Walkley Awards: AFR Takes Top Gong For PWC Scandal

Edmund Tadros and Neil Chenoweth and have won the Gold Walkley, Australian journalism’s highest honour, for ‘PwC Tax Leaks Scandal’ in The Australian Financial Review.

The judges said: “Clearly the most outstanding piece of journalism of the year. This is powerful, important, brave reporting that uncovered the infiltration of consultants into government. This work shows the power of journalism to hold corporations to account.”

The 68th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were presented in 30 categories, announced tonight in Sydney.

Jake Nowakowski was named the Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year for a varied and well-edited portfolio showing his range as a newspaper photographer for the Herald Sun. Antony Loewenstein won the Walkley Book Award for The Palestine Laboratory (Scribe Publications) and the Walkley Documentary Award went to The Dark Emu Story (Blackfella Films / ABC).

Eight women were honoured for their Outstanding Contribution to Journalism. This award is presented by the Walkley Foundation directors who decided in 2023 to redress a historic gender imbalance in the awarding of this honour that recognises the breadth of a journalist’s career. Geraldine Doogue AO, Karla Grant, Joanne McCarthy AM, Kate McClymont AM, Colleen Ryan, Marian Wilkinson, Pamela Williams and Caroline Wilson were honoured for their service to the craft at tonight’s gala.

In addition this year, the Walkley Judging Board unanimously decided to present Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie with a special prize, the Walkley Honour for Media Freedom to recognise their Ben Roberts-Smith stories published in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and on Nine/60 Minutes from 2018 to 2023. This recognition, the first of its kind, salutes a body of work, across six years, that has not strictly or neatly fitted into the parameters of the annual Walkley Awards.

As additional recognition for these two groundbreaking journalists, the Walkley Foundation has initiated the Masters-McKenzie Grant for Investigative Journalism aimed at giving opportunities to journalists who would like to follow in their footsteps. Details of this grant will be announced in early 2024.

The Walkley Foundation’s chief executive, Shona Martyn said: “The awards and honours presented tonight shine a spotlight on the strength of Australian journalism, from journalists working on the frontline today and from those who started their careers 40 years ago. The work that is honoured tonight is world class. Australian news consumers are well served by journalists of this calibre. Our news organisations should be rightly proud.

“Once again the quality of work submitted was of an extraordinarily high standard and all winners and finalists in the 68th Walkley Awards are to be heartily congratulated for their stories, cartoons, photographs, books and documentaries. Our partners and judges are also to be thanked for their support.”

The chair of the Walkley Judging Board, Michael Brissenden, said this year’s 1355 entries showed a positive response to changes instituted after the largest consultative review in Walkleys history.

“Two categories were retired, two new categories were established – an award for specialist reporting and one to acknowledge the growing popularity of and investment in explainer journalism – and one category, for international journalism, was brought back.”

Winners of the Walkley Awards were selected by the Walkley Judging Board in October, after first round peer-judging in September. The Walkley Book Award and the Walkley Documentary Award were judged separately by experts in those fields. You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.

The Walkley Foundation has a mechanism for dealing with any conflict of interest, actual or perceived, that may arise during the judging process. The guidelines are based on the principle that all actual conflicts of interest are to be avoided and that even a perceived conflict may be damaging to all parties. You can read more about the conflict guidelines here.

PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT

Paul Sakkal, The Age, ‘Daniel Andrews Under Direct Investigation in Operation Daintree’ (1,2,3）

FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)

Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age

Jeremy Story Carter, ABC News, ‘Kick in Hope’

FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)

Award Partner MEAA

Anna Verney and Richard Cooke, The Monthly, ‘Being John Hughes’

ALL MEDIA: COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE

Award Partner Thomson Geer Lawyers

John Lyons, ABC, ‘Body of Work’ (1,2,3)

ALL MEDIA: EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM

Rick Morton, The Saturday Paper, ‘The Robodebt Royal Commission’( 1, 2,3)

ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

Carrie Fellner, Katrina McGowan, Rhett Wyman and Mathew Cornwell, The Sydney Morning Herald, iKandy Films, ‘Paradise Poisoned’ (1,2,3)

ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS

Award Partner BHP

Daniel Clarke, Fox Docos, Binge, The Advertiser, ‘Lost in the Woods’ and ‘Island Lifesavers’

ALL MEDIA: CARTOON 

Award Partner Epson

Badiucao, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Badiucao’

