Nick McKenzie
| Nick McKenzie | |
|---|---|
| File:Nick McKenzie.png | |
| Residence | Melbourne |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Investigative Journalist |
| Website | NickMcKenzie.com.au |
Nick McKenzie is an Australian investigative journalist, author and multiple Walkley Awards winner.[1]
He works for Fairfax Media and his investigations regularly appear in Melbourne's The Age newspaper,[2] The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review. He also presents special investigations for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's prestigious television program, Four Corners.
Life and career
His career began as a cadet journalist at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, later joining Fairfax Media. McKenzie's investigative reporting has led to a number of government inquiries and police investigations, including a federal police probe into political donations given by alleged mafia figures.[3]
An investigation in 2009 by McKenzie and his Fairfax Media colleague Richard Baker into alleged foreign bribery involving two companies owned by the Reserve Bank of Australia, sparked a national scandal and prompted an investigation by the Australian Federal Police.[4]
It ultimately led to Australia's first-ever foreign bribery prosecution in 2011, with the criminal charging of two firms, Securency and Note Printing Australia and several individuals.[5] McKenzie and Baker were awarded a Walkley Award for Investigative Reporting for their investigation, which also led to the governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, testifying before a senate committee to respond to allegations the bank mishandled the scandal.[6]
In 2014, a report by the pair on an undisclosed multi-million dollar payment to Hong Kong chief executive CY Leung from Australian company UGL, prompted widespread calls for Leung's resignation and sparked an investigation by Hong Kong authorities.[7]
In 2014, McKenzie and Baker’s investigation into organised crime and corruption in Australia’s construction industry was among the catalysts for the Abbott Government’s royal commission into trade union governance and corruption. The work of the commission has been controversial and described as a political witch-hunt by the Labor Party and union movement.[8]
Much of McKenzie's work has been produced with Richard Baker. In 2012, McKenzie and Baker were rated the third most influential journalists or editors in Australia by news website Crikey.[9]
Some of their work has been controversial. The pair's reporting on the work of a leading Australian surgeon, Professor Thomas Kossmann, prompted multiple formal inquiries that were highly critical of the surgeon, including a report by the Victorian Ombudsman. Kossmann and several of his medical colleagues, along with other journalists, disputed the extent of Kossman’s misconduct.[10]
An investigation in 2009 by McKenzie and Baker into the association between former Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon and a wealthy Chinese businesswoman led to Fitzgibbon losing his portfolio.[11] Fitzgibbon denied the claims and later sued Fairfax Media.[12]
McKenzie and Baker have been summoned before Australian courts on several occasions in an effort by parties impacted by their work to get the pair to reveal the identity of some of their confidential sources. In October 2015, an Australian businessman identified as an alleged Calabrian mafia figure in a report by McKenzie on the ABC's Four Corners program brought an application in the Victorian Supreme Court to force McKenzie to reveal his sources.[13] McKenzie and Baker have contested and appealed these applications to avoid revealing their sources.[14]
Awards and Recognition
McKenzie has won Australia's top journalism award, the Walkley Award, on seven occasions.[15]
In 2010, McKenzie and his colleague Richard Baker were awarded the prestigious George Munster Prize for Independent Journalism by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.[16]
McKenzie is the most decorated journalist in the history of the Melbourne Press Club[17] Quill Awards and has twice won the press club’s highest award, the Gold Quill.[18]
Books
In 2012, McKenzie's book The Sting[19] – about one of Australia's biggest organised crime and money laundering investigations – was published by Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) Victory Books.
McKenzie has also contributed to the Australian journalism textbook, Australian Journalism Today (2012)[20] and The Best Australian Business Writing (2012).[21]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
