Eoin Cameron

Eoin Harrap Cameron (4 January 1951 – 23 June 2016) was an Australian radio personality in Perth, Western Australia and member of the Australian House of Representatives. Until August 2015 he presented the ABC's Perth local station 720 ABC Perth breakfast show,[1] regularly receiving top ratings for the most popular breakfast radio show. In August 2015 he took extended leave while recovering from surgery as a result of a 2013 car accident.[2] In January 2016 he announced that he was retiring, but would return to the studio "temporarily ... to say a proper goodbye to listeners".[3] His last day at the ABC was 11 March.[4]

Eoin Cameron
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Stirling
In office
13 March 1993 – 3 October 1998
Preceded byRon Edwards
Succeeded byJann McFarlane
Personal details
Born
Eoin Harrap Cameron

(1951-01-04)4 January 1951
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Died23 June 2016(2016-06-23) (aged 65)
Albany, Western Australia
Political partyLiberal Party of Australia
ChildrenRyan Cameron, Jacinta Branson, Jane Gaspar
OccupationRadio announcer

Radio personality

Cameron started his first job in radio at age 18, at the Albany radio station 6VA in 1969. Following that he worked at many Perth radio stations including 1080 6IX, 94.5 and 6PR, as well as Melbourne station 3DB.[5] His last 14 years, until his retirement, were as breakfast presenter for 720 ABC Perth, where he consistently topped the ratings for that time slot.[4] He was described by colleague Geoff Hutchison as having a "delicious need to delight and offend in equal measure", and known for regularly ignoring political correctness.[6]

He made minor television appearances in The Grant and Cameron show and The Entertainers, both on Channel 9.[7]

Parliamentarian

In 1993, Cameron stood for the seat of Stirling in the federal election, winning the seat for the Liberal Party but immediately went into opposition with leader John Hewson losing the election. He held the seat in the 1996 election that brought John Howard to power, before losing to Labor's Jann McFarlane in the 1998 election.[7] Cameron supported Hewson who he referred to as Huey and reckoned Hewson would win the leadership spill he initiated that he ultimately lost to Alexander Downer in 1994.[8]

Writer

Cameron wrote a number of books including:

  • Rolling into The World – Memoirs of a Ratbag Child (2003) ISBN 978-1-920731-06-9
  • The Sixties – An Irreverent Guide (2004) ISBN 1-920731-52-0
  • The Voice of the Great South (2005) ISBN 1-920731-95-4

Personal life

Cameron was born in Mount Gambier, South Australia, the second of ten children.[9][10] He left school at 14[10] and did a variety of jobs including farm labourer and roustabout.[9][11] His family moved to Western Australia when he was 16.[10]

Cameron was married, and had three children.[7]

Cameron had bipolar disorder, which he believed to had been a cause of his sexual assault from his Headmaster at a Catholic boarding school.[10][12][13]

In 2013 he was involved in a car crash and suffered serious back injuries, requiring multiple operations over the next two years and two metal discs to help hold his spine and support his body weight. As a result of Eoin's ongoing health battles, He was forced into an early retirement from the ABC in 2016.[2][4]

On 23 June 2016, Eoin Cameron died following a heart attack in Albany, Western Australia. His death was announced on the ABC throughout the night.[14]

References
  1. "Eoin Cameron". 720 ABC biography. 2 July 2002. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  2. Linda Parri (15 November 2015). "Breakfast radio king Eoin Cameron may be forced to retire with back problems". PerthNow. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  3. "Eoin Cameron, ABC Radio breakfast king, to farewell listeners". PerthNow. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  4. "Eoin Cameron: ABC radio ends 47-year career for retirement and recovery". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  5. "Legendary radio broadcaster Eoin Cameron has died". The Australian. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  6. "Obituary: Perth ABC radio's Eoin Cameron loved entertaining". The Australian. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  7. "Arise King Cameron (copy of article which appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine on 29 February 2004)". ABC. Archived from the original on 3 January 2006. Retrieved 22 January 2006.
  8. 7.30 Report, 23 May 1994
  9. "Eoin Cameron". Fremantle Press. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  10. "Eoin Cameron discusses his dark past". Stateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 September 2009. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  11. "Eoin Cameron". Conversations with Richard Fidler. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  12. Amanda O'Brien (26 September 2009). "ABC host reveals rape by headmaster". The Australian. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  13. "ABC radio man Eoin Cameron tells of child rape". News Corp. 25 September 2009. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  14. "ABC broadcaster Eoin Cameron dies after suspected heart attack". ABC News. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
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