The Australian’s finest journalists nominated for Walkley Awards

The Australian’s groundbreaking journalism has again been recognised by the Walkley Foundation, with several nominations across the most prestigious award categories.

The team behind hit podcast Shandee’s Story, and accompanying news stories, have been recognised. Picture: Glenn Hunt

The Australian’s groundbreaking journalism has again been recognised by the Walkley Foundation, with several award nominations across the most prestigious award categories.

The national masthead’s former Gold Walkley winner Hedley Thomas, along with David Murray, Isaac Irons and Slade Gibson, have been nominated for the Investigative Journalism award for their work on hit podcast Shandee’s Story, and accompanying news stories.

The reporters’ pursuit of the cold case death of Shandee Blackburn, who died in 2013, prompted the Queensland government to establish a royal commission-style hearing into the state’s forensic testing and the wider implications for Queensland’s criminal justice system.

The Australian’s senior political reporters Simon Benson and Geoff Chambers have been nominated for the Scoop of the Year award for their exclusive story on Scott Morrison’s “Ministry of Secrets”.

Benson and Chambers, along with news.com.au’s Samantha Maiden, revealed in August that the former prime minister had assigned several ministerial portfolios to himself during the pandemic — a controversial move which Mr Morrison kept hidden from almost all of the then PM’s cabinet colleagues.

Geoff Chambers at Parliament House in Canberra.

Greg Bearup, who writes for The Weekend Australian Magazine, and sports reporter Will Swanton, have both been nominated for the Feature Writing (under 4000 words) award.

Bearup has been recognised for his story titled “The Parish Uprising”, which told the story of how a bishop’s hardline views on gays triggered a community revolt in defence of a local church organist in northern NSW, and his retired public servant husband.

Swanton is nominated for his feature piece, “The Babushka Smuggle”, which chronicled one Sydney woman’s desperate attempt to rescue her terrified 91-year-old grandmother from Kyiv earlier this year, as Russian forces encroached on the Ukrainian capital.

Senior journalists at The Australian, Nick Evans and John Stensholt, have been nominated for a Walkley Award in the Business Journalism category, for their investigation, “Twiggy’s Green Dream”, which revealed how tycoon Andrew Forrest had enlisted some of the biggest names in politics, business, science and security to turbocharge his green hydrogen aspirations.

The Weekend Australian Magazine’s columnist Nikki Gemmell has been recognised in the Commentary, Analysis, Opinion and Critique category, for a series of thought-provoking pieces canvassing various political and social issues.

News producer Simon Firth is nominated in the Headline, Caption or Hook category, for the following headlines: “Hits and Mrs: An Oscars like no other” for The Australian’s front page story on Will Smith’s onstage attack on Chris Rock at this year’s Academy Awards; “Pharma wants a knife” for a story about Mayne Pharmaceuticals cutting some fresh deals; and “Packer’s Act 3: Easy lies the head that no longer wears Crown”, which accompanied an exclusive interview with James Packer after he sold out of Crown.

Shona Martyn, CEO of the Walkley Foundation, said of the finalists’ journalism: “This is work that makes a difference, that creates change, holds the powerful to account and holds a mirror up to our nation and its culture and our world.

“The 2022 finalists exemplify the best of Australian journalism from writers, photographers, cartoonists, production teams and documentary makers.”

The winners will be announced on November 17.