Colvin returned to Australia in 1983 and was initially a reporter on both "AM" and "PM", before agitating for the establishment of a midday news and current-affairs radio program. Colvin became the founding presenter of "The World Today" on ABC radio. The following year, Colvin went to Brussels as Europe correspondent, and covered the events across the continent as the Cold War began to thaw and the Gorbachev era started the process that would lead to the lifting of the Iron Curtain.