I take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Alex Sinnott, whose excellent work was recently acknowledged and awarded at the Rural Press Club of Victoria annual awards. Alex, who is a journalist with the Warrnambool Standard, was awarded the 2010 Young Journalist of the Year for his series of stories on Peter’s project. Alex has been a journalist at the Warrnambool Standard for two years, and has already been described as a highly talented young reporter who can look forward to a long future in journalism.
The Warrnambool Standard’s deputy editor, Greg Best, said:
“Alex is held in such high regard that he was given the responsibility of leading our federal election coverage.”
I would also like to acknowledge and congratulate Mr Nigel Hallett, an international award-winning photographer currently working at the Colac Herald.
Among a number of awards he has collected in his career, Nigel was recently awarded the prestigious International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Star Prize award for agricultural photography for his photograph of a farmer cooling off while haymaking. This award was contested by more than 150 of the world’s leading rural photographers.
Both Nigel and Alex are still aged in their early 20s, with many years ahead of what I am sure will be very successful careers. They represent the talent Western Victoria has to offer. They were both schooled in their local communities of Warrnambool and Colac. Congratulations to Alex and Nigel, and their respective newspapers — the Warrnambool Standard and the Colac Herald.