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Alex Dyson

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Alex Dyson
Dyson pictured outside The Store in Deans Marsh in 2024
Born
Alexander Edward Dyson

(1988-06-22) 22 June 1988 (age 36)
Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
Political partyIndependent
Presenting career
StationTriple J
CountryAustralia

Alexander Edward Dyson (born 22 June 1988) is an Australian radio presenter who presented the breakfast show on Australian youth radio station Triple J from 2010 to 2016, alongside Tom Ballard and then with Matt Okine. He is also a small business owner and published author. He contested the seat of Wannon at the 2019 and 2022 federal elections.

Personal life

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Dyson was born to parents Ian and Helen Jean Dyson and grew up Warrnambool, Victoria. Dyson's mother died when he was four years old.[1] He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Creative Arts.[2][3]

Career

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Dyson began his radio career on Warrnambool community station 3WAY FM with Tom Ballard.[4] Dyson and Ballard began presenting mid-dawn shifts for Australian youth radio station, Triple J in 2007 after program director, Chris Scaddan, saw Ballard perform stand-up comedy at Raw Comedy. They made their transition to weekend radio in late 2008, taking over from Sam Simmons.

On 23 November 2009, Triple J announced that Ballard and Dyson would take over as hosts of the breakfast show in 2010, replacing Robbie Buck, Marieke Hardy and Lindsay McDougall.[5] Matt Okine joined Dyson as co-host in January 2014 when Ballard left Triple J. During this period his audience of up to one million people heard Dyson interview a wide range of people including many up-and-coming Australian musicians, politicians such as Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and worldwide celebrities including Arnold Schwarzenegger.[6] In 2013 Dyson and Okine won the Aria award for Best Comedy Release with an album of extracts from their radio show called The Bits we’re least ashamed of.[7]

On 21 November 2016, Triple J announced that Okine and Dyson would be leaving Triple J at the end of 2016.[8] Dyson returned to Triple J as a temporary Lunch (Weekdays 12 - 3pm) host in 2018, while regular host Gen Fricker filled in for Veronica Milsom on Drive.

In 2019, Dyson announced he was running in the seat of Wannon for the 2019 Australian federal election.[9] His campaign was brief but featured an unusual video where he presented his key policies via interpretive dance. The video received extensive media coverage both within Australia[10] and internationally.[11] Despite the limited campaign, Dyson secured 10.3% of the vote,[12] despite the seat being classified as a safe Coalition seat since the 1970s.

In 2020, just at the beginning of the global COVID pandemic, Dyson opened a live comedy venue Comedy Republic.

Dyson is the author of two books, a young adult fiction novel When it Drops released in 2020, and a kids book Eric the Awkward Orc released in 2022. When it Drops was awarded on the 2021 “Notable” list by the Children’s Book Council of Australia.[13]

Dyson announced his candidacy for Wannon at the 2022 federal election on 7 January 2022,[14] running on a platform of action on climate change, integrity and respect in Parliament, and investing in the regional economy.[15] His candidacy was supported by Voices of Wannon,[16] one of a substantial number of grassroots community groups supporting independent candidates across Australia at the 2022 election.[17] Dyson ended up narrowly losing to Dan Tehan, securing 19.29% of the votes in the first preference count, and 46.08% of the votes in the two candidate preferred count.[18]

In August 2024 Dyson announced his intention to contest the seat of Wannon as an independent[19] in the next Australian federal election.

Discography

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Albums

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List of albums
Title Album details
The Bits We're Least Ashamed of (with Tom Ballard)
  • Released: April 2013
  • Label: ABC, UMA (3713506)
  • Formats: CD, download
Play It Out (with Matt Okine)
  • Released: 2016
  • Label: ABC
  • Formats: CD, download

Awards and nominations

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ARIA Music Awards

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The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2013 The Bits We're Least Ashamed of (with Tom Ballard) Best Comedy Release Won [20]
2016 Play It Out (with Matt Okine) Nominated

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dyson, Alex (7 May 2015). "Remembering our mums for Mother's Day". Triple J blog. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  2. ^ Dyson, Alex (14 November 2009). "The Alex Dyson Gallery". Triple J blog. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  3. ^ "15th Annual Communitas Charity Gala Evening" (PDF). University of Melbourne. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  4. ^ Taylor, Belle (6 January 2010). "Changing of the guard". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ^ Lallo, Michael (7 January 2010). "Talking things up in 2010". The Age. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Alex Dyson". The Wheeler Centre. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  7. ^ "2013 ARIA Awards Winners". www.aria.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  8. ^ "triple j Farewells Breakfast Hosts Matt and Alex". Triple J. 21 November 2016. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  9. ^ "No Joke - Alex Dyson Is Running in the Upcoming Federal Election". The Music. 24 April 2019. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Triple J's Alex Dyson explains interpretative dance election video". www.nine.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Australian politician uses interpretive dance to swing voters in his favor". WGNO. 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  12. ^ "House of Representatives division information". Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  13. ^ "CBCA". cbca.org.au. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Voices of Wannon choose Alex". The Ararat Advocate. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Priorities". Dyson 4 Wannon. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Independent candidate". Voices of Wannon. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  17. ^ "'Voices of' independents competitive in three Liberal seats". Australian Financial Review. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  18. ^ "House of Representatives division information: Wannon, 2022". Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Dyson to run again". Coast FM. Archived from the original on 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  20. ^ "ARIA Awards Best Comedy Release". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
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