Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I pay tribute to Adelaide radio and media identity Bob Francis, who unexpectedly passed away at home on 12 November 2016, aged 77. For over 50 years big Bob was a household name in South Australia—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:18 to 16:30

I will continue my remarks. In his later years, his talkback radio program—aired between 8 pm and midnight on 5AA—was rated the most popular talkback program. It was Bob's personality that made his program so popular. Even his critics would listen to it. Having spent his whole adult life in radio, he was deservedly inducted into Australia's Radio Hall of Fame in 2005 and also presented with a gold microphone after 20 years of service with 5AA. He went on to be 5AA's longest serving employee.

The achievement which perhaps made Bob most proud was his personal part in getting the Beatles to come to Adelaide when they visited Australia in 1964. The excitement created at the time and the extraordinary crowds that lined the streets of Adelaide to get a glimpse of the Beatles on their arrival into Adelaide—estimated at the time to be around 300,000 people—were never again replicated. Because of his efforts, Bob was given the honour of introducing the Beatles to a packed King William Street crowd from the town hall balcony.

Every media personality has their own style and appeal and that was certainly the case with Bob. Loved by some, loathed by others, Bob Francis was one of a kind. Bob was opinionated, outspoken and at times insulting, but always entertaining. If callers agreed with Bob's generally conservative views of the world, they would get a fair hearing. If they disagreed with him, they were very likely to cop a tirade of verbal abuse before he would abruptly cut them off. He would frequently get prank callers who would provoke him or try him on, but Bob always had the last say. Occasionally, he went too far and ended up in hot water, but he never backed away.

Yet, for all his tough public persona, I believe Bob was a very decent man who called things as he saw them. I would occasionally call in and have an on-air chat with him about politics or the current affairs of the day, much as I do now when I speak to Bob's then program producer, now host of his own evening 5AA talkback program, Andrew Reimer. I was generally on the opposite side of politics to Bob, yet he always made me feel welcome on his program. In his later years, Bob suffered some health setbacks, but he did not let that stop him. When he retired in 2013, aged 74, his absence from the evening radio talkback was widely felt, even by his detractors. It marked the end of an era.

To his wife, Anna, who was at home with Bob when he passed away; to his children, Mark and Bec; to all his family members; and to his radio colleagues: I extend my sincere condolences.