staff writer
WAtoday reporter Carla Hildebrandt has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to WA media after taking out the prestigious Arthur Lovekin Prize for Excellence in Journalism at the state’s annual media awards.
Hildebrandt claimed the prized award for her investigation into how a banned South African director built an NDIS empire despite regulatory failures.
The report covered a South African couple who left behind a collapsed real estate business after client trust money was allegedly moved into other accounts, who were operating a network of NDIS-approved companies and a charity in Australia.
Hildebrandt also took home the news award, alongside Melissa Fyfe, for their report covering the final months of the life of Virginia Giuffre.
Giuffre made global headlines for her fight against her sexual abusers among the wealthy elite, all detailed in a bestselling memoir.
“Returning to work as a new mum has had its challenges, but I think it has made me a better journalist in ways I didn’t expect,” Hildebrandt said.
“I’m thankful for the flexibility and understanding that’s helped me to keep telling stories I really care about.”
Hildebrandt’s two awards capped a successful night for Nine, the owner of this masthead, with several other major prizes taken out by employees of the group.
Nine’s Connor McGoverne and Owen Leonard claimed the Gilmour-Christian Prize for best sport report for their coverage of the state government’s failed push to host a landmark clash between Italian football giants AC Milan and Como in February at Optus Stadium.
The historic match-up was set to be the first European league match played for points on foreign soil, and was in October last year “reluctantly approved” by the continent’s governing body UEFA.
However, the planned fixture was eventually called off after the sport’s governing body FIFA declined to give the event the final seal of approval.
Jesinta Burton, Mark Wembridge and Mark Di Stefano from the Australian Financial Review, also owned by Nine, took out the award for best legal affairs coverage for their report detailing how a bitter office renovation dispute snowballed into the unravelling of billionaire mining boss Chris Ellison and his company, Mineral Resources.
In other major awards, the prized West Australian Journalist of the Year gong went to Roz Thomas from the Weekend Australian Magazine, while the Clarion Award for outstanding contribution to journalism went to John Flint from the West Australian.
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