Ormsby Cecil Wilkins (6 March 1916 - 18 February 1976) was an Australian radio presenter. He is most notable for being the first person in Australia to take talkback calls when the format was made legal in 1967.

Career

Wilkins' career began with the

United States Information Service The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill ...

where he worked for a number of years before moving into journalism in 1949. Initially working for ''

The Daily Mirror ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', he went on to work for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' and '' The Argus''. Wilkins made the move to radio in 1963. Throughout his career, Wilkins worked at 2UE and

2GB 2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by parent company Nine Radio, a division of Nine Entertainment Co., who also own sister station 2UE. 2GB broadcasts on 873 kHz, AM. In 2010, 2GB held 14.7% of the total rad ...

in Sydney and Melbourne's

3AW 3AW is a talkback radio station based in Melbourne. It broadcasts on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station. The station is owned and operated by Nine Entertainment Co. Hist ...

. Various attempts at talkback radio in Australia had occurred, dating back to 2BL's experiment in 1925. Stations 3AK and

2UW KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial broadcasting, commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on Australian Radio Network, ARN's KIIS Network. The station's ...

had also both tried it in 1963. However, every attempt was quickly abandoned due to strict broadcasting and telecommunications regulations stipulating that the broadcast of telephone conversations on radio was illegal. Just after midnight on 17 April 1967, Wilkins took the first legal talkback calls on Australian radio after the restrictions were lifted. One of the most notable moments of his radio career came in 1974. During a phone interview with Russell Kelner, the operations manager of the

Jewish Defense League The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a Jewish far-right religious-political organization in the United States and Canada, whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary". It has been classified as "a right w ...

, agents from the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

suddenly stormed into Kelner's office in New York to conduct a raid and placed him under arrest. The commotion of the raid and the arrest of Kelner was clearly audible over the telephone line with Kelner telling Wilkins: "We are in a raid right now by the FBI. I have to hang up. We are all under arrest." The arrest came after death threats were levelled against Palestinian leader

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

. In August 1975, Wilkins used his 2GB program to describe Australian businesswoman

Junie Morosi Junie Morosi (born 26 July 1933) is an Australian businesswoman, who became a public figure in the 1970s through her relationship with Jim Cairns, Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam Labor government. Morosi's appointment as Cairns's principal ...

as an "immoral adventuress who has slept with a variety of notable politicians". This prompted Morosi to launch legal action against 2GB and Wilkins. She was awarded $10,000 in damages after it was found Wilkins had deliberately imputed Morosi as an undesirable, immoral and promiscuous woman who had misconducted herself with her employer. Wilkins enjoyed an amicable relationship with the

Jewish community Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

in Australia who held him in high regard. He was regularly invited to speak at various functions. Wilkins was outspoken on a number of issues. He openly criticised organisations such as the

Melbourne Club The Melbourne Club is a private social club established in 1838 and located at 36 Collins Street, Melbourne. The club is a symbol of Australia's British social heritage and was established at a gathering of 23 gentlemen on Saturday, 17 Decembe ...

for their policy not to admit

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He criticised the Federal Government's decision to allow South Africa to send an all-white football team to Australia for the 1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia. He described Australia's international image being vulnerable due to the

White Australia policy The White Australia policy is a term encapsulating a set of historical policies that aimed to forbid people of non-European ethnic origin, especially Asians (primarily Chinese) and Pacific Islanders, from immigrating to Australia, starting i ...

and the poor treatment of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

Death

Ormsby Wilkins died at the age of 59 on 19 February 1976 following a battle with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

for which he underwent an operation in November 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Ormsby Australian radio journalists 1916 births 1976 deaths Australian talk radio hosts 3AW presenters