Latika Bourke (born 9 March 1984) is an Australian author and journalist. She writes for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' and ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', and in the past has worked for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

and

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment Co and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the ...

. Her book ''From India with Love'' was published in 2015.

Life and career

Latika Bourke was born in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

, India on 9 March 1984. The daughter of a 14-year-old mother, Bourke was left at a Catholic orphanage in

Bettiah Bettiah is a city and administrative headquarters of West Champaran district ( Tirhut Division) - (Tirhut), near Indo-Nepal border, north-west of Patna, in Bihar state of India. History In 1244 A.D., Gangeshwar Dev, a Bhumihar Brahmin of ...

in the care of nuns when she was less than a week old. Bourke came to Australia in December 1984, adopted by Penny and John Bourke at the age of eight months. In her early childhood, Bourke lived with her family on a farm outside of

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in ...

. Bourke and her family moved into the Bathurst township when she was seven years old. From 2002 to 2005, Bourke studied journalism at

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...

. During that time she did

work experience Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal tr ...

at radio station 2BS in Bathurst, writing, producing and reading local news, and hosting programs. Before her official graduation in 2006, Bourke was recruited by

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

radio station

to work as a reporter. In 2007, while on the job as a reporter for 2UE, Bourke was verbally abused and told to "cover up" whilst waiting to interview a Muslim cleric who had previously given a sermon comparing uncovered women to exposed meat. She was outside Lakemba mosque, wearing a long trench coat, knee-high boots and gloves. In December 2010, the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

announced Bourke would be its first 'social media reporter' tasked with reporting primarily via social media. In 2014, Bourke announced she would be leaving the Australian Broadcasting Commission for Fairfax Media, but staying in the Canberra Press Gallery. Bourke's book, ''From India with Love'', about her journey of self-discovery, was published in 2015. She has said that she gives half of the royalties she earns from sales of her book to orphanages in India. In December 2015, Bourke announced she would be leaving the Canberra Press Gallery and moving to London at the end of January 2016.

Awards and honours

In June 2010, Bourke won the

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

for Young Australian Journalist of the Year, having entered three stories: one on

Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott Government from 18 September 2 ...

's leadership aspirations in the Liberal party while in opposition, a second on

Nick Minchin Nicholas Hugh Minchin (born 15 April 1953) is a former Australian politician and former Australian Consul-General in New York, USA. He previously served as a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing South Australia from July 1993 to ...

's campaign against an

emissions trading scheme Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon emission t ...

and a third on

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

's challenge of

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

to become leader of the opposition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourke, Latika Living people 1984 births Australian women journalists Charles Sturt University alumni Walkley Award winners Indian emigrants to Australia