Marcus Lush (born July 1965) is a politician and television and radio presenter in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Broadcasting

He made his first footsteps into television in the 1990s as a reporter co-presenting TV2's ''Newsnight'' alongside

Simon Dallow Simon Dallow (born 18 June 1964) is a New Zealand journalist, former barrister and television personality. Early years Dallow, who is the son of Ross Dallow, was educated at Liston College and St Peter's College. He completed his tertiary e ...

and

Alison Mau Alison Mau () (born 14 February 1965), known professionally as Ali Mau, is an Australian-born New Zealand journalist and broadcaster. She is a former television news anchor, former co-host of the TVNZ current affairs show '' Seven Sharp'', form ...

, but it was a 2003 episode of travel show, ''

Intrepid Journeys ''Intrepid Journeys'' is a New Zealand television series, which screens on TV ONE in New Zealand and on Vibrant TV Network in the United States. Making its debut in 2003, the show focuses on New Zealand celebrities who travel to exotic countries ...

'', that set him on a new broadcasting path. Since then the longtime talkback radio host has won acclaim and awards for ''Off the Rails'', which chronicles his journey along New Zealand's railway lines, and he spent a month in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

for the series, ''Ice''. In December 2008 Lush began work on a new television series, ''South'', in which he explores

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

and

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. ''South'' went to air in August 2009. Lush was raised largely in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, the fourth son of a printer and a speech therapist. He began his long career in talkback by presenting a show on student station Radio B (now

95bFM 95bFM is a New Zealand student radio station. It operates in Auckland on a Schedule 7 (educational purposes) semi-commercial licence. The station is based in the Student Union Building at the University of Auckland, is owned by a trust on behalf o ...

), where he worked alongside ''

Eating Media Lunch Eating Media Lunch (EML) was a satirical New Zealand news show hosted by Jeremy Wells. It aired on TV2 from 2003 to 2008. The show was frequently controversial during its run. Notable episodes In 2005 it shocked some viewers when it depi ...

'' co-creator Paul Casserly. At the age of 24, he went on to take over the graveyard talkback shift on 1ZB. During the late 1990s, he hosted the breakfast show on Auckland's 91ZM and from 2000 it was heard nationwide, except in Wellington and Christchurch. Lush's ZM programme was axed in 2001 when the 91ZM Wellington breakfast show hosted by Polly and Grant took over. Lush moved to Southland in 2002 to host the breakfast show on

Foveaux FM Foveaux FM is a local radio station in Invercargill New Zealand that began operating in May 1981. The station is named after Foveaux Strait which runs between the South Island of New Zealand and Stewart Island. The station was originally starte ...

, but left the station in 2004, and in 2005 began presenting an evening talkback programme on the newly established

Radio Live Radio Live (stylised as Radio LIVE) was a nationwide Auckland-based New Zealand talkback, news and sport radio network owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. It was formed by the 2005 split of talk and racing network Radio Pacific i ...

. In 2007, he then became breakfast host on Radio Live. In 2014 it was announced Lush would come back to ZB and in January 2016 he started his new talkback programme, ''Marcus Lush Nights'', broadcasting nationwide every weeknight on

Newstalk ZB Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio, talk-radio network operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, NZME Radio. It is available in almost every media market, radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in m ...

from 8pm to midnight. Television shows presented by Lush include ''Newsnight'', ''Off the Rails: A Love Story'', ''South'' and ''North''.

Politics

Lush was a candidate in the 2021

Invercargill City Council Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of ...

by-election caused by the resignation of deputy mayor Toni Biddle. He stated that he would continue ''Marcus Lush Nights'' even if elected. He won the election in a landslide, winning more than half the votes counted. On 10 August 2022, Lush announced he would contest the 2022 Invercargill mayoral election. He again promised to continue his radio show if elected. On 14 October 2022 the official declaration of results for the Invercargill City Council showed Marcus Lush placing third place in the mayoralty election whilst not seeking election to council.

References

External links

Marcus' profile
on

NZ On Screen NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide ...

*
Marcus Lush Nights
Newstalk ZB {{DEFAULTSORT:Lush, Marcus 1965 births Living people New Zealand television presenters New Zealand radio presenters New Zealand television journalists People from Bluff, New Zealand Newstalk ZB Invercargill City Councillors

Broadcasting

Politics

See also

References

External links