18 Facts About Sean Dorney

Sean Christopher Dorney was born on 8 March 1951 and is an Australian journalist, foreign correspondent, and writer with an extensive career covering the Pacific with a particular focus on Papua New Guinea.

Sean Dorney was the Pacific and PNG Correspondent of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on and off from 1975 to 2014.

Sean Dorney's father was a surgeon who served with the Australian Army during the Second World War including in Papua New Guinea.

Sean Dorney then attended St Joseph's Nudgee College in Brisbane from 1964 to 1968 and then studied economics at James Cook University in 1969 to 1970.

Sean Dorney was an editor of the James Cook University student newspaper which secured him a cadetship at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Sean Dorney then worked at the former National Broadcasting Commission in Port Moresby.

In 1984, Sean Dorney was deported by the Papua New Guinea Government for his role in the Four Corners interview of James Nyaro, a West Papuan rebel commander fighting the Indonesian Government.

In 1985 Sean Dorney left the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to work as a press secretary in the Northern Territory Government for 18 months.

In 2009 Sean Dorney was deported from Fiji for his reporting on Frank Bainimarama's abrogation of the country's constitution.

Sean Dorney served as an election monitor with the Commonwealth Observer Group during the 2017 Papua New Guinean general election.

Sean Dorney is a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute for International Policy.

Sean Dorney played halfback for James Cook University and later the Brisbane Wests Rugby.

Sean Dorney was a member of the Papua New Guinea national rugby league team in 1975 and 1976 including serving as its captain in his last game in 1976.

Sean Dorney was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1990 by the Papua New Guinean Government for his reporting on the Sandline affair.

Sean Dorney won a Walkley Award for his coverage of the Aitape tsunami in 1998.

Sean Dorney was recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2000 for "For service to journalism as a foreign correspondent".

Sean Dorney was recognised as a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in November 2018.

Sean Dorney married Pauline Nare, a radio journalist from Manus Island.