Journalist and true-crime podcaster pursues justice for Australian women murder victims
- Hedley Thomas, investigative journalist and author, talks about corrupt cops, marrying in Hong Kong and making a difference through podcasts
My mum could tell a great story by adding things that may or may not have happened. Dad was a stickler for details and precision, as you’d probably expect from a military pilot.
That combination possibly helped me in terms of trying to be a storyteller who could keep people interested while also adhering to the facts.
My dad was a pilot for the Royal Australian Air Force. He was sent on secondment to Sheppard Air Force Base, in Wichita Falls, in Texas, to train United States pilots. It was there that I was conceived and born, in 1967.
When I was nine months old, we returned to Australia, to the nation’s capital, Canberra, where dad continued working for the air force. I have an older sister, Peta, and two younger sisters, Rebecca and Kate.
Papers please
As a young child, I remember The Australian, the national daily paper and the paper I now work for, spread across the carpet at home while Mum or Dad pored over it. My younger sister and I clambered across the pages trying to get their attention.
