A broadcaster has hit out at “offensive” suggestions he manipulated his testimony to benefit his friend Alan Jones in his fight against indecent assault allegations.
Jones, the 85-year-old former ruler of Sydney’s airwaves, has pleaded guilty to 20 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching without consent against six men.
The criminal charges relate to alleged incidents between 2003 and 2023 at locations in Sydney and the NSW Southern Highlands.
Jones is alleged to have repeatedly kissed and groped a radio staffer without consent over five months when they worked together.
The radio staffer claims the former Wallabies coach sat next to him at a work event and placed his hand on the younger man’s upper thigh and groin for most of the meal.
But broadcaster Jason Morrison, who also attended the event, told Downing Centre Local Court he did not see Jones’s hand under the table or in the younger man’s lap.
"If I was aware of that ... I would have raised it," he testified on Tuesday.
"I didn't, because I didn't see that happen."
He also denied seeing the radio staffer looking uncomfortable during the event.
The broadcaster recalled witnessing Jones with his arm around the younger man, saying it had spurred a sarcastic joke among the attendees.
“Some people joked about how they looked like a great couple,” Morrison said.
The broadcaster insisted the remark had been “making light” of the radio staffer being stuck at the serious end of the table with Jones.
He rejected suggestions the comment had romantic or sexual connotations, maintaining it was “very different”.
“I think it’s a big step to say we genuinely thought they were (a couple),” the broadcaster said.
He denied that he had been deliberately evasive when answering questions about jokes made about Jones in the presence of the radio staffer.
Crown prosecutor Georgina Wright SC suggested he had tailored his testimony about light-hearted banter in order to assist Jones, his friend and associate.
“That’s offensive,” the broadcaster replied.
“I’m here under oath and I find that offensive.”
The former radio staffer’s allegations about Jones were first aired under a pseudonym in a 2023 article by Sydney Morning Herald journalist Kate McClymont.
The article sparked a police investigation that led to Jones’s arrest in November 2024.
Ms Wright suggested Morrison had "long held disdain" for McClymont, and he agreed he found her reporting on Jones to be “a bit average” because she had omitted an interview he gave her on the subject.
The broadcaster agreed he had spoken disparagingly about the journalist in private messages with Jones.
When asked if he had a "pejorative view” of the Sydney Morning Herald, Morrison replied: “I’ve had my experiences which have allowed me to form that view.”
But he maintained messages about McClymont and her employer - including descriptions of them as a “piece of work” and “pigs in media” - were only indicative of his feelings on a particular day.
Morrison rejected suggestions his texts showed he had a general view Jones had been unfairly targeted by their coverage.
Jones’s barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC argued during her opening address that McClymont and her colleague Peter FitzSimons had been hunting for a story about Jones before the allegations came to light.
She has accused the former radio staffer of rewriting his history with Jones and fabricating the allegations, which he denied.
Jones has denied all of the alleged indecent assaults, which are alleged to have occurred during the latter part of his 35-year broadcasting career, when he dominated Sydney’s airwaves.
He also broadcast to a national audience for years as a regular commentator on Nine’s Today show and a host of a political discussion show on Sky News.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
