He offered his views when anchorman Mark Tronson asked him to recall three of his most interesting interviewing experiences.
John Cleary noted that Anthony Wedgwood Benn, now 84, was fascinating. He learnt the hymn on his father's knee, "Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone" and has written a book of the same title. He referred to Rupert Murdock the 'most dangerous man in Britain'.
Benn's defence of civil liberties was as determined and fearless (his speech against wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill's censorship was historic) as was his stand on moral integrity.
"Anthony Wedgwood Benn was the straightest man I'd ever met," mused John Clearly with some significant degree of admiration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Benn
The other two most memorable experiences were associated with his visit to South Africa at the transition period from Apartheid to national government in a very unsettled environment.
The day he arrived, 20 people were killed in the village of Setakin and for two days he travelled with South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu as he ministered to the grieving village populations. He was there when Nelson Mandela, a lawyer himself who had recently become a free man after 27 years in prison, addressed the black lawyers of South Africa for the very first occasion.
Then, four days after Cleary had visited him, pro-democracy leader, the white South African Yohan Haines, was murdered with a shot fired through his magnificent front glass windows that looked out onto his beautiful gardens. John Cleary noted Haines left a lasting impression upon him and referred to him as 'a very brave man'.
John Cleary was raised in a non church-going Melbourne family in Carlton. His father was a Catholic, his mother a bush Baptist and he went with the other neighbourhood kids to the Salvation Army where there were more interesting things set up to do. He's been with the 'Sallies' ever since.
The ABC's wheels grind slowly, he made his first application to join the ABC in 1978, he was interviewed in 1979 and got the job in Religious Affairs in 1980. Although his degree was in history and philosophy, what gave him the edge was his one unit course work with Professor Ronald Goldman who was known for his studies on 'Children and Religion'.
The other optional unit he chose was 'Media' with Jersey Terplits who later became the head of the newly established Australian Film and Television School.
John Cleary recognises that radio has an intimacy where 'a voice' becomes a good friend and that his voice in religious affairs has attained that resonance with many listeners.
Asked about Australia's freedoms, Cleary said he finds it very encouraging that our democracy is a shining example of allowing people from other cultures a free voice and by engaging in such freedom, we are illustrating a very different set of values from those in some other countries around the world.
John Cleary noted that as President Barak Obama has said, that the moment the West engages in torture, we are no better than 'them', and we have at that point nothing to offer.
This John Cleary live television on the Internet can be viewed at
tv.bushorchestra.com and www.safeworlds.net