Mark Willacy

Mark Willacy (born 1972) is an Australian investigative journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He and the ABC Investigations-Four Corners Team won the 2020 Gold Walkley for their special report Killing Field, which covered alleged Australian war crimes.[1] He has been awarded six other minor Walkley awards and two Queensland Clarion Awards for Queensland Journalist of the Year.[2] Willacy is currently based in Brisbane, and was previously a correspondent in the Middle East and North Asia.[3] He is the author of three books.

Early life

Mark Willacy was born in 1972 in Lae, Papua New Guinea.

Career

Willacy was a Middle East region correspondent based in Jerusalem from 2002 until 2006. He covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and spent 93 days in and around Iraq reporting on the 2003 Iraq war with cameraman Louie Eroglu.[4] During his posting, he interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal.[5]

From 2008 until 2013, he was then a North Asia region correspondent based in Tokyo where he covered the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. He also reported from the Korean peninsula and had an exclusive interview in 2013 with former North Korean agent Kim Hyon-hui who is known for the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858.[6]

Awards

Willacy has won an Australian Walkley Award seven times for his journalism.[7] This includes awards for coverage of the Iraq War in 2003, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, Australian environmental contamination in 2015 (with producer Mark Solomons), a Four Corners report into the Tham Luang cave rescue, and for an investigation with producer Alexandra Blucher into local government corruption.[8]

In 2010, he was awarded local Queensland Clarion Awards' Journalist of the Year for his investigation into the Mindanao massacre in the Philippines, [9] and again in 2019, for his Four Corners investigation into children being locked up in adult watch houses.[2]

Willacy was awarded a Eureka Prize in 2011 for Environmental Journalism in reporting of alleged systemic corruption inside Japan's scientific whaling program.[10]

In 2019, Willacy was part of the Four Corners team that won the Logie Award for Most Outstanding News Coverage or Public Affairs Report for their Thai cave rescue story.[11] In 2020, Willacy and the ABC Investigations-Four Corners Team were awarded the Gold Walkley and the Investigative Journalism Walkley for reporting alleged war crimes by Australian Special forces in Afghanistan and broadcasting helmet camera footage showing the apparent unlawful killing of an unarmed Afghan man.[1] He also won Scoop of the Year at the 2020 NSW Kennedy Awards for the same story.[12]

In 2021, Mark Willacy and Rory Callinan, on behalf of ABC News Online, were awarded a Queensland Clarion Award for Investigative Journalism.[13]

Writing

In 2007, Willacy wrote his first published book about his experiences covering the conflict in the Middle East, entitled The View From the Valley of Hell, published by Pan Macmillan.[14]

Willacy's second book Fukushima: Japan's Tsunami and the Inside Story of the Nuclear Meltdowns, on the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disaster, was published in 2013.[15] Fukushima was long-listed for the 2013 Walkley Book Award.[16]

Willacy's third book, Rogue Forces, was published by Simon and Schuster in August 2021.[17][18] The book describes alleged Australian Special Forces war crimes in Afghanistan, self-described as an insider account of alleged unlawful killings and cover-ups by SAS patrols. It was published shortly after the official Brereton Report in 2020 which investigated these and other allegations made against Australian forces in Afghanistan.[19][20] It was shortlisted for the Douglas Stewart Prize for Nonfiction at the 2022 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.[21]

Controversy around reporting of alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan in 2012

Some allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan reported by Willacy and ABC Investigations involving Australian special forces in 2012[22][23] have been disputed by the then commander of the allegedly responsible soldiers from the 2nd Commando Regiment’s 'November Platoon', Heston Russell,[24][25] and criticised by the Australian Defence Minister, Peter Dutton.[26] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation released a statement on November 19, 2021, defending Willacy, and standing by the accuracy and seriousness of his reporting.[27] In December 2021, a 25 year old man was charged with threatening Willacy over his reporting on this issue.[28]

See also

References
  1. "ABC's "Killing Field" wins the 2020 Gold Walkley Award". The Walkley Foundation. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  2. "Queensland Clarion Awards". MEAA. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  3. ABC (2013). "Mark Willacy".
  4. "AM - Mark Willacy looks back on his time in Jerusalem". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  5. Corporation, Australian Broadcasting (26 September 2006). "Mark Willacy". ABC. Retrieved 26 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. Willacy, Mark (10 April 2013), North Korean Super Spy, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, retrieved 26 November 2020
  7. "Walkley Winners Arvhive". www.walkleys.com. Retrieved 26 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. WalkleyMag (22 November 2018). "Hit podcast The Teacher's Pet wins the 2018 Gold Walkley Award". The Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  9. Philippines - Pet Monsters, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 6 April 2010, retrieved 26 November 2020
  10. Japanese Whaling accused of corruption, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 10 June 2010, retrieved 26 November 2020
  11. Idato, Michael (30 June 2019). "ABC, Ten win big, Tom Gleeson takes gold at Logie Awards". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  12. "The NRMA Kennedy Awards – Excellence in Journalism". Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  13. "Queensland Clarion Awards". MEAA. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  14. reviewer, Bruce Elder (20 August 2007). "The View from the Valley of Hell". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  15. Fensom, Anthony (27 July 2013). "Incredible stories that should not be forgotten". The Japan Times. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  16. "Walkley Book Award The Walkley Foundation". www.walkleys.com. Retrieved 26 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. "Rogue Forces". Simon and Schuster. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  18. Kelly, Fran (19 August 2021). "New book reveals details of alleged war crimes by Australian forces in Afghanistan". ABC Radio National. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  19. Doran, Matthew (19 November 2020). "SAS soldiers made to shoot prisoners to get their first kill, 39 Afghans 'murdered', inquiry finds". www.abc.net.au. ABC News. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  20. Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force (2020). "Afghanistan Inquiry Report" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  21. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2022 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  22. "Reports, allegations and inquiries into serious misconduct by Australian troops in Afghanistan 2005–2013". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  23. Mark Willacy; Alexandra Blucher; Dan Oakes (20 October 2020). "Australian soldiers killed prisoner because he could not fit on aircraft, American marine says". ABC News. ABC News. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  24. "Australian Army Commando Hits Back At Allegations Of Misconduct In Afghanistan". YouTube. The Project. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  25. "Letter to the ABC". Veteran Support Force. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  26. Fordham, Ben (1 November 2021). "'Cough it up': Defence Minister wants ABC to prove damaging claims". 2GB. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  27. "ABC statement on Mark Willacy's reporting on war crimes allegations". About the ABC. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  28. staff, Guardian (8 December 2021). "Victorian man, 25, charged with threatening ABC journalist Mark Willacy". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
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