Richard Morecroft

Richard Morecroft
Morecroft in 1986
Born(1956-01-20)20 January 1956
Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England
Died6 October 2026(2026-10-06) (aged 70)
New South Wales, Australia
Occupations
  • Radio announcer
  • television newsreader
  • host
Years active1981–2026
Known forHost of Behind the News; ABC News NSW bulletin; Letters and Numbers

Richard Morecroft (20 January 1956 – 6 October 2026) was an Australian radio announcer, television newsreader and presenter, and conservationist. He presented the ABC News SA bulletin, before becoming the long-running host of the nightly bulletin of ABC News NSW from 1983 until 2002. Between 2010 and 2012, he hosted the quiz show Letters and Numbers.

Life and career

Morecroft was born on 20 January 1956 in Market Harborough in the English Midlands. His father Peter, a dentist, and mother Phyll moved the family to Adelaide in 1966 for the benefit of his brother Andrew's respiratory problems.

Morecroft introducing an ABC news report on Lindy Chamberlain in 1986

Morecroft studied English and Drama at the University of Adelaide with thoughts of becoming an actor or teacher. He became involved in the university radio station and auditioned for the ABC before completing his degree. He was hired as a radio announcer and later transferred to work in television, hosting the 7 pm Adelaide bulletin for a couple of years before being approached to replace James Dibble who had presented the bulletin since it began in 1956.

He moved to Sydney in 1982 and took over the ABC News NSW bulletin in July 1983, as well as presenting Behind the News. In 1985, he and Geraldine Doogue co-hosted The National, the ABC's short-lived experiment with an hour-long nightly news service, combining news and current affairs, with Max Walsh and Richard Carleton as chief reporters. Also during his time with the ABC, Morecroft participated with the ABC's Natural History Unit in the production of Raising Archie, about a flying fox which he raised and used to keep under the news desk while at work. Morecroft presented the ABC News NSW bulletin until 2002, and also hosted election-night broadcasts and educational programs. He would always sign off by saying "And that's the news to this minute."

Morecroft became such a widely recognizable Australian newscaster that he appeared as the newscaster in many Australian movies and television shows during and after his career, including: Police Rescue (1991–1996), The Roly Poly Man (1993), Wildside (1997–1998) and Red Hill (2010).

He left the ABC in 2002, being replaced by Tony Eastley, and underwent a sea change, moving to a property near Jervis Bay with his partner, artist Alison Mackay. He said he was not retiring, but wanted to work in a different way.

Morecroft returned to the ABC to host Richard Morecroft Goes Wild in 2002, drawing on his passion for environmental issues.

In 2010, it was announced that he would host Letters and Numbers on SBS Television, an Australian version of the French game show Des chiffres et des lettres, on which the British game show Countdown is based. The first program aired on 2 August 2010. Morecroft was joined by crossword compiler David Astle and mathematician Lily Serna.

He was diagnosed with cancer in early 2026, and died on the South Coast of New South Wales on 6 October 2026, at the age of 70, using voluntary assisted dying.

Environmental activities

Morecroft was a governor of the Taronga Foundation and a director of the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales. He was a trustee of the World Wide Fund for Nature and a patron of WIRES.

Publications

His book 20 Years from the Waist Up was published in 2002.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Corporate Biography". richardmorecroft.com. Richard Morecroft. Retrieved 29 July 2010. [dead link]
  2. ↑ "Tributes flow as former ABC news presenter Richard Morecroft dies aged 70" Archived 12 October 2026 at the Wayback Machine, The Senior, 7 October 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Paul Connolly (29 August 2010). "Richard Morecroft". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  4. ↑ Hosts: Richard Morecroft, David Astle and Lily Serna (3 March 2011). "Letters and Numbers: 381232". Letters and Numbers. Season 2. Episode 154. 00:24:00–00:24:30 minutes in. SBS. This was when I was a child growing up in England.
  5. ↑ "1956". Key Stories. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 "Richard Morecroft". Radio National Breakfast. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 17 January 2002. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  7. 1 2 "About". Richard Morecroft Goes Wild. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2003. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  8. ↑ Costello, Orlaith (7 October 2026). "'A calm and kind presence': The Weekly and others remember Richard Morecroft". The Australian Women's Weekly. Archived from the original on 10 October 2026. Retrieved 10 October 2026. 'As a fellow Adelaidean, he inspired the budding journalist in me and as a newsreader he was a calm and authoritative presenter, and I knew when I heard his sign-off, "and that's the news to this minute", that I was up to date with the world,' said editor of The Australian Women's Weekly, Sophie Tedmanson.
  9. ↑ Knox, David (7 October 2026). "Vale: Richard Morecroft". TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 10 October 2026. Retrieved 10 October 2026. Morecroft even appeared as a news reporter in Police Rescue, The Roly Poly Man, Wildside and Red Hill.
  10. ↑ "Tony Eastley". AM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  11. ↑ Belinda Tromp (9 July 2007). "Coast and Country – Richard Morecroft". Bush Telegraph. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Meet the Hosts: Richard Morecroft". Letters and Numbers website. Special Broadcasting Service. 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  13. ↑ Sacha Molitorisz (2 August 2010). "Boot camp for the brain". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  14. ↑ "Archive". Richard Morecroft Goes Wild. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2003. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  15. ↑ David Knox (13 June 2010). "Richard Morecroft to host Letters and Numbers". hadnews.com. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  16. ↑ "Letters and Numbers". sbs.com.au. Special Broadcasting Service. 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2010. [dead link]
  17. 1 2 "About The Show". Letters and Numbers website. Special Broadcasting Service. 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  18. ↑ "Former ABC newsreader Richard Morecroft dies aged 70". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 October 2026. Archived from the original on 6 October 2026. Retrieved 6 October 2026.
  19. ↑ "'Voice of the news': Tributes continue for former SBS host Richard Morecroft". SBS News. 7 October 2026. Archived from the original on 12 October 2026. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
  20. ↑ 20 years from the waist up : tales of a TV news anchor / Richard Morecroft (Catalogue). National Library of Australia. 27 August 2023. ISBN 9780732275105. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2010.