Restoring the Balance
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Restoring the Balance was a satirical radio segment that occasionally appeared on Australian
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station
Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
, which satirically displayed the contrasting political views between the then conservative Australian Howard government, and the majority of the Left wing government-funded Triple J radio station. The premise of the show suggested that the station was forced by the ABC board to broadcast a segment of
right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...
political views in order to ''restore the balance''. The creators began by conducting satirical interviews with Australian political identities in 2003. The show itself was broadcast sporadically on Sunday afternoons during 2004, and then began as a series broadcasting on 25 February 2007.


Format

The show features the characters of young
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
Stirling Addison and young
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Tom Thomlinson. The pair are played by
Julian Schiller Julian "Jules" Schiller is an Australian TV and radio personality. Schiller currently hosts ''Drive'' on ABC Radio Adelaide. He previously worked at Nova 91.9, Triple M, Fox Sports, and The Project. Radio In 1993 Schiller started writin ...
and
Tony Moclair Tony Moclair (born 4 September 1969 in Cork, Ireland) is an Australian comedy actor, writer, performer and radio broadcaster. He has worked on various Australian radio networks, often appearing in character rather than as himself. Radio Mocl ...
. They represent the more affluent end of Australian society - Addison from the city, Thomlinson from a farming area. The characters portrayed on the show are extreme in their views, which has resulted in complaints from callers who do not realise the show is a parody. The official site lists brief outlines of each of the characters. Addison is a Sydney Grammar Old Boy and his profile includes: * ''Baptised into the
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in 1981 before its sell out to left wing homosexual minority interests.'' * ''Elected Grade 5 student president - remembered for sacking
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mothers for displaying signs of 'unionised' activity.'' * ''Royal Tennis champion 3 years in a row (by default '94/'95, '96 victory still subject of inquiry)'' * ''Winner of the CJ Asquith prize for inter-collegiate oration representing St Andrews College, for speech " Melanie Howard - a life of virtue".'' Thom Thomlinson is described as ''"a simple farm boy at heart"'', who grew up on his family's 100 000 hectare property in rural Queensland. Gems from his past include: * ''Boarded at Geelong Grammar.'' * ''Last day of school, hijacks bus and drives into boarding school dorm - several students injured but refuse to press charges. In non-related incident, father donates $25 000 to Old Grammarians fund. Bus driver later sacked for reckless endangerment.'' * ''Graduates accelerated degree in Ag Science/Banking at Bond University after failing first year twice. In non-related incident, father donates $25 000 to Bond University's Vice Chancellor’s Fund.'' Schiller and Moclair also filled in on Triple J as a one-off in the Sunday morning shift where they appeared as themselves. In August 2004, Schiller and Moclair signed on to do breakfast radio at Nova 91.9, an
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station.


Broadcast

It was announced that from 25 February 2007, Stirling Addison would return to Triple J on Sunday evenings to host a new series of Restoring the Balance (apparently without Thom Thomlinson as a co-host).
John Safran , citizenship = , education = , occupation = DocumentarianJournalist Radio presenterAuthor , years_active = 1997 – present , known_for = ''John Safran's Music Jamboree'' ''John Safran vs God'' '' Rac ...
, the previous host of this timeslot, has allegedly gone on a 10-week hiatus due to his other media commitments. In character, Stirling insisted that this change was instead approved by the ABC board due to the current segment being "too semitic", and displaying "a lack of traditional right-wing values". Amongst other things, he then went on to approve the taxpayer-funded visit of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney to Sydney, and stated how "it would be an honour to be shot in the face by the Vice President". 2007 saw the inclusion of Spencer Penrose, a Family First member as co-host (played by
Richard Marsland Richard Kemble Marsland (5 September 1976 – 6 December 2008) was an Australian comedy writer, actor, comedian and radio personality. Career Radio Marsland started his radio career in Adelaide on the SAFM breakfast show with Greg Fleet, ...
). Restoring The Balance made its last appearance on Triple J in a stint airing on Sundays at 9pm, from 24 July until Sept 11, 2011.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Restoring the Balance (archive of later webpage)Restoring the Balance (archive of 2004 webpage)
Triple J programmes