FASSIFERN Guardian journalist Brian Bennion has won a top Queensland award for his reporting on development around the former Deebing Creek Aboriginal Mission.
Mr Bennion was presented the Clarion Award for Indigenous Issues Reporting in the Guardian's sister newspaper, The Ipswich Tribune, at the State Media Awards announced in Brisbane on Saturday.
The judges commented on the national significance of his coverage.
“The jury applauded Brian Bennion for his outstanding coverage of a proposal to build a childcare centre near the site of an Aboriginal massacre in Ipswich.
“It represented the best of regional – and national – reporting on Indigenous affairs.”
The judges also commended other finalists in the category, The Australian’s Michael McKenna and The Guardian Australia’s Ben Smee for their flawless work.
Mr Bennion won a Clarion Award in 2016 for the same category, Indigenous Issues Reporting, open to all media across the state.
He was also named a finalist in the Clarions last year for best Regional and Community News report and in 2015 for Social Issues Reporting.
The Clarion Awards recognise excellence, independence, innovation and originality in storytelling and distinctive reporting.
Twenty-three panels of judges, composed of media professionals, academics and previous award winners, this year chose 19 overall winners on the basis of journalistic excellence.
Walkley Foundation deputy chairwoman Karen Percy said she was struck by the quality of the entries across the board.
“Queenslanders should be proud of the courage of their journalists who have taken on bold corporate and criminal investigations who’ve gone the extra mile to hold politicians and other powerful figures to account,” she said.
Mr Bennion’s reporting on issues around development of the former Deebing Creek Aboriginal Mission since 2015 has revealed findings from ground penetrating radar studies describing anomalies on the development sites as suspected burials, the oral history of a massacre, bones found on the site and a study describing a fossilised coral reef and a meeting place pre-dating European settlement.
Member for Ipswich Jennifer Howard criticised Mr Bennion and the Ipswich Tribune late last year in a speech in Parliament for reporting on community concerns, an action that was condemned by Aboriginal elders and the journalists’ union the MEAA as an abuse of Parliamentary privilege.
READ THE WINNING STORIES HERE:
SACRED SITE SPARED BY COUNCILLORS
Ipswich City Councillors referred to reports in The Ipswich Tribune which challenged the recommendation from council planning officers to approve a childcare centre in the vicinity of what has been described as the site of a massacre of Aboriginal children.
The three developers offered some concessions with a pledge to dedicate part of the site as an indigenous cultural centre.
However despite the Tribune’s reports gaining national media attention, Ipswich City Council’s opposition, ongoing protests from the community and unions and from indigenous groups camped on the development sites for more than three years, the State Government ignored pleas for further investigations and approved a childcare centre next to the mission grounds and Aboriginal cemetery.