Martin, he became involved in a live on-air scuffle with singer and actor
Normie Rowe
Norman John Rowe (born 1 February 1947) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He rose to national prominence in the mid-1960s as a pop star and teen idol, backed by The Playboys. His 1965 double A-side " Que Sera Sera"/" Shakin' All Over" w ...
during which Rowe pushed Casey into his chair, and Casey retaliated by punching Rowe in the face. The
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
RSL chief
Bruce Ruxton, who was on the set at the time of the brawl, said the next day: "As for Ron Casey, he deserved a good punch in the nose." (despite the fact it was Casey who punched Rowe, not the other way around).
In July 1995, Casey's interview with English author and Holocaust denier
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court ...
made news around the world when Irving said on air that between one and four million Jews had died in concentration camps—a figure far higher than Irving had ever conceded in the past or since, although he qualified this estimate by saying that barbarity and disease had caused the deaths.
In May 2000, Casey was suspended from radio station
2GB after saying that Aboriginal Australians were "disadvantaged because they won’t get off their black arses and do some work". It was Casey's third suspension from the station, and the fourth time he had made racist comments on-air.
Soon after, he retired from the Sydney media after a career that spanned 50 years.
He also openly admitted to routinely harassing women. On his show, he said, "Yesterday,
Marcus Einfeld in the Human Rights and
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...
, said that his organisation was not a platform for vindictiveness or exaggerated allegations...
ndnot to create a marketplace for exaggerated or imagined allegations against men. And I think Justice Marcus Einfeld is right on the button. So many of these cases ... they are ugly girls ... but I've always found whenever I've worked at various radio stations before getting the sack, that if you are nice to ugly girls, it sort of helps them—it boosts their day—it makes them feel good. And I've always made a practice wherever I work, of selecting the ugliest girls and as they walk by, give them a backhand pelvic flick."
''Confessions of a Larrikin''
Casey published a memoir in 1989, titled ''Confessions of a Larrikin'' (), which he co-wrote with Richard Sleeman.
[Ron Casey with Richard Sleeman. ''Confessions of a Larrikin'' . Lester Townsend Publishers, Australia. 1989. ()]
Honours
Casey was awarded the
Medal of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...
on
Australia Day 1988 for services to the media.
Personal life
Casey married twice, first in 1954 and had two daughters; and again in 1966 to Renate Langkusch with whom he had a son and a daughter.
He had numerous health problems in his eighties, including a quadruple heart bypass, several strokes and bladder cancer.
Casey died at
Royal North Shore Hospital
The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in the suburb of St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney, University of Technol ...
on 2 October 2018 aged 89.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Ron
1929 births
2018 deaths
Australian radio personalities
Australian republicans
Australian television presenters
Australian sports broadcasters
People from the Northern Rivers
Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia