Melbourne Press Club will overhaul the Quill Awards after ‘woke’ complaints

The Melbourne Press Club has been forced to review its annual Quill Awards after concerns about ‘wokeness’ and the ‘hijacking’ of the event by lengthy speeches.

Collingwood Football Club board member Jodie Sizer. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The prestigious Melbourne Press Club will look to revamp its annual media awards after event organisers were criticised for succumbing to “wokeness” at last month’s ceremony.

Multiple sources from within the MPC have told The Australian that last month’s Quill Awards ceremony — held at Melbourne’s Crown casino — was problematic, and said an urgent rethink was needed to ensure the event remains on par with other journalism awards nights, such as the Walkleys and the Kennedys.

Many journalists complained that the night “dragged on”, there was too much focus on the issue of racism, and too many awards – more than 30 – were handed out.

More than 400 people – predominantly members of the media – attended. Several MPC board members confirmed to The Australian that at their monthly meeting following the awards night, the two central issues discussed were the lengthy Welcome to Country address, and the speech given by Collingwood Football Club board member Jodie Sizer, which ran nearly triple its allocated time.

The Press Club has 20 board members and multiple members, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said several speakers went well over scheduled time limits, resulting in many attendees tuning out or walking out into an adjacent room.

Monash University senior Indigenous research fellow Carolyn Briggs gave the Welcome to Country but her overall address went for nearly eight minutes, prompting some board members to voice their disapproval at the monthly meeting.

“The Welcome To Country should have taken two minutes, not a long time,” an insider said. “It was like saying grace but going on and on.”

Another board member said: “Next year, the Welcome to Country will be for two minutes and there will be a time sheet that will be stuck to.”

A third insider told The Australian: “The whole night was far too woke.”

The MPC came under fire last year for failing to be sufficiently diverse.

An open letter to the board was signed by more than 100 journalists, calling for the awards to commit to “greater diversity”.

Under new chief executive officer Cathy Bryson – appointed last year – the board set up a diversity subcommittee to ensure the club and the industry “incorporates cultural and gender equality initiatives in all its events and operations”.

At last month’s Quills, the MPC invited Collingwood’s Ms Sizer, a Djab Wurrung/Gunditjmara woman, to deliver a speech. It is understood she was told it should not go longer than five minutes but her address lasted 13 minutes.

Multiple sources within the MPC said the night needed to be overhauled to ensure all speakers deliver shorter, sharper addresses.

There was also surprise that Ms Bryson gave a speech on the night, which was not standard practice for the sitting CEO, one board member said.

MPC president Nick McKenzie, an investigative reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, said the Quill Awards was a “great success”, particularly the awarding of the Gold Quill to ABC journalist Russell Jackson for his story on the life and career of Aboriginal AFL player Robert Muir.

Ms Bryson, Dr Briggs and Ms Sizer were all contacted for comment but did not respond.

The MPC board will meet again this week.

Originally published as Melbourne Press Club will overhaul the Quill Awards after ‘woke’ complaints