Steve Austin

Career

He relocated to Townsville where he was a presenter for ABC North Queensland for seven years.

Upon Austin's return to the station's Mornings program, Queensland deputy premier Andrew Fraser refused to appear on the regular "Party Games" segment after taking umbrage at a discussion Austin had moderated about sand mining on Stradbroke Island.

During a panel discussion in 2015, Austin described terrorist Osama bin Laden as an “honoured and respected shiek” and claimed reports of pornography found in bin Laden's bunker were due to a “public relations smear”. The ABC defended Austin and said his comments were referencing bin Laden's reputation in his own community rather than it being a personal judgement. However, Austin's comments were criticised by Queensland senator James McGrath during a Senate Estimates hearing. As a result, Austin was moved to the station's Drive program. This was a move which was credited by Sydney broadcaster Ray Hadley as helping the ratings of The Ray Hadley Morning Show, heard in Brisbane on 4BC. Hadley described Austin as “a proven performer”. Screenshots of Austin's account were published, appearing to show that he had “liked” videos of transgender pornography. This prompted Austin to deactivate his profile and for the ABC to conduct an internal investigation.

Throughout his time hosting programs on ABC Radio Brisbane, Austin has interviewed every sitting Australian prime minister since the early 2000s including John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese.