Colleen Egan
{{Short description|Australian journalist and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name =
| honorific-suffix = MLA
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| assembly = Western Australian Legislative
| constituency_AM = Thornlie
| term_start = 8 March 2025
| term_end =
| predecessor = Chris Tallentire
| successor =
| majority =
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|31|1998|11}}{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/reluctant-crusader-20100626-zb2a.html|title=Reluctant crusader|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Liz|last=Porter|date=27 June 2010|accessdate=1 March 2025}}
| birth_place = Perth, Western Australia{{cite news|url=https://www.yourlocalexaminer.com.au/wa-labor-names-new-thornlie-candidate/|title=WA Labor names new Thornlie candidate|work=Gosnells Examiner|first=Liam|last=Murphy|date=15 January 2025|accessdate=1 March 2025}}
| death_date =
| party = Labor
| website =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = {{hlist|Politician|journalist|political staffer}}
}}
Colleen Egan is an Australian politician and former journalist. She is member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the electoral district of Thornlie. A member of the Labor Party, she won her seat at the 2025 Western Australian state election. Egan was editor at The West Australian newspaper and notably played a role in obtaining the acquittal of Andrew Mallard, who had been wrongfully convicted of murder, for which she won a Walkley Award in 2006. She also unwittingly contributed to the political downfall of Western Australian Liberal powerbroker Noel Crichton-Browne when he made inappropriate sexual comments to her at a Liberal Party conference.ABC Radio National's Media Report programme of [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/mstories/mr100802.htm Thursday, 10 August 1995] and from Crikey (crikey.com.au) on Thursday, 12 June 2008 - A Crikey list: [http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20080612-MPs-behaving-badly-a-Crikey-list.html MPs Behaving Badly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614234253/http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20080612-MPs-behaving-badly-a-Crikey-list.html |date=14 June 2008 }}.
History
Egan, who has principally been employed as a print journalist by The Sunday Times, first established herself as an investigative journalist in 2000 when her exclusive interviews with terrorist Jack Roche were published in The Australian.{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/26/1038274302464.html |title=Article from Sydney Morning Herald website, dated 27 November 2002 |accessdate= 17 June 2008 | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=27 November 2002}} Her work has since taken her to London, covering trials at the Old Bailey, and back to Perth as a weekly columnist for The Sunday Times. She is now Chief of Staff for WA Attorney General John Quigley.
Egan was approached in 1998 by the family of Andrew Mallard who had been convicted and detained in 1995 for the murder of jeweller Pamela Lawrence. Her subsequent investigations revealed that Mallard's conviction had been largely based on a forced confession. Her book on the case, Murderer No More: Andrew Mallard and the Epic Fight that Proved his Innocence, was published by Allen & Unwin in June 2010."[http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781742371177 Murderer No More: Andrew Mallard and the Epic Fight that Proved his Innocence]" by Colleen Egan, published by Allen & Unwin in June 2010.
Egan worked as chief of staff for Western Australian Attorney-General John Quigley from 2017 to 2023, and ran a candidate for the seat of Thornlie in the 2025 Western Australian state election.{{cite web |date=5 January 2025 |title=Attorney-General John Quigley's former Chief of Staff Colleen Egan pulls election surprise |url=https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/attorney-general-john-quigleys-former-chief-of-staff-colleen-egan-pulls-election-surprise-c-17300732 |url-access=subscription |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250106074319/https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/attorney-general-john-quigleys-former-chief-of-staff-colleen-egan-pulls-election-surprise-c-17300732 |archivedate=6 January 2025 |accessdate=1 March 2025 |work=The West Australian}} In the 2025 Western Australian state election, she was elected in Thornlie, succeeding Chris Tallentire.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-08 |title=Thornlie - WA Electorate, Candidates, Results |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/wa/2025/guide/thor |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.abc.net.au |language=en-AU}}
Awards
- Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism for 2006 for her role in the acquittal of Andrew Mallard.
- News Limited's 2007 Sir Keith Murdoch Award for Journalism, also for the eight-year investigation that led to the acquittal of Andrew Mallard.
- 2011, Davitt Award for Murderer No More
See also
References
External links
- Transcript from Radio National Media Report programme, featuring [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/mstories/mr100802.htm interview with Colleen Egan] (Broadcast on Thursday, 10 August 1995).
- Walkley Awards website page for [https://web.archive.org/web/20080819055200/http://www.walkleys.com/winners/2006/winners/egan.html Colleen Egan]
{{Authority control}}{{WACurrentMLAs}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, Colleen}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Date of birth missing (living people)
Category:Australian columnists
Category:Journalists from Western Australia
Category:Politicians from Perth, Western Australia
Category:Walkley Award winners
Category:Australian non-fiction crime writers
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia
Category:Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Category:Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly