Sean Christopher Dorney AO

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

CSM FAIIA (born 8 March 1951) is an Australian journalist, foreign correspondent, and writer with an extensive career covering the Pacific with a particular focus on

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. He was the Pacific and PNG Correspondent of 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 ...

on and off from 1975 to 2014.Voiceless in the South Pacific
By Daniel Flitton, 28 August 2014, ''

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 ...

''A tribute to Sean Dorney
Tess Newton, 27 February 2018,

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Development Policy Centre

Early life and education

Born in 1951, 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 The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

including in

. He then attended

St Joseph's Nudgee College , motto_translation = A Sign of Faith , location = Boondall, Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , other_name = St. Joseph's Nudgee College , former_name ...

in Brisbane from 1964 to 1968 and then studied economics at

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

in 1969 to 1970.

Professional career

Dorney was an editor of the

student newspaper which secured him a cadetship at the

. He then worked at the former

National Broadcasting Commission The National Broadcasting Commission is the broadcast regulator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The commission was set up on August 24, 1992, by Decree 38 of 1992 later amended as an act of the National Assembly by Act 55 of 1999 and now known ...

in Port Moresby. In 1984, Dorney was deported by the Papua New Guinea Government for his role in the

Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...

interview of James Nyaro, a West Papuan rebel commander fighting the Indonesian Government. In 1985 Dorney left the

to work as a press secretary in the Northern Territory Government for 18 months. In 2009 Dorney was deported from

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

for his reporting on

Frank Bainimarama Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama (Fijian: ʃoˈsɛia βoˈreŋɡe mbɛiniˈmarama born 27 April 1954) is a Fijian politician and former naval officer who served as the prime minister of Fiji from 2007 until 2022. A member of the FijiFirst ...

's abrogation of the country's constitution. Dorney served as an

election monitor Election monitoring involves the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a non-governmental organization (NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an electi ...

with the Commonwealth Observer Group during the

2017 Papua New Guinean general election General elections were held in Papua New Guinea between 24 June and 8 July 2017. The writs for the election were issued on 20 April, and candidate nominations closed on 27 April. Michael Somare, the first Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, ret ...

. He is a Nonresident Fellow of the

Lowy Institute for International Policy The Lowy Institute is an independent think tank founded in April 2003 by Frank Lowy to conduct original, policy-relevant research about international political, strategic and economic issues from an Australian perspective. It is based in Sydney, ...

Rugby career

Dorney played halfback for

and later the Brisbane

Wests Rugby Wests Rugby Union Club or Wests is an Australian rugby union club, based in Toowong, that competes in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. The bulk of Wests' players are drawn from the western suburbs of Brisbane where local rivals GPS a ...

. 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.

Awards and recognition

Dorney was awarded a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1990 by the Papua New Guinean Government for his reporting on the

Sandline affair The Sandline affair was a political scandal that became one of the defining moments in the history of Papua New Guinea, and particularly the conflict in Bougainville. It brought down the government of Sir Julius Chan, and took Papua New Guinea to ...

. He won a Walkley Award for his coverage of the Aitape tsunami in 1998. Also in 1998, the Pacific Islands News Association awarded Dorney Pacific Media Freedom Award. Dorney was recognised as a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 2000 for "For service to journalism as a foreign correspondent". The

Australian Council for International Development The Australian Council For International Development (ACFID) is an independent national association of Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) working in the field of international aid and development. ACFID was founded in 1965, with Syd Einf ...

awarded Dorney their inaugural Media Award in October 2012. In 2018 he was awarded a

Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism The Walkley Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, formerly Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, is one of the prestigious Australian Walkley Awards, and "recognises the achievements of a person or group for ...

. Dorney was recognised as a Fellow of the

Australian Institute of International Affairs The Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) is an Australian research institute and think tank which focuses on International relations. It publishes the ''Australian Journal of International Affairs''. It is one of the oldest act ...

in November 2018.

In April 2019, the Walkley Foundation created "The Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism" which gives a reporter in the Pacific region up to $10,000 to cover a project the reporter has in mind. In 2019, the

Government of Papua New Guinea The politics of Papua New Guinea takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic multi-party system, whereby the prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader ...

recognised Dorney as a Companion of the Star of Melanesia. In the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, Dorney was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for "distinguished service to Australia-PNG relations".

Personal life

Dorney married Pauline Nare, a radio journalist from

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

. He is suffering from motor neurone disease.Acclaimed correspondent Sean Dorney returns to PNG for Foreign Correspondent

RN Breakfast 21 August 2018

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorney, Sean 1951 births Living people ABC News (Australia) presenters Officers of the Order of Australia Members of the Order of Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire James Cook University alumni People from Townsville