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Journalist and former television presenter Jane Hansen dies after a battle with brain cancer

A revered journalist and pioneering war correspondent has died surrounded by her family after an 18-month battle with brain cancer.

Mother's Guilt: The Kathleen Folbigg Story

A revered journalist and war correspondent has died following a nearly two-year battle against an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Most recently a journalist with News Corp’s The Sunday Telegraph, Jane Hansen died surrounded by her loved ones on the Gold Coast about 11.40pm on Tuesday.

Ms Hansen was diagnosed with glioblastoma 18 months ago.

In a statement, Ms Hansen’s brother said the former journalist remained her humorous self until the end.

Ms Hansen passed away on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.
Ms Hansen passed away on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

“Jane passed away peacefully at approximately 11.40pm 6 August. Jane put up an amazing fight right till the end and never once complained, and never lost her sense of humour this whole time,” he wrote.

“We will be in touch soon regarding Jane’s funeral arrangements and yes there will be a wake to celebrate this fantastic woman!”

Her brother thanked family and friends for their “extraordinary level of support, love and compassion,” over the past 18 months.

Claire Harvey, now editorial director of The Australian, formerly deputy editor of The Sunday Telegraph, described Ms Hansen as “the most passionate journalistic crusader” she has ever known.

“She swore a lot. She got outraged a lot. And she laughed a lot – and made me laugh – every time we spoke,” she said.

“A decade ago Jane and I worked together on No Jab, No Play, The Sunday Telegraph’s campaign to lift childhood vaccination rates. We changed the law in every state and territory and the Commonwealth, to ensure millions more children got lifesaving childhood vaccinations against whooping cough, polio, measles and other preventable diseases.”

Ms Hansen was a revered journalist and television reporter.
Ms Hansen was a revered journalist and television reporter.

Ms Harvey said the change would not have occurred without Ms Hansen’s “compassion and courage”.

Ms Hansen was the anonymous author of 2008 novel, “Boned” which “blew the lid off the blokey culture of commercial television”.

In a 2017 article revealing herself and Fiona McKenzie as the co-writers, Ms Hansen said she felt like she needed to “take a stand against” the “despicable behaviour of the men in charge”.

“I would not go to pieces if someone pulled their penis out in front of me in the board room (it happened),” she wrote.

“I’ve slept on the floor in the bombed-out “sniper side” at the Holiday Inn, Sarajevo, in the middle of the Bosnian war, bribed murderous Iraqi officials to extend my visa in Baghdad, slept rough without a shower for over a week in the Iraqi desert to be the first to track down Australian troops during the war on terror (only to be asked in a live cross where I was washing my knickers).

Ms Hansen said after all she had done, defending her position as a seasoned journalist in commercial television was “exhausting and depressing”.

Ms Hansen was the 2008 co-author of “Boned”.
Ms Hansen was the 2008 co-author of “Boned”.

Ms Hansen’s last piece of major journalism with News Corp Australia was the 2023 podcast, Mother’s Guilt, which investigated the miscarriage of justice experienced by Kathleen Folbigg, who was convicted of murdering her children and later cleared.

It was Ms Hansen’s own personal tragedy of losing her baby that would “fire” her up about Ms Folbigg’s story.

“One of the damning pieces of evidence against Kathleen Folbigg at trial was her own diary, in which she vented her guilt and shame over the deaths of her children,” Ms Harvey said.

“Jane knew, from her own experience, that bereaved mothers blame themselves.

“In Mother’s Guilt, Jane courageously told her own story of losing baby Jackson two decades earlier – and reflected on the self-blame and trauma she expressed in her own diary at the time.”

Ms Hansen lived to see Ms Folbigg walk free from jail and acquitted of killing her children.

Ms Harvey described Ms Hansen as a “fiercely loving, protective and joyous mother to her beloved son Sam”, who was her first thought when she first diagnosed with cancer.

“She got to see Sam finish school, and he was by her side when she passed away, surrounded by her loving family and friends, this week,” she said.

“I feel so lucky to have known Jane, and proud that here at News Corp Australia we published her work with the pride and prominence it deserved.”

Originally published as Journalist and former television presenter Jane Hansen dies after a battle with brain cancer

Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/television/journalist-and-former-television-presenter-jane-hansen-dies-after-a-battle-with-brain-cancer/news-story/f6074a90c91a92da115567be840b4df8