Howard Sattler (23 February 1945 – 11 June 2021) [1] was an Australian talk back radio host.
Sattler began his career as a cadet journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald before performing national service during the Vietnam War, during which he completed officer training and moved to Perth in a public relations position with the Australian Department of Defence. [2] [3] From there he moved into broadcast radio, [4] [5] although he also was a newspaper editor and columnist. [3]
He was considered to have introduced the shock-jock style of radio to Perth. [6] Although well known in his state of Western Australia after a 30 year long career on radio, [7] he gained national notoriety in 2013 when he was fired from radio station 6PR over a controversial interview with former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, in which he asked her whether her partner Tim Mathieson was gay. [8] [3]
In 2018, Sattler was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame. [9]
In his later years he developed multiple health conditions, including throat cancer, [3] and was diagnosed with PSB Steele Richardson syndrome (from which he eventually died [10]), which so affected his speech that listeners would often call in thinking he was drunk. [10] He became a vocal advocate for voluntary euthanasia laws. [11] [3]