Richard Morecroft, the veteran ABC news presenter known for his gentle manner and reassuring presence, has died aged 70 after a cancer diagnosis. He fronted nightly bulletins for nearly two decades, from 1983 to 2002, becoming a familiar and trusted figure in Australian lounge rooms.
A Gentle Man and Gentleman
Max Uechtritz, a former ABC news director, wrote that Morecroft brought heart, soul and empathy to the job, and took new reporters – and baby flying foxes – under his wing. He described Morecroft as the antithesis of Hunter S Thompson's denunciation of television as a "cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry".
Uechtritz recalled that Morecroft made the newsroom environment at Sydney's ABC Gore Hill beautiful, giving it heart, soul and empathy, and making it interesting, fun and inclusive. Newcomers, from nervous cadet reporters to production assistants and new co-hosts, would be taken aside for a warm welcome word over a hot cuppa. For a man at the top of the broadcast tree, hierarchy wasn't in Richard's vocabulary, at least not off air.
Career Highlights and Unique Talents
Before coming to national attention co-hosting The National with Geraldine Doogue, with chief reporters Max Walsh and Richard Carleton, Morecroft had fronted the ABC kids' program Behind the News. A famous photograph of the 1984 ABC federal election coverage from Canberra's national tally room features Morecroft alongside Barrie Cassidy, Chris Clark, Jenny Magrath and Dr Victor Prescott.
Morecroft was also unique in another way: he rescued and raised a baby flying fox, which he sometimes kept wrapped in a hanky next to his warm heart while reading the news. The experience prompted a book and TV production called Raising Archie. Archie had been found clinging to his mum after she'd been electrocuted on power lines. Morecroft became the foster dad, washing and feeding Archie, changing his diapers and taking him to the post office to weigh. He even helped teach Archie to fly before releasing him into the wilderness.
Legacy and Tributes
Former ABC sports presenter Peter Wilkins, who sat next to Morecroft for years, described him as self-effacing, the perfect person on set and unflappable. Morecroft's memoir, 20 Years from the Waist Up, was typical of his intellectual self-deprecating humour. He wrote of wearing board shorts, bare feet and underwear under the desk and turning the word "rank" into "wank" on air.
Morecroft cared deeply for the world and environment, writing at least seven books, including tomes for children on animals and nature. Among them is the illustrated Zoo Album, which he co-wrote with his wife, Alison Mackay. The prime minister called him beloved and a figure of absolute trust. Uechtritz noted that his own daughter, who was eight years old when the book was launched in 2003, is now a veterinary surgeon, a testament to the mark Morecroft left.
