Rob Astbury
{{Short description|Australian radio & TV sports journalist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
Rob Astbury (1948 – 9 November 2017){{cite news|title=Gold Coast agent Rob Astbury dead at 69 - realestate.com.au|url=https://www.realestate.com.au/news/gold-coast-agent-rob-astbury-dead-at-69/|accessdate=12 November 2017|work=realestate.com.au|date=11 November 2017}} was an Australian radio and television sports journalist and real estate agent.
Biography
Astbury was born in Avoca, Victoria. During a media career spanning 21 years, he won ten VFL/AFL awards, two national Penguin Awards and was twice nominated for the Logie Awards for the Best News Story of the year.Gold Coast Ray White estate agent Rob Astbury dies leaving unpublished second book, Urban, 8 December 2020; [https://www.urban.com.au/news/gold-coast-ray-white-estate-agent-rob-astbury-dies-leaving-unpublished-second-book]Obituary: Rob Astbury, Television.Au, 11 November 2017;[https://televisionau.com/2017/11/obituary-rob-astbury.html] After an early career in Melbourne radio, Astbury made a successful jump to television—firstly for the Channel 0/10 network, then for the Nine Network, after accepting a personal job offer from owner Kerry Packer. During his television career, Astbury was Australia's highest-paid sports correspondent.
In 2005, Astbury revealed he was HIV positive,{{cite news|title=Astbury to set record straight|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/TV--Radio/Astbury-to-set-record-straight/2005/06/09/1118123933371.html|accessdate=12 November 2017|work=www.theage.com.au|date=9 June 2005|language=en}} although medical tests showed he was a rare long-term nonprogressor (or "elite controller"), whose body can suppress the virus for a long period without antiretroviral drugs.{{cite news|title=TV legend's gay lover in HIV vaccine study|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/tv-legends-gay-lover-in-hiv-vaccine-study/2007/06/09/1181089387403.html|accessdate=12 November 2017|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=10 June 2007|language=en}} In 2006, celebrity agent Anthony Zammit published King and I: My Life With Graham Kennedy, a biography that detailed Astbury's relationship with entertainer Graham Kennedy.{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/books/graham-kennedy-launch-desends-into-chaos/2006/10/26/1161749236906.html|title=Kennedy book launch descends into chaos|work=The Age|date=26 October 2006 |accessdate=28 June 2015}}
After retiring from television, Astbury worked as a real estate agent at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast, Queensland, between 1995 and 2000. For the next decade, he ran a property development company in Thailand. During the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami while Astbury was holidaying in Phuket, he reported on the devastation for the political website Crikey.{{cite news|title=Rob Astbury's frontline tsunami account|url=https://www.crikey.com.au/2004/12/30/rob-astburys-frontline-tsunami-account/|accessdate=12 November 2017|work=Crikey|date=30 December 2004}} Returning to the Gold Coast in 2010, Astbury worked with the Ray White Real Estate agency in Broadbeach. On 9 November 2017, a colleague found him dead in his home after he did not turn up to work and could not be contacted.
Astbury left a second biography unpublished.Gold Coast Ray White estate agent Rob Astbury dies leaving unpublished second book, Urban, 8 December 2020; [https://www.urban.com.au/news/gold-coast-ray-white-estate-agent-rob-astbury-dies-leaving-unpublished-second-book]
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20170204140629/http://robastbury.com.au/}}
- YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/user/astburyrob]
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Category:Australian sports journalists
Category:Australian television presenters
Category:Australian LGBTQ journalists