Annika Smethurst is an Australian journalist. She is the state political editor for ''

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 ...

'' newspaper in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Early life and education

Smethurst graduated from

Girton Grammar School Girton Grammar School is an Australian independent co-educational school from Prep to Year 12 located in Bendigo, Victoria. History Girton Grammar School was founded in late 1992 after the closure that year of Girton College, a school owned an ...

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 2005. She studied journalism and

international studies International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

, beginning her degree in 2007 and completing her honours thesis in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

in 2010. She spent a semester of her degree at

Bishop's University Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebe ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Career

After graduating in 2010, Smethurst began a traineeship with

News Corp Australia News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,00 ...

. In 2012, while a reporter at the '' Bendigo Weekly'', Smethurst played an important role covering the Jill Meagher missing person case and homicide investigation. Smethurst lived close to Meagher's house at the time and said that covering the story was difficult for her. In June 2012, Smethurst joined the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'' reporting team. In 2013, Smethurst and her colleagues,

James Campbell James Campbell may refer to: Academics * James Archibald Campbell (1862–1934), founder of Campbell University in North Carolina * James Marshall Campbell (1895–1977), dean of the college of arts and sciences at the Catholic University of Americ ...

, Matt Johnston, Michelle Ainsworth and Mitchell Toy, were nominated for a

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 their investigation into the back-room dealings of the office of the then Victorian premier

Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of ...

, which exposed secret conversations between the premier's chief of staff and Tristan Weston, an adviser to the deputy premier Peter Ryan. Smethurst joined the ''Herald Sun''s Canberra team in 2015. In December 2015, she won the 2015 Walkley Award for All Media Scoop of the Year for her investigation of the "

Choppergate Also referred to as the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, the Indian helicopter bribery scandal by Congress led UPA Government refers to a multimillion-dollar corruption case in India, wherein money was paid to middlemen and Indian officials ...

" expenses scandal involving

Bronwyn Bishop Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop (née Setright; born 19 October 1942) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of federal parliament for almost 30 years, the longest period of service by a woman. A member of the Liberal Party, she was a mi ...

's inappropriate use of parliamentary travel entitlements. She also won two

Melbourne Press Club The Melbourne Press Club, commonly referred to as MPC, is a not-for-profit association of journalists in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The Melbourne Press Club provides awards in the State of Victoria for outstanding journalism, presenting th ...

Quill Awards for her work on Choppergate. In 2017, Smethurst won her second Walkley Award, also in the Scoop of the Year category, for her story about taxpayer-funded trips to the Gold Coast made by

Sussan Ley Sussan Penelope Ley (pron. , "Susan Lee"; ; born 14 December 1961) is an Australian politician who has been deputy leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. She has been member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales seat of Farrer since 2 ...

MP, to buy a flat. Ley was forced to resign as Health Minister as a result of the scandal. In 2020, her book, ''On Secrets'', was published by Hachette.

Espionage exclusive and AFP raid

On 4 June 2019, the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

raided Smethurst's home over a story she published in 2018. She had been reporting on "alleged plans to allow greater surveillance of Australian citizens", with agents searching her computer, phone, and home. At the time of the raid, she was the political editor of Sydney's ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

''. In her original report in April 2018, she "revealed top secret emails between Department of Home Affairs Secretary

Mike Pezzullo Michael Pezzullo, is an Australian public servant. In October 2014, he was appointed the Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. On 20 December 2017, a reshaping of departments led to him taking up the post of Secretary ...

and Department of Defence Secretary

Greg Moriarty Gregory Laurence Moriarty (born 4 April 1964) is a senior Australian public servant and diplomat, and the current Secretary of the Department of Defence (Australia), Secretary of the Department of Defence since 4 September 2017. He was previousl ...

, discussing a plan to allow the cyber spy agency to snoop on Australian citizens". A "tepid" response to the raid, which included going through her cookbooks and underwear, from the prime minister resulted in criticism from the press and organisations such as the

Australian Lawyers Alliance Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

. News Corp called it a "dangerous act of intimidation". The AFP confirmed the raid was not only to uncover her source, but to potentially look into Smethurst and News Corp as targets for a criminal charge. On 15 April 2020, the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

ruled that the

search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate any evidence they find. In most countries, ...

used in the raid was invalid. On 27 May 2020 the AFP announced that Smethurst would not be charged over her stories that "...relied on

classified intelligence Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, ...

documents".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smethurst, Annika 1980s births Australian women journalists Girton Grammar School alumni Living people Monash University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Walkley Award winners