Hedley Thomas

Hedley Thomas is a senior writer for The Australian. He excels in writing intensive investigative pieces, lengthy profiles and news articles. He broke the shocking story about Dr Jayant Patel's negligence at the Bundaberg Base Hospital. Hedley received his third Walkley award for this expose and received a special accolade, the Sir Keith Murdoch Award, from News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch as well as the 2005 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards for work advancing public debate. Hedley's first Walkley was awarded in 1999 (with colleague Paul Whittaker) when he exposed the Net Bet affair, and his second was in 2003 for his feature article on fallen chief magistrate Di Fingleton. Hedley has had extensive international experience that has ranged from reporting on the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Romanian revolution and the first Gulf War, to six years spent with the South China Morning Post as a senior reporter, features writer and deputy features editor.