Alan Jones Biography
Alan Jones is a former radio broadcaster from Australia and a former Australia national rugby union team coach, as well as a rugby league coach and administrator. He has worked as a schoolteacher, a speechwriter in Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser’s office, and in musical theater. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Queensland and a one-year teaching certification from Worcester College in Oxford. He has received both civic and business accolades.
How old is Alan Jones? – Age
He is 82 years old as of 13 April 2023. He was born in 1941 in Oakey, Australia. His real name is Alan Belford Jones.
Alan Jones Family – Education
Alan was born to Charlie Thomas, a farmer and coal miner, and Elizabeth ‘Beth’ (née Belford; 1906-82). He was the middle child of a family of three, with an elder brother, Robert Charles, and a younger sister, Colleen, both of whom went on to become teachers. Jones attended the Kelvin Grove Teachers College in Brisbane after graduating from high school. In 1961, he began his teaching career at Ironside State School, a state primary school in Brisbane’s inner suburbs. He began working at Brisbane Grammar School, a private secondary school for boys, in 1963 and remained there till the end of 1969.
During this time, he was also studying part-time at the University of Queensland for a Bachelor of Arts degree, which he received in 1967. Jones also had a successful coaching career in athletics, tennis, and rugby union.
Alan Jones Wife
Jones is not married and has no children.
Alan Jones House
He currently resides in Sydney. Jones paid $2.3 million for a 27-hectare property in Fitzroy Falls in 2003. Jones purchased it in 2022. Jones paid $10.5 million for an apartment at Circular Quay in 2017. In 2021, he paid $12.25 million for a waterfront home in Southport, Queensland.
Alan Jones Illness
Jones had prostate cancer surgery in July 2008. He underwent surgery in December 2008 to remove a benign brain tumor. Jones had back surgery and neck surgery in November 2016, which kept him off the air for four months. Jones was hospitalized in November 2018 for significant back pain and was forced to return to the air. In November 2022, he had another back surgery.
Alan Jones 2UE
Jones took over as morning program host at Sydney AM radio station 2UE in 1985, after long-time host John Laws left for 2GB. Laws returned to 2UE in 1988 to host the morning show again, thus Jones was moved to the breakfast slot from 5.30 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. in March of that year. When Jones transitioned to the breakfast show, she first used the program’s long-running opening and closing theme music, “Gloria” by Laura Branigan. Jones’ audience share in the Sydney market had risen to 22% by the mid-1990s, giving him the greatest radio audience in Sydney and, if his transmissions into regional and interstate areas are included, possibly the largest radio audience in Australia.
Alan Jones Died of shame
Jones declared in a September 2012 address at a Sydney University Liberal Club social function that Prime Minister Julia Gillard was a liar and that her father had recently “died of shame” as a result. Politicians, journalists, and social media sites on all sides of the political spectrum slammed Gillard’s father’s statements. Jones staged a press conference, saying he “got it wrong” and wanted to publicly and personally apologize to the Prime Minister. Jones called Julia Gillard and demanded an apology, but she refused. Jones’ remarks were criticized by both the Prime Minister’s Labor colleagues and Liberal officials, including Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
Labor Party figures attempted to link Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party to Alan Jones’ remarks, prompting accusations that they were seeking political gain. On October 7, Macquarie Radio Network declared that it would ban all advertising on the Alan Jones show on 2GB in order to safeguard its advertisers from social media activity. Telstra, Woolworths, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and Coles were among the more than 80 sponsors who boycotted the show. According to Macquarie Radio, the boycott cost the station between $1 million and $1.5 million, and some advertisers have stated that they will never return.
Alan Jones Political Views
In 1974, Doug Anthony, a parent at The King’s School in Parramatta, offered Jones a seat with the Country Party (now the National Party of Australia) in the Australian Parliament. Jones ran for the Federal parliamentary constituency of Eden-Monaro as a party candidate in 1975, but was defeated.
He ran for the Liberal Party of Australia in the July 1978 by-election for the NSW state seat of Earlwood, which had been held by deposed Liberal leader Sir Eric Willis. He had lost what was deemed a “safe seat.” Jones ran for the Liberal Party again in the October 1978 state election in New South Wales, but the Australian Labor Party candidate was reelected with a larger majority.
Jones ran for Liberal preselection in the Federal Division of North Sydney in September 1979, finishing third on the vote. The winning candidate, Peter Solomon, was later disendorsed, but Jones did not re-contest the ballot in March 1980, and John Spender won the seat through preselection.
Jones was a late withdrawal from the ballot for the Liberal preselection for the Federal Division of Wentworth in Sydney in 1986; the preselection and seat were won by future Liberal leader Dr John Hewson.