Reporter lauded for tale of survival

Hughes, who writes for The Australian, and his family escaped the blaze with seconds to spare after it roared up a hill on his property and destroyed their St Andrews home.

That night he wrote a 1600-word piece that described the horror of the fire and how quickly it tore through the countryside, a story that last night won him the most coveted award at the 2009 Quill awards for Victorian journalism.

Bushfire stories dominated the Melbourne Press Club event, with The Age's Karen Kissane shortlisted for the Graham Perkin award for her extensive coverage of the inferno and its aftermath.

The Age's China correspondent John Garnaut was also shortlisted for his body of work, including his coverage of the detention of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu.

A team from The Age, Sunday Age and Age online won the Quill for the best coverage of an issue or event for their standout reporting on Australia's worst natural disaster.

The judges described their stories as "[rising] to the challenge, telling a multidimensional story using the full capacity of online immediacy, daily and weekly reportage, commentary and analysis, plus a ground-breaking multimedia production. The entry demonstrated the highest standards of journalism."

The award brought the total number of Quills won by The Age to seven, more than any other news outlet.

The Age's Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie, along with Philip Dorling from fellow Fairfax publication The Canberra Times, won the Quill for best news report in print on their series of stories on the relationship between a Chinese businesswoman and defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon.

Age investigative reporter Royce Millar won the award for best regional or rural affairs report in any medium for his piece on a controversial plan that divided the town of San Remo and forced the Bass Coast Council to drop a proposal to redraw development boundaries.

Sports writer Greg Baum picked up the prize for best deadline report in any medium for a story on the epic Australian Open semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, which the judges said lifted journalism to a higher level.

The best columnist/blogger award went to The Age's national affairs editor Tony Wright, for stories that were "beautifully told in gentle narrative with a common thread of unexpected humanity and emotional impact".

Age Sports reporter Samantha Lane won a Quill for best sports story in any medium for her expose of the infamous North Melbourne chicken video that depicted sex acts.

The judges said the story had been bravely handled and highlighted a serious cultural issue for the AFL. The lifetime achievement award went to Age cartoonist Bruce Petty for his insightful, provocative and humorous sketches during a career that began more than 60 years ago.

Other winners included 3AW presenter Neil Mitchell, who won the best radio current affairs report award for a story on how Terri Bracks stopped a depression sufferer's suicide attempt, and the ABC's Drew Ambrose for young journalist of the year.

The Gold Quill was won by Cameron Stewart of The Australian for his exclusive story on massive counterterrorism investigation, Operation Neath.

The Graham Perkin award, which is named after the late Age editor and awards $20,000 to the winner, recognises the best reporter in Australia and this year was open for the first time to journalists outside of print.

Judge Les Carlyon described Hughes work as a monumental achievement that "put smoke in the nostrils of readers and weight in their hearts".

"There was not a sentence that needed to be read twice," he said. "Here was a journalist calling on everything he had learnt during 35 years in the craft.

"The piece was truly memorable . . . We are asked to look for work that Graham Perkin would have liked. I think we can safely say that Graham, God bless him, would have loved this one."

2009 PERKIN AND QUILL AWARD WINNERS

Young Journalist of the Year Award

Drew Ambrose, ABC

RACV Transport

Quill

Fiona Hudson,

Herald Sun &

heraldsun.com.au

Best Columnist/

Blogger

Tony

Wright,

The Age

Best News

Photograph

Alex Coppel,Sunday

Herald Sun

Best Features

Photograph

Craig Borrow, Herald

Sun

Best Three

Headlines in any

Medium

Louise Browne,

Progress Leader

& Manningham

Leader

Best Cartoon

Peter Nicholson, The

Australian

Best Coverage of

an Issue or Event

The Age, The Sunday

Age & The Age Online

(Black Saturday)

Grant Hattam

Quill Award for

Investigative

Journalism

Cameron Stewart, The

Australian

Best TV

Camerawork in

News and Current

Affairs

Will Pristel, Seven News

Best Illustration

in any Medium

Fay Plamka, Seven

News & ABC News

Best Graphics in

any Medium

Simon Schneider &

Olivia Desianti

Herald Sun

Best Use of the

Online Medium

Priscilla Davies & Drew

Ambrose abc.net.au

Lifetime

Achievement

Award

Bruce Petty

Best Business

Story in any

Medium

Pamela Williams,

Australian Financial

Review

Best Suburban

Report in Print

Wes Hosking,

Mordialloc Chelsea

Leader

Best Sports

Story in any

Medium

Samantha Lane,

The Age

Best Regional

or Rural Affairs

Report in any

Medium

Royce Millar, The Age

Best Deadline

Report in any

Medium

Greg Baum, The Age

Best TV News

Report

Norman C Beaman,

Seven News

Best Radio News

Report

Jane Cowan, ABC Radio

Best TV Current

Affairs/Feature

Quentin McDermott,

Sarah Curnow,

Alec Cullen, Caro

Meldrum-Hanna,

Four Corners, ABC

TV

Best Radio

Current Affairs

Report

Neil Mitchell, 3AW

Best News Report

in Print

Richard Baker, Philip

Dorling & Nick

McKenzie, The Age

Best Feature in

Print

Cameron Stewart &

Corrie Perkin, The

Weekend Australian

Monash University

Gold Quill

Cameron Stewart, The

Australian

Graham Perkin

Australian

Journalist of the

Year

Gary Hughes, The

Australian