Geoff Hutchison puts his ABC Perth Drive shift into park

ABC Radio Perth’s Drive presenter, Geoff Hutchison, has told his listeners that this will be his last year behind the Drive show mic.

Geoff says he felt the time was right to step away from the show he has hosted for the past five years.

He says, “This is not retirement, it’s just time away – to talk a little less and think a little more. To travel and explore a world beyond the studio that has long been my home.”

Geoff joined the ABC in 1998 as a reporter on the 7.30 Report.  He then spent several years as the ABC’s Europe correspondent before returning to 7.30 Report in a senior reporting role.

An opportunity to fill in for ABC Radio Melbourne’s Jon Faine marked the start of a long and distinguished career in ABC Radio.  Geoff was the host of ABC Perth Mornings for more than a decade before spending another five years driving the Perth radio audience home.

Geoff says, “I’ve spent more than 40 years as a journalist and broadcaster and have had an incredibly fortunate time of it.  To be invited to tell people’s stories;  to contextualise the news and to be the conduit of important public conversations has been a privilege indeed.  I’ve also tried to make people laugh.”

ABC Radio Perth Manager, Sarah Knight says, “We love listening to Geoff on the radio but I respect his decision to call it when he feels the time is right for him.” 

“Since joining us in 2006, Geoff has been such a central and distinctive part of ABC Radio Perth. We – and our listeners – will miss him a great deal. We will all greatly miss his insight, his wisdom, his humour and his good company.

“Geoff will be a hard act to follow but we will now start looking for who might replace him in the Drive slot next year.  We’ll announce that decision later in the year.

In the meantime, Geoff will continue to do what he does best – entertain and inform his listeners at the end of each weekday.

The station plans to hold a fitting farewell for Geoff during his last broadcast on Tuesday 29 November.

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