Ellen Whinnett

Ellen Whinnett is The Australian’s associate editor. She is a dual Walkley Award-winning journalist and best-selling author, with a specific interest in national security, investigations and features. She is a former political editor and foreign correspondent who has reported from more than 35 countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

@ellenwhinnett

Ellen Whinnett

Latest

EXCLUSIVENation

ISIS bride Zehra Duman with a group of people in a Syrian refugee campAustralian woman Zehra Duman (centre) with aid workers from the Free Burma Rangers in Syria.Supplied image

Rush to plug terror loophole

The Albanese government has acknowledged legislative flaws that would allow more than a dozen accused Islamic State terrorists to apply to have their Australian citizenship returned.

Ellen Whinnett

Medibank breachNation

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos JULY 27, 2021: Generic photo of Medibank in Bourke Street, Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Paul Jeffers

Cyber gang knows your medical history

Highly personal medical records have been stolen by the cyber ransomware gang that hacked Medibank’s customer database.

Ellen Whinnett, Sarah Ison and Jared Lynch

From western Sydney to SyriaNation

Yusuf Zahab, the Australian teenager who has reportedly been killed in Syria. Picture - Supplied

Tragic teen who won’t come home from warzone

What happened to Yusuf Zahab, the smiling boy from Sydney taken into Syria and a jail without charge, is a mystery and an international embarrassment.

Ellen Whinnett

ExclusiveNation

Audio spectrum voice neon sign concept, radio sound wave and disco music record volume signal. Futuristic 3d rendering illustration.

Political stack to hold power over secret bugs

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which is stacked with political appointees, will sign off on warrants to tap phones of politicians and spy chiefs, sparking calls for safeguards.

Ellen Whinnett and Rosie Lewis

InquirerInquirer

Victims of the Bali Bombing arrive at Darwin Airport to be transported to the Royal Darwin Hospital for medical treatment.

Forever changed by ‘loss of innocence’

The Bali response was a daunting experience for those Australians fulfilling roles for the victims, their families, and the ongoing counter-terrorism fight.

Ellen Whinnett

Politics

STRATHPINE, AUSTRALIA, NCA NewsWire, Tuesday 4th October 2022. Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton speaking to the media about interest rates, IS fighters and brides returning to Australia at Pine Rivers Park, Strathpine. Picture NewsWire / David Clark

Dutton has ‘grave concerns’ over IS brides

Peter Dutton has ‘grave concerns’ about the national security implications of the Albanese government’s plan to repatriate families left behind by Islamic State fighters in Syria.

Ellen Whinnett

exclusivePolitics

Secret terrorist rots away in Syria prison

An Australian Islamic State fighter unknown to the public has been revealed, 3½ years after he was secretly detained in a prison in northeast Syria.

Ellen Whinnett

ExclusiveNation

TOPSHOT - A Syrian woman fills a container with water at the Sahlah al-Banat camp in the countryside of Raqa, in northern Syria, on September 19, 2022. - The World Health Organization warned on September 14 of a "very high" risk of cholera spreading throughout Syria. The WHO said the latest cases were the first reported in the country since 2009, when 342 cases were confirmed in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor and the northern province of Raqa. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

IS brides will be detained on arrival from Syria

Women brought back from Islamic State camps will likely be detained immediately upon arrival in Australia.

Ellen Whinnett

ExclusiveNation

Australian women and children at al-Roj camp in northeastern Syria. The woman are (L-R) Mariam Dabboussy, Aminah Assaad, Nesrine Zahab (she has her back turned, tall one at the back), Shayma Assaad and Bessima Assaad (Bessima is in the black cap) Children are (L-R) Abdul Rahman (first left), son of Nesrine Zahab, Alaa & Umayr (third and fourth from left), sons of Shayma Assaad, and far right Mariam, daughter of Shayma Assaad.Picture: Ellen Whinnett / The Australian

Security fears won’t stop return of jihadi families

Cabinet’s national security committee will meet on Tuesday over the repatriation of Islamic State-linked families from Syria.

Ellen Whinnett

ISLAMIC STATENation

L-R Taha, Hamza, Bilal and Omar and their mother, Bassama Elbaf. Omar Elbaf and his brothers Taha, Hamza and Bilal told their parents they were going for a holiday in Thailand in November but later sent a text message to their sister on Tango saying they had arrived in Syria.

Sydney man fears he will die in a Syrian prison

A Sydney man who entered the Islamic State caliphate in Syria with his three brothers has told of his fear of dying in a foreign prison.

Ellen Whinnett

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/ellen-whinnett/page/17