Sean Dorney

Sean Dorney
Education James Cook University
Occupation Foreign correspondent, journalist
Notable credit(s) Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Spouse(s) Pauline Nare

Sean Dorney MBE is an Australian broadcast and radio journalist, foreign correspondent, and writer with an extensive career covering the Pacific with a particular focus on Papua New Guinea. He was the Pacific and PNG Correspondent of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on and off from 1975 to 2014.[1][2]

He is also a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute for International Policy.[3] He won a Walkley Award for his coverage of the Aitape tsunami in 1998.[4]

Early life and education

Dorney was brought up in a strong Catholic household in Townsville, the fourth of six children. His father was a surgeon who served with the Australian Army during the Second World War including in Papua New Guinea.

He then attended St Joseph's Nudgee College in Brisbane from 1964 to 1968 and then studied economics at James Cook University in 1969 to 1970.

Professional career

Dorney was an editor of the James Cook University student newspaper which secured him a cadetship at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He then worked at the former National Broadcasting Commission in Port Moresby.

In 1984, Dorney was deported by the Papua New Guinea Government for his role in the Four Corners interview of James Nyaro, a West Papuan rebel commander fighting the Indonesian Government.[5]

Dorney was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1990 by the Papua New Guinean Government for his reporting on the Sandline affair.[6]

In 1985 Dorney left the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to work as a press secretary in the Northern Territory Government for 18 months.[7]

In 2009 Dorney was deported from Fiji for his reporting on Frank Bainimarama's abrogation of the country's constitution.[8]

Dorney served as an election monitor with the Commonwealth Observer Group during the Papua New Guinean general election, 2017.[9]

Rugby career

Dorney played halfback for James Cook University and later the Brisbane Wests Rugby.

Dorney was a member of the Papua New Guinea national rugby league team in 1975 and 1976 including serving as its captain in his last game in 1976.[10]

Personal life

Dorney married Pauline Nare, a radio journalist from Manus Island. He is suffering motor neuron disorder.[11]

Published books

  • Papua New Guinea: People, Politics and History since 1975 (1990)
  • The Sandline Affair: Politics and Mercenaries and the Bougainville Crisis (1998)
  • The Embarrassed Colonialist (2016)

References

  1. ↑ Voiceless in the South Pacific By Daniel Flitton, 28 August 2014, Sydney Morning Herald
  2. ↑ A tribute to Sean Dorney Tess Newton, 27 February 2018, Australian National University Development Policy Centre
  3. ↑ Expert Profile on Sean Dorney Lowy Institute for International Policy
  4. ↑ Author Profile on Sean Dorney Penguin Books
  5. ↑ Voiceless in the South Pacific By Daniel Flitton, 28 August 2014, Sydney Morning Herald
  6. ↑ ABC veteran Sean Dorney tackles life with motor neurone disease By Mark Bowling, 8 February 2018, Catholic Leader
  7. ↑ Voiceless in the South Pacific By Daniel Flitton, 28 August 2014, Sydney Morning Herald
  8. ↑ Voiceless in the South Pacific By Daniel Flitton, 28 August 2014, Sydney Morning Herald
  9. ↑ A tribute to Sean Dorney Tess Newton, 27 February 2018, Australian National University Development Policy Centre
  10. ↑ Voiceless in the South Pacific By Daniel Flitton, 28 August 2014, Sydney Morning Herald
  11. ↑ Acclaimed correspondent Sean Dorney returns to PNG for Foreign Correspondent Australian Broadcasting Corporation RN Breakfast 21 August 2018
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