ALL MEDIA: SPORTS JOURNALISM         

Award Partner University of Queensland

David Mark, ABC 7.30 and ABC News, ‘“After Almost 30 Years, These Women are Finally Seeing Justice”: The Investigation into Paedophile Rock Climbing Coach, Stephen Mitchell’

SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY

Quinn Rooney, Getty Images, ‘Beauty In Sport’

AUDIO SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)

Award Partner ABC

Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop, ABC Radio, AM, ‘Türkiye Earthquake Disaster’

AUDIO LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)

Award Partner MinterEllison

Dying Rose Team, The Advertiser, ‘Dying Rose’

DIGITAL MEDIA: INNOVATION JOURNALISM

Award Partner News Corp Australia

The Visual Stories Team, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘How to Lay a Perfect Offside Trap – and How to Break It’

ALL MEDIA: SCOOP OF THE YEAR

Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age

Josh Hanrahan and Mark Morri, The Daily Telegraph, ‘Cooma Taser Scandal’ ($)

ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
Award Partner Sky News Australia

The Australian Financial Review Team, The Australian Financial Review, ‘PwC Tax Leaks Scandal – AFR Coverage’(1,2,3,4,5,6)

NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY

Ian Munro, The West Australian, ‘Banksia Hill Riot’

ALL MEDIA: SPECIALIST AND BEAT REPORTING

Rick Morton, The Saturday Paper and 7am, ‘The Robodebt Royal Commission’ (1,2,3)

ALL MEDIA: BUSINESS JOURNALISM

Award Partner ING Australia

Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros, The Australian Financial Review, ‘PwC Tax Leaks Scandal’ (1,2,3)

FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

Award Partner Canva

Justin McManus, The Sunday Age and The Age Online, ‘Leaving the Land of Plenty’

TELEVISION/VIDEO: CAMERAWORK       

Matt Davis, ABC, Foreign Correspondent and ABC News, ‘Surviving in Somalia’ and ‘Canada on Fire’ (1,2,3)

TELEVISION/VIDEO: NEWS REPORTING
Award Partner Seven

Ben Lewis and Colin Cosier, SBS World News, ‘Ukraine: One Year On’

TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)

Award Partner SBS

Gavin Blyth, Michelle Elias, Jennifer Luu and Jodie Noyce, SBS, The Feed, ‘Uncovering Incels’ (1,2)

TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)

Award Partner TEN News First

Nick McKenzie, Amelia Ballinger and Joel Tozer, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘Trafficked’

ALL MEDIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM

Award Partner Sydney Airport

Marty Smiley and Leah Donovan, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, ‘Inside Iran: The Fight Continues’ (1,2)

ALL MEDIA: INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

Award Partner The Guardian

Edmund Tadros and Neil Chenoweth, The Australian Financial Review, ‘PwC Tax Leaks Scandal’（1,2,3）

LONGFORM JOURNALISM: DOCUMENTARY AWARD

The Dark Emu Story, Darren Dale, Belinda Mravicic, Jacob Hickey and Allan Clarke, Blackfella Films / ABC

LONGFORM JOURNALISM: WALKLEY BOOK AWARD

Award Partner Banki Haddock Fiora

Antony Loewenstein, The Palestine Laboratory, Scribe Publications

NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 

Award Partner Nikon 

Jake Nowakowski, Herald Sun, Sunday Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph, ‘Jake Nowakowski’

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM

Geraldine Doogue AO, Karla Grant, Joanne McCarthy AM, Kate McClymont AM, Colleen Ryan, Marian Wilkinson, Pamela Williams and Caroline Wilson

WALKLEY HONOUR FOR MEDIA FREEDOM

Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Nine/60 Minutes

2023 GOLD WALKLEY

Edmund Tadros and Neil Chenoweth, The Australian Financial Review, ‘PwC Tax Leaks Scandal’

The Walkley Judging Board:

• Chair: Michael Brissenden, senior independent journalist
• Deputy chair: Cameron Stewart, The Australian
• Sarah Abo, TODAY Minutes, Nine
• Neil Breen, 4BC Breakfast
• Suzanne Dredge, ABC
• Anton Enus, SBS World News
• Rashell Habib, Paramount
• Gabrielle Jackson, Guardian Australia
• Kate Kyriacou, The Courier-Mail
• Dean Lewins, AAP
• Hamish Macdonald, The Project, Network Ten
• Karen Middleton, The Saturday Paper
• Mark Riley, Seven News
• Donna Page, The Newcastle Herald
• Sarah-Jane Tasker, The West Australian
• Kathryn Wicks, The Sydney Morning Herald