Nicky Hager thanks the person (unknown) who nominated him for the award and is especially pleased that “services to investigative journalism” are included in this week’s honours list, apparently for the first time. It acknowledges the important role that investigative journalism plays in society.

He hopes it will help to encourage others to do this work and that it may provide some protection for people who choose this profession.

He is accepting the award on behalf of all the people who help him and especially the whistle blowers: “the decades of good people who, via me and sometimes at considerable personal risk, have helped expose dishonesty, wrong doing and abuse of power, and who by doing so have helped make a better society.”

Also, “I want to reassure that this is not a slowing-down, end of career award. I have many important projects to come.”

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