Tom Parry becomes the latest newsreader to join Southern Cross Austereo

Triple M and Hit FM in Bendigo, Mildura and Mt Gambier listeners can hear his news bulletins.

Tom was raised in Bendigo and his appointment brings him full circle.

“My work at the Bendigo Library put me on the path to radio,” he said.

One night, he decided to give the public announcements a go and a customer commented that he had a voice for radio.

Soon, he became the go-to person for announcements.

“On reflection, this gave me the courage to enter the industry,” he said.

Tom was a welcome addition to the team when I produced my program.

We soon developed a rhythm of banter and good-natured teasing.

“So Tom,” I gushed enthusiastically. “I’ve just seen Joaquin Phoenix in Joker. Mate, What a performance.”

“To be perfectly honest, Geoffrey, I found it derivative,” he responded

There was a moment of stunned silence while I typed “define derivative” into the search engine.

“Are you saying the movie lacked originality and that it did not bring a fresh perspective to the performance?” I asked.

“To be perfectly honest, I still think Heath Ledger is the best Joker to date,” Tom concluded.

Over the years, we refined our act.

Tom was the sensible, educated youth voice, while I was everything wrong with the Baby Boomer generation.

One night, our conversation took us to Mystery Road and Judy Davis’ role as a career police officer.

“She is too thin to play a tough cop,” I suggested.

“I’m thinking of doing a fundraiser to buy her a Subway sandwich, a foot-long.”

Tom’s voice went up an octave.

“I don’t think we should be in the business of body-shaming people, Geoffrey.”

Tom honed his skills on SYN Radio.

He joined the community station in November 2017.

By the time he left, he had occupied numerous roles — presenter, producer, executive producer, features co-ordinator and radio manager.

Tom’s appointment at Southern Cross Austereo represents a return to radio as it used to be.

There are a handful of people whose careers I follow with keen interest. Tom is one of them.

Talent is not unusual. Talent and a willingness to do the hard yards is.