A native of Ipswich, Joan was hired on at the ABC in Brisbane in her late teens. She was a voice on stations such as 4QR and 4QG. After her audition and a slight hiccup on the first day, she mastered her role at the Brisbane station. 

So much so, that her capability was evident to the Queensland Governor, The Rt Hon Sir Leslie Wilson, when he visited the station.

Joan said he peered down at her and said, “You in charge of all this? My word, that’s great of you to do that’,” Joan recalled.

It was a job that required incredible co-ordination, with stations across Australia picking up from one another in program relays, waiting for cues and music before they began their own announcements or programs. 

One afternoon, Joan had a slight mishap that caused national airwaves to pause. It was two days before her wedding to future husband Peter Hockey, and she said she had rushed back to the station after choosing her wedding shoes. On that day, her cues did not quite go to plan. 

“So for half a minute, you would play this glockenspiel music, and Sydney would be listening to me, and they’d be getting ready, and because I was late, I nearly had a fit,” Joan said.

She madly looked for the record as she gracefully made her announcement but it was too late. She failed to give her call signs to begin the relay to Sydney, then Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. The result was memorable.

“There was silence all over Australia for a full minute because I got back late and I was filling in and trying to find this glockenspiel music,” Joan chuckled. 

“The boss came in and said ‘Are you going to retire, or do you want to get the sack?”

Luckily, it was a storm in a teacup and Joan married and continued working at the ABC.

She said another amusing moment was when she was visiting with the ABC musical presenter and producer Robert Dally-Scarlett. Dally-Scarlett was on the sound board during a live performance of the ABC Philharmonia Wind Quartet. She asked that he tell her when they reached the last part so she could get to her studio in time for the relay.

“Dally said, ‘Oh, they’ve nearly finished!’ So off I went into another part of the building, but when I sat down, I just was out of breath.”

Joan the recalled what she said on air: “‘You’ve been listening to the Philharmonic ‘Awhhind’ Quartet,’” Joan said drawing out the ‘wind’ in big breath, and laughed with the memory. 

“Because I was out of breath!”

Her four children were able to hear their mother interviewed years after her time with the ABC, She was on a Newcastle ABC station for an anniversary program. Joan related her experiences, and then with great composure announced the time. 

“And when I said the time was eleven o’clock, the phone rang and it was my daughter. She said, ‘Oh mum, I listened in and it was so lovely.’”