Matt Laffan - Public Speaker, Sydney Australia

Matt and the Media

Matt has had considerable experience with the media. It first began in his hometown of Coffs Harbour where he grew up as a boy.

Matt belonged to the team that used to work at 2CHY FM, a youth community radio station which provided the local kids with the opportunity to get in front of a microphone and try their hand at radio work.

Matt also wrote for the local newspaper, The Coffs Harbour Advocate, between 1986 through to 1988 on behalf of the local rugby club as he presented the pre and post match reports.

Being someone particularly comfortable with communication therefore he was never one to say no to a media opportunity when it arose. So when the people of the ABC's Australian Story first approached him in 2001 as a possible subject he was more than pleased to work with their acclaimed producer Ben Cheshire to share his story.

The episode captured the imaginations of many and it proved to be one of the most popular stories ever shown on Australian Story. So much so that Matt was then part of a "where are they now" retrospective in 2004.

Since the first Australian Story episode Matt has appeared on a number of programs including Getaway in which he gave traveling tips to people with disabilities. This is something about which Matt is passionate:

Matt also enjoyed helping surprise his great mate Peter FitzSimons when This Is Your Life celebrated Peter's achievements in 2003. Matt thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the guest list which shared their insights into Peter's life on channel nine's iconic program.

This is Your Life

In 2004 Matt was interviewed by Andrew Denton on his celebrated program Enough Rope and it proved to be a highly popular segment. The ABC received a great deal of response from it as did Matt himself.

In his run for local politics Matt never failed to give the press a quip so he was favoured by the scribes as he always offered a line that coloured the page and gave life to a story. He is a strong performer on radio and has been interviewed by the major players from Alan Jones 2GB, Sally Loane 2BL, Ray Hadlee 2GB, and Steve Price 2UE and he has been involved in interviews with Quentin Dempster's Stateline and Sky News Mayoral Candidates Debate.

Matt has had various articles published in newspapers The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald as well as in the Tasmanian travel magazine 40 degrees and The Law Society Journal of New South Wales.

Enabled in Words - Book During November and December 2004 and 2005 Matt was engaged by the State Government to be one of the Ambassadors for International Day for People with Disabilities. As a consequence he was involved with promoting the day and its themes with the media.

In 2005 Matt also authored two articles published in well respected books. The first was in an American publication, Enabled in Words, which is an anthology of collected works drawn from International activists and writers championing the rights of people with disabilities. Matt was approached by the editor from the United States of America to contribute to the book which he did with an article entitled The Politics of Access. Matt was also asked by ABC Books to contribute a chapter to the first Australian Story: Behind The Scenes detailing his experience as a subject for this award winning program.

Australian Story - Book During 2005 and 2006 Matt has been interviewed both by the print and electronic media about his involvement with an organisation, CRABACO, that was opposed to a Westfield development in Sydney’s CBD retail precinct (see Matt and Politics). He has also appeared on television in 2006, including Channel Nine’s Today Show discussing issues related to people with disabilities.

Matt is well accustomed to working with television, radio and print media and thus is able to assist in any event that involves the media if required.