On-air duo buckle up for big year on Goldie

Sunrise? Try getting up at 2.30am and putting on a brave face ... for radio ... to dish up news and commentary for Coast listeners to chew on over breakfast. For broadcast team Nicole and Tom, this is their new work day regime.

IT’S our Nicole and Tom, like you’ve never heard them before.

Forget Eyes Wide Shut, this is Ears Wide Open. “Well, I mean we are in a sexless relationship for the sake of the media,” laughs Tom … Forbes.

The veteran news reporter is now one half of ABC Gold Coast’s new Breakfast Show along with Nicole Dyer, who’s reset her alarm clock to begin broadcasting from 5.15am, moving up from the Mornings shift she’s hosted for 15 years.

It is the first time Aunty has granted a doubleheader hosting for the Gold Coast, another small sign that the city is maturing – whether in terms of transportation, sports teams or the media.

Of course, anyone who has ever visited the ABC offices at Mermaid Beach can clearly see that, in this case, our city is still the poor relative of big brother Brisbane.

With its one open-plan room, two studios and handful of employees, the station prides itself on doing a lot with a little. Visitors might be surprised when phone calls and doorbells are opened by on-air presenters, but there is literally no room for big egos.

But what they lack in corporate comforts, they make up for with oversize hearts.

As representatives and reporters for the Gold Coast, this Tom and Nicole are passionate about their city.

And it’s set to be a huge year.

“We have the Gold Coast City Council elections in March, state elections in October, plus the Tokyo Olympics … there’s going to be a lot to talk about,” says Nicole.

“The Gold Coast has changed dramatically in the 15 years I’ve been working here. When I think about the issues we’ve covered in that time, it really reflects that.

“The Mayor has been a dynamic and energetic leader but has a lot of critics too. It will be interesting to see if anyone can really put up a fight against him.”

Tom says political coverage is both more important and more contentious than ever.

He says as an ABC employee he has lost count of the number of discussions he has had with friends, family and the public about impartial reporting.

“It’s something that is really frustrating, I think for any member of the media. You work really hard to be as objective and fair as possible, but there will always be a segment of people who have assumptions of bias.

“The lengths we go to would surprise a lot of people. We have logbooks that note to a minute how much discussion time is given to each party. It’s something that a huge effort is put into.

“However, I think that being based on the Gold Coast you get a little more good grace than metro or national media do. When you’re focusing on the local level you tend to move beyond the big party politics. It’s more personal.”

In fact, getting personal is something Tom intends to do in this new role.

After marrying his long term partner Derek Cronin, the founder of Cronin Litigation Lawyers, in a service at Bond University 18 months ago, Tom says he is proud to establish his identity as a gay Gold Coast man.

“I used to really not want to talk about that side of my life,” says Tom, who met his husband more than 20 years ago while a student at Bond.

“I don’t think I was ashamed, I just felt that maybe it wasn’t my place to discuss that. But now I’m really proud and open to talk about being gay, and it’s something that’s not always talked about on the Coast.

“Even when I met Derek, he was leading a sort of double life. He was this straight Gold Coast lawyer by day but was hitting the Brisbane gay clubs at night. That’s where we met.

“Even when we moved in together, he didn’t tell his parents. We had a twobedroom unit in Broadbeach so that when his parents came to visit he could say that we were just roommates.

“I had already told my own family, which at the time was the toughest thing I had ever done. They were actually really great about it, but even to this day, coming out is hard for most people.

“Derek finally came out to his family and they were wonderful too.

“It’s not like I’m going to talk about being gay every day, but I do think it’s important to own it and talk about it when it’s relevant.

“The more that people can see and hear gay people, the more that we normalise it. Not that I’m particularly normal … but, oh well.”

So that explains why this particular Tom and Nicole coupling will remain sexless – not to mention that Nicole has her own partner, ABC Brisbane’s Michael Bausch, as well as a 10-year-old daughter.

And then there’s the fact that as of Monday, her alarm will be sounding at 2.30am each day.

“I’ve worked on the Gold Coast for 15 years but because my partner works in Brisbane, we live in Redland Bay. It’s a compromise and a commute for us both,” she says.

“But I love my job and I love this city. I don’t do it for the perks or the pay, there’s not a huge amount of either being the ABC, but I just love being a part of the conversation.

“I started my career in commercial radio, but I feel like this is my career home on the Coast.

“I think our office especially

‘You work really hard to be as objective and fair as possible’

‘I had to be painted in body chocolate and wear bunny ears’

has a great representation of women, which is very different from the atmosphere back in the 90s in commercial radio.

“I still have a photo of the day I ‘lost’ the Battle of the Sexes when I worked for Sea FM on the Sunshine Coast.

“I had to be painted in body chocolate, wear a bikini and bunny ears and hop around the streets of the Sunshine Coast.

“That was definitely not where I saw my place within the media industry.”

Tom admits his own path as a media professional was made easier by being male.

However, he took a long time to find that direction, first working as a jackaroo, a real estate agent, a Bobcat driver, a barman and a labourer, to name a few of his false-start careers.

“I was always interested in being a journalist, but when I finished school I knew I didn’t have the TE score to get into that uni course,” he says.

“I went to agricultural college for a couple of years, then I worked as a jackaroo.

“I sold real estate in

Gladstone – unsuccessfully. I worked as a barman in London. I did a bit of everything and anything.

“Finally I went cap in hand to Mum and Dad and they agreed to help me study journalism at Bond Uni.

“I was worried about finding a job after graduation but one of my teachers, (ABC reporter) Karen Berkman, told me not to worry. She said I was tall and I was male, I would get a job. And before I even finished I had a job in TV.

“I’ve been based on the Gold Coast for a long time now, working as a TV and radio reporter, but I always wanted to get involved in presenting.”

While 2020 looks set to be a big year politically, both Tom and Nicole admit there is rarely a quiet day on the Gold Coast.

From the opening of the light rail, to the Dreamworld tragedy, the fallout from the GFC and the city’s cultural renaissance, they say it is hard to choose the highlights – or lowlights – when it comes to newsworthy events.

“Being the ABC, we can never offer our listeners a big wad of cash prizes.

“I don’t think taxpayers would appreciate that,” says Nicole.

“But what we do try to do is to connect with them. Their city is our city. We care about the same things they care about and we want to not just talk but to listen.”

It is all about relationships. But listeners should not be alarmed. Like Tom and Nicole, both the Hollywood and Gold Coast versions, this relationship will remain sexless.