Joe O'Brien (born 1968 or 1969) is an Australian journalist and news presenter. O'Brien is best known for his lengthy tenure hosting ''ABC News Mornings'' on the ABC News channel, which he has hosted since the channel's inception in 2010 until 2023. He joined the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

in 1995, initially based at the local ABC station in

Rockhampton, Queensland Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

before moving to Brisbane where he worked as a reporter and presenter. O'Brien then moved to Sydney, where he regularly anchored '' The Midday Report'' on ABC TV. Upon the launch of the ABC's new weekday breakfast program ''

News Breakfast ''News Breakfast'' is an Australian news breakfast television program. It is broadcast on ABC TV and ABC News channel from 6:00 am to 9:00 am AEST or AEDT on weekdays and is hosted by James Glenday and Bridget Brennan. The program is also ...

'' on

ABC2 ABC Family is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of family and teen entertainment programming. The channel oper ...

in late 2008, O'Brien was appointed as the co-host of its Friday edition. As the ABC prepared to launch its new 24-hour news channel in 2010, O'Brien was announced as one of its presenters in April 2010. He commenced hosting ''ABC News Mornings'' on 23 July 2010. During the

Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey by the Australian Government designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the Australia Post, postal service between 12 Septe ...

in 2017, O'Brien's questioning of the

Australian Christian Lobby The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is a Christian-conservative advocacy organisation based in Canberra. Structure The ACL is registered as a public company limited by guarantee and files political expenditure returns with the Australian Ele ...

's Lyle Shelton was criticised by commentators Tom Switzer and

Andrew Bolt Andrew Bolt (born 26 September 1959) is an Australian conservative social and political commentator. He has worked at the News Corp-owned newspaper company The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for many years, for both '' The Herald'' and its succ ...

who both believed O'Brien had suggested same sex marriage opponents had no right to support gay athletes such as

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle swimming, freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the medley swimming, individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the se ...

. In May 2023, O'Brien announced that after 13 years he will switch from hosting ''ABC News Mornings'' to host ''ABC Evening News'' on the ABC News channel.

Personal life

O'Brien grew up in

Innisfail, Queensland Innisfail (from Irish language, Irish: Inis Fáil) is a regional town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was originally called Geraldton until 1910. In the , the town o ...

after his parents moved from New South Wales with their four young children around 1970. In 1999, he performed as a back-up dancer for

Dannii Minogue Dannii Minogue (; born 20 October 1971) is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. As a child, she became known for her appearances on the television talent show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988). She went on to play the r ...

at the

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or Sydney Mardi Gras is an event in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. One of the largest LGBT festivals in the world, Mardi Gras is the ...

. O'Brien was a brother-in-law to Australian rugby league player

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

, who died from a heroin overdose in 1997. and, in 2015, he introduced an ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs, AB ...

'' episode which profiled his sister, Jackson's widow Siobhan Jackson. O'Brien is fully vaccinated against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

having received his first dose of the

Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine The Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine, sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria among others, is a viral vector vaccine COVID-19 vaccine, for the prevention of COVID-19. It was developed in the United Kingdom by University of ...

in May 2021 and his second dose in July 2021. A photo of him after receiving his second dose garnered attention due to his prominent biceps.

References

Australian television newsreaders and news presenters {{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Joe Year of birth missing (living people) Living people