He’s moving to town to head up the 2CC breakfast program from January 11 after the sudden resignation of long-time host Mark Parton.

Tim wants to talk with people rather than to them.

“I am so looking forward to hearing your stories, about your life, your kids, your jobs and private enterprises. I want to talk with the cabbies, our doctors, nurses and maybe the occasional politician,” he says.

Tim’s rich media career has seen him on every Australian TV network and a stint at 2GB, hosting his own show, as well as a nationally streamed overnight talk show on Sydney Radio 2UE 954 and across 45 networked stations, including 2CC.

Tim says he’s no stranger to Canberra and has many old school friends living here. He recalls his first meeting with former Chief Minister Kate Carnell when he was MC at the ACT real estate awards, which started a friendship that continued as they later served on the board of NRMA together.

“I have had 200 messages from friends since announcing the new job, saying ‘guess where I am living now?’ Many of my old schoolmates live here,” says Tim.

“As our PM Malcolm Turnbull says: ‘There’s no greater time to be living in Australia’, I say there’s no greater time to be an Australian living in Canberra!”

Tim describes his posting in Thailand as an extraordinary career move. For the past three years he has been a senior journalist for the Seven Network as well as hosting a radio program on Phuket’s Live 89.5 FM and “The ASEAN News Hour”.

He has broken more than a dozen exclusive stories for Seven in Thailand, including last year’s baby Gammy surrogacy controversy in which a Thai surrogate mother for an Australian couple, sought to raise money for her critically ill, Down syndrome surrogate son, Gammy, who had been left in her care by his parents.

Tim says he is most proud of breaking the global story that helped raise more than $250,000 for Gammy’s medical needs.

“It was all about the power and passion of telling a story about the plight of one little boy. It felt good journalistically to tell a story, but also to be able to help Gammy was the proudest moment of my career,” says Tim.

Does he think he’ll feel the cold during those early Canberra winter mornings, after three balmy years in the tropics? Tim assures “CityNews” that he doesn’t particularly feel the cold.

“Although there is nothing more freezing than the hot-air balloon ride I took over Lake Burley Griffin! It was an incredible experience,” he says.

Doting father of three daughters, Tim says he is looking forward to family skiing trips and enjoying the vibrant arts community that Canberra offers.

Inevitably, we touched on his time as the “Demtel man”, selling products on TV infomercials in the early 1990s, which led Tim to share his favourite story about meeting the now-Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, in 2001. Tim recalls Sir Peter coming up and bemoaning: “Have you any idea how much money you cost me? My wife Lynne bought everything you ever sold on Australian TV!”

2CC Breakfast with Tim Shaw starts on Monday, January 11.