Geoff Robinson, ever humble, describes his Queen’s Birthday honour as “fine, very nice”.
Robinson, long known as the voice of Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report, has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to public broadcasting.
He retired on April 1, after almost four decades at RNZ. The award is a reminder of what feels like a previous life for the 70-year-old.
“I’ve been enjoying retirement, learning to sleep in,” he said.
“It’s a bit like getting over jet lag. You’ve got to be patient and let your body sort it out.”
He had no opinion on the show’s new hosts, Susie Ferguson and Guyon Espiner, because he listens to the radio “very little”.
Instead, he’s been reading, doing a bit of work around home, and going to evening movies – something he couldn’t do midweek while working, thanks to 3.30am starts.
“Essentially, I’ve stopped.”
Travel is still on his horizon – he left this weekend for a two-week holiday overseas.
He said he didn’t have plans for celebrating the award, and didn’t believe it was his to celebrate, anyway.
“I’ve always said any success I’ve had has belonged to a lot of other people’s efforts as much as my own.
“In a sense this award is a recognition of that too. You don’t work on your own in the media, you work as part of a team. Hopefully that’s advice for others.”
After emigrating from Britain in 1970 he started with the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation in Dunedin.
He joined the Morning Report team in 1975 when the programme began. Apart from three years reading commercial news, was there until retirement.
The honour was a “nice recognition of a long career in the public service”, he said.
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– The Dominion Post
