The Australian’s Ben Packham awarded prestigious Lowy Institute Media Award
The Australian’s Ben Packham has been awarded the prestigious Lowy Institute Media Award for his peerless coverage of the nation’s security challenges and the defence industry.
The Australian’s Ben Packham has been awarded the prestigious Lowy Institute Media Award for his peerless coverage of the nation’s security challenges and the defence industry.
The foreign affairs and defence correspondent has broken many of the biggest stories in defence in the past year as the Albanese government grapples with the need to build towards an AUKUS future with a depleted military.
Among some of Packham’s major stories this year were revelations the departments of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs ignored mounting evidence of chronic brain injuries in soldiers as a result of blast pressure waves.
He uncovered Labor’s move to shelve plans to develop the $800m Ghost Bat drone as a lethal weapon and that Defence was looking at using trained eagles to attack unmanned enemy aircraft.
And he has consistently led on the backlash within the armed forces against Afghan war commanders over the alleged war crimes scandal.