Two Guardian Australia journalists have won the Grant Hattam Quill award for excellence in Indigenous affairs reporting at the Melbourne Press Club awards.
Nino Bucci and Blake Sharp-Wiggins won the coveted award for their investigation into pedestrian deaths in the Northern Territory.
The investigation was picked for bringing to the reader’s attention the “stark details” of the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in Northern Territory pedestrian deaths.
Judges described the article, Lethal highways, as presenting a balanced use of statistical evidence, research findings and interviews that resulted in a feature that “demonstrates clearly a commitment on the part of the pair to deliver a comprehensive narrative without injecting editorial bias”.
“Importantly for this particular category, Nino and Blake clearly seem to have addressed a sensitive and contentious topic with due respect to all parties involved,” judges wrote.
Guardian staff were also highly commended in two other categories.
The 29th Golden Quill award went to John Ferguson of the Australian for his exclusive story about the fatal Leongatha mushroom lunch in regional Victoria.
Judges praised Ferguson’s scoop, which was followed up with other exclusives, including an interview with the now-charged woman who hosted the lunch, for setting the agenda for a story which “engaged Australians and the world”.
“This was a good old-fashioned scoop in one of the most competitive beats in this town, where nothing stays secret for long,” judges wrote.
The report of the lunch where three people died also won the scoop of the year.
The ABC News Victoria team won best breaking news or live coverage for breaking the news of the premier Daniel Andrews’ resignation, while the news reporting in writing award went to Aneeka Simonis of the Herald Sun for her coverage of family violence survivors.
The 2023 Graham Perkin Australian journalist of the year award went to Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros of the Australian Financial Review for their coverage of the PwC tax leaks scandal.
Judges said in a story that dominated the news cycle last year, the duo’s revelations led to the “break-up of the accounting giant, the departure of the CEO and the biggest crackdown on misconduct by tax advisers in Australian history”.
Kai Feng, Jarrod Fankhauser, Olivia Ralph and Steven Viney of ABC News won the innovation in journalism award for their reportage into the evolution of sneaker brands.
Guardian Australia’s Jonathan Horn was highly commended in the same category for his commentary on the sporting media malaise.
Charlotte Grieve of the Age won the award for reporting on disability issues for her reporting into the treatment of mental health crises, and the “considered and respectful telling” of the trauma associated with the use of restraints in mental health settings.
Guardian Australia’s Stephanie Convery was highly commended in the same category for her report ‘Holding cell’: Melbourne family with disabled son stuck in ‘transitional’ housing for a decade”.
The lifetime achievement award went to Jennifer Keyte of Channel Ten, for a “career of accomplished journalism, presenting news across networks”, and for being a “powerful role model” for female journalists.
