Radio veteran Alan Jones arrested over sexual touching
ALAN JONES’ BROADCAST AND COACHING CAREER
* Alan Jones is best known for a lengthy, headline-grabbing radio career, having dominated Sydney ratings on talkback station 2GB
* Throughout his high-profile broadcast tenure, Jones was known as a feared interviewer capable of grilling prime ministers and other powerful political figures
* Jones was a successful rugby coach in the 1980s, leading Australia to a breakthrough Bledisloe Cup win in New Zealand in 1986
* He had less success coaching rugby league’s Balmain Tigers, recording just 24 wins in 66 games in the 1990s
* Jones was involved in a number of controversies through his radio career, including when he said former prime minister Julia Gillard’s father “died of shame”, resulting in a number of major advertisers pulling their sponsorships
* He quit 2GB in 2020, shortly after another scandal when he encouraged then-prime minister Scott Morrison to “shove a sock down the throat” of New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern, while also telling him to give her “a few backhanders”
* The conservative host has has not been on the airwaves since allegations of indecent assaults and sexual touching emerged, having most recently broadcast on digital platform ADH TV
ALLEGATIONS AND ARREST
* Jones was arrested at his Sydney harbour-view apartment on Monday morning
* Police said they had been investigating the 83-year-old since March relating to allegations of indecent assaults and sexual touching incidents between 2001 and 2019
* Jones previously denied the allegations through his lawyer, who called the accusations “offensive and seriously defamatory”
* The allegations, first published by the Nine newspapers, included the broadcaster using positions of power to prey on young men
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