Occupation Journalist Alma mater Monash University | Nationality Australian Education Monash University | |
Profiles | ||
Annika Smethurst (born late 1980s) is an Australian journalist. She writes for the Herald Sun.
Life and career
Smethurst finished Year Twelve in 2005, having attended Girton Grammar School in Bendigo, Victoria.
Smethurst studied journalism and international studies at Monash University, beginning her degree in 2007 and completing her Honours thesis in journalism in 2010. She spent a semester of her degree at Bishop's University in Quebec, Canada. After graduation, Smethurst started a traineeship with News Corp Australia.
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 by to Meagher's house at the time and covering the story was difficult for her.
In June 2012, Smethurst joined the Herald Sun reporting team.
In 2013 Smethurst and her colleagues, James Campbell, Matt Johnston, Michelle Ainsworth and Mitchell Troy, were nominated for a Walkley award for their investigation into the backroom dealings of the Premier's office, which exposed secret conversations between then Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu's chief of staff and government adviser Tristan Weston.
Smethurst joined the Herald Sun's Canberra team in 2015. In December 2015, Smethurst won the 2015 Walkley Award for All Media Scoop of the Year for her investigation of the "choppergate" expenses scandal surrounding Bronwyn Bishop's inappropriate use of parliamentary travel entitlements. She also won two Victorian Quill Awards for her work on choppergate.