Nine’s mastheads, 3AW, 9News and 60 Minutes have swept the field at the 2024 Quill Awards for Excellence in Victorian Journalism, including the coveted Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award to The Australian Financial Review’s Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros for their outstanding coverage of the PwC Tax Leaks Scandal.

In a story that dominated the news cycle last year, Tadros and Chenoweth exposed how senior figures at PwC leaked confidential Treasury documents to drum up tax business for the firm. The revelations led to the break-up of the accounting giant, the departure of the CEO and the biggest crackdown on misconduct by tax advisors in Australian history.

Editor-in-chief of the Financial Review, Michael Stutchbury, said, “Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros were the perfect team to follow all the threads of the PwC scandal originally broken by Neil. They combined old-fashioned journalism of dogged forensic document-sifting with deep knowledge of the tax bureaucracy and well-placed contacts inside the big consultancy firms.” 

“By calling out bad behaviour, it is a classic example of The Australian Financial Review’s purpose to promote Australia’s prosperity by fostering business-led opportunity.”  

Collecting 15 awards across 31 categories, the depth of Nine’s journalism was on display, with journalists across publishing, television and audio, as well as camera operators, photojournalists and illustrators taking home awards.  

The Age’s Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters were awarded the Grant Hattam Quill for Investigative Journalism for their tireless Ben-Roberts Smith investigation; while masthead colleague Carla Jaeger was named the Young Journalist of the Year for her dogged reporting on the crisis crippling Netball Australia.

Editor of The Age, Patrick Elligett said, “The fact the judges saw fit to award one-third of the available Quills to the journalists, photographers and artists of The Age – almost double any other outlet – is a welcome endorsement of our strategy of pursuing high quality, compelling public interest journalism above all else.”

“These 11 Quills are an endorsement of our values as an organisation, a testament to the hard work of our winners and the production and editing teams who support their work. 

“To our readers and subscribers, thank you for supporting the work of the state’s finest newsroom and making the stories behind these awards possible.”

9News journalist Christine Ahern and senior producer Lisa Brown were awarded for their 60 Minutes story that uncovered the problems within the Victorian Building Authority, while 9News camera operator Tim Furness was awarded TV Camera Work (Shot of the Year) for his camera work on the Fitzroy garden murder.   

Director of 9News Melbourne, Hugh Nailon, said: “Pictures are the lifeblood of TV News and Tim displayed outstanding news instincts to capture an unforgettable image that told the story as well as any words could.”

“These are the moments our newsroom strives to capture every day, bringing the audience as close to the story as possible.” 

60 Minutes Executive Producer, Kirsty Thomson, said: “Christine Ahern and Lisa Brown’s investigation into the embattled Victorian building authority was a great example of forensic and determined public interest journalism. The revelations in the story led to the VBA boss resigning days after the broadcast. Everyone at 60 Minutes is very proud of the story and Christine and Lisa’s brilliant work.”

3AW broadcaster Shane McInnes won the Radio Current Affairs category for his interviews that exposed a serious gap in public health information around the availability of vaccines for different strains of meningococcal.

3AW Station Manager, Stephen Beers said, “We are delighted Shane and the production team have been honoured with such a prestigious award. The story and follow up was live and local radio at its best. Shane has been a key member of the 3AW team for 16 years and this Quill is well deserved recognition.”

The Quill Awards, bestowed by the Melbourne Press Club, are the premier media awards in Victoria and celebrate the very best in journalism.

The full list of Nine’s award winners are below: 

2023 Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year 
Winner: Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros, of The Australian Financial Review, coverage of the PwC Tax Leaks Scandal

Artwork
Winner: Matthew Absalom-Wong, The Age, “Hong Bao diplomacy”

Business News/Feature
Winner: Peter Ker and Brad Thompson, The Australian Financial Review, “Forrests and Fortescue”

Cartoon
Winner: Matt Golding, The Sunday Age, “The nation said no.”

Coverage of Women in Sport
Winner: Marnie Vinall and Greg Baum, The Age, “FIFA Women’s World Cup”

Excellence in Science, Medical and Health Reporting
Winner: Sherryn Groch, The Age, “Journey into the deep sea”

Feature Writing    
Winner: Michael Bachelard, Good Weekend magazine, “Talking trans”

Grant Hattam Quill for Investigative Journalism
Winner: Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters, The Age, Ben Roberts-Smith Investigations

Radio Current Affairs
Winner: Shane McInnes, 3AW, “Victoria’s Meningococcal Vaccine Failure”

Reporting on Disability Issues
Winner: Charlotte Grieve, The Age, “The disturbing treatment for mental health crises”

Sports News
Winner: Ben Schneiders, The Age, “The tax haven, the PO box, the tropical island: Who owns Australian soccer”

TV Camera Work (Shot of the Year)
Winner: Tim Furness, Nine News, “Fitzroy garden murder”

TV/Video Feature
Winner: Christine Ahern and Lisa Brown, 60 Minutes, “VBA exposed”

Young Journalist of the Year
Winner: Carla Jaeger, The Age, “Netball Australia”

Features Photograph
Winner: Eddie Jim, The Age, “Fighting, Not Sinking”

News Photograph
Winner: Christopher Hopkins, The Age, “Nazis on Our Doorstep”

For further information, please contact:
Adrian Motte 
Senior Communications Manager – Trade & Publishing
amotte@nine.com.au

Monday, March 18, 2024