Paul Lockyer

Lockyer was the younger of two sons of Nona and Norman Lockyer. He was born and grew up on a farm near Corrigin, about {{convert|250|km|mi}} east of Perth. He later boarded at Aquinas College in Perth where he played hockey.{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/boy-from-the-bush-revelled-in-reporting-a-great-yarn-20110825-1jcbr.html#ixzz1W8dPdFsj |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=26 August 2011 |access-date=26 August 2011 |title=Boy from the bush revelled in reporting a great yarn |author=Martin, Ray |author-link=Ray Martin (television presenter) }}{{cite news |title= Tributes for three ABC men killed in air crash |author=Mendez, Torrance |author2=Yeap, Sue |newspaper=The Weekend West |location=Australia |date=20 August 2011 |page=16 }}{{cite news | url=http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/the-country-boy-with-bushy-brows-who-risked-his-life-for-a-story-20110819-1j19u.html | title=The country boy with bushy brows who risked his life for a story | work=WA Today | date=19 August 2011 | agency=Australian Associated Press| access-date=20 August 2011 | author=Styles, Aja}}

In 1969 at age 19, Lockyer became a cadet journalist with the Perth office of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), before moving to Sydney and then Canberra in the mid-1970s.{{cite news |url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/lockyer-a-humble-man-who-changed-lives-20110826-1jdfy.html |title=Lockyer a humble man who changed lives |author=Hayes, Isabel |date=26 August 2011 |access-date=26 August 2011 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |agency=AAP }}{{cite news |title=ABC journalist Paul Lockyer: great storyteller, true gent |url=http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/breaking-news/abc-journalist-paul-lockyer-great-storyteller-true-gent/story-e6frg12u-1226118021867 |newspaper=Perth Now |agency=AAP |date=19 August 2011 |access-date=18 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616081456/http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/breaking-news/abc-journalist-paul-lockyer-great-storyteller-true-gent/story-e6frg12u-1226118021867 |archive-date=16 June 2012}} In 1979 Lockyer became an ABC correspondent in Port Moresby and then Jakarta before a three-year posting in Bangkok. It was during this period that he reported on events following the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge killing fields. He was posted to Washington, D.C., where as ABC correspondent during the Reagan administration he covered Central and North America. Lockyer later returned to Asia, taking up a posting in ABC's Singapore office and reporting on the trial and subsequent execution of Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers on drug trafficking charges. Lockyer was nominated for a Gold Walkley award for his coverage of the trial and execution.{{citation needed|date=August 2011}}

In 1988 he joined the Nine Network in Sydney.{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/profiles/content/s1889124.htm?site=esperance |title=Paul Lockyer |work=ABC Esperance |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=19 August 2011}} Lockyer's reporting on a drought in eastern Australia in 1994 for A Current Affair was credited for inspiring the Farmhand Appeal.{{cite book |last1=Courtenay Botterill|first1=Linda |last2=Fisher |first2=Melanie |last3=Wahlquis |first3=Åsa |title=Beyond Drought: People, Policy and Perspectives |year=2003 |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |location=Australia |isbn=0-643-06954-2 |chapter=Media representations and public perceptions of drought}} He worked across a range of programs for the network including Sunday, Midday, and the Wide World of Sports.

After returning to the ABC in 1999, Lockyer won a Logie Award for Most Outstanding News Reporter in 2001 for his daily coverage of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.{{cite news | url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/logie-award-winners-2001/story-e6frev40-1111113462466 | title=Logie award winners 2001 | work=The Daily Telegraph |location=Australia |date=3 May 2007 | access-date=20 August 2011}} He later led ABC TV News coverage of the 2004 Athens Olympics and reported on the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the 7.30 Report.{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/profiles/content/s1889124.htm? |title=Paul Lockyer |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=4 April 2007 |access-date=26 August 2011 }} In 2005, Lockyer was the presenter for the ABC television news in Western Australia.

However, it was his coverage of rural stories that he was most passionate about.{{citation needed|date=September 2011}} Lockyer's was the first news team to report from Grantham in the Lockyer Valley in the aftermath of the 2010–2011 Queensland floods; for the first 24 hours he was the only reporter on the ground in Grantham.{{cite news |url=http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/tvinsider/index.php/theaustralian/comments/three_abc_staff_mourned |title=Three ABC staff mourned |work=The Australian |date=19 August 2011 |author=Scott, Mark |author-link=Mark Scott (businessman) |access-date=26 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014025821/http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/tvinsider/index.php/theaustralian/comments/three_abc_staff_mourned/ |archive-date=14 October 2011}} Lockyer also provided in depth coverage of the impact of Cyclone Yasi. Lockyer was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2003 for his coverage of rural issues, particularly the extensive drought and he was twice awarded the NSW Farmers' Association Mackellar Media prize for coverage of rural issues. Lockyer reported the 2006 rescue of two miners from Tasmania's Beaconsfield gold mine.

Lockyer's final story was an interview with Bob Lasseter, who is searching for Lasseter's Reef. Bob Lasseter is the son of Harold Lasseter, the man who claimed to have originally found the gold deposit. The story was broadcast on 7.30, on 29 August 2011.{{Cite episode |title=Paul Lockyer's final story |url=https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/paul-lockyers-final-story/2861514 |access-date=15 September 2011 |series=7.30 Report |series-link=7.30 Report |credits=Reporter: Paul Lockyer |network=ABC TV |airdate=29 August 2011 |transcript=true |transcript-url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3305107.htm }}

On 18 August 2011, Lockyer and two fellow ABC employees, pilot Gary Ticehurst and cameraman John Bean, died in a helicopter crash on the eastern shore of Lake Eyre in South Australia. The trio were on assignment filming a story about the lake.{{cite news |title=ABC mourns news crew killed in helicopter crash|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/abc-mourns-news-crew-killed-in-helicopter-crash-20110819-1j0n7.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |agency=AAP |date=19 August 2011 |access-date=19 August 2011 }}{{cite news |title=Investigators head to ABC chopper crash site |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-19/investigators-head-to-abc-chopper-crash-site/2847074|work=ABC News |location=Australia |date=19 August 2011 |access-date=19 August 2011}} The aircraft was an Aérospatiale Industries AS355F2 helicopter owned by the ABC. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau conducted an investigation into the fatal accident, finding the probable cause to be spatial disorientation of the pilot, during a period of high workload shortly after taking off for a VFR flight on a dark night.{{cite web|url=http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2011/aair/ao-2011-102.aspx|title=Investigation AO-2011-102 – Collision with terrain – Aérospatiale helicopter, AS355F2, VH-NTV, 145 km north of Marree, SA, 18 August 2011|date=16 September 2011|access-date=16 September 2011|publisher=Australian Transport Safety Bureau}} The accident was the first fatal accident involving a twin-engine helicopter in Australia since 1986.

Addressing Parliament, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, spoke of Lockyer's coverage of important events, his famous inland reports and his reporting of the 2010–2011 Queensland floods. She spoke of the dangers journalists were exposed to, saying "[They] took these risks and told these stories. They were true professionals and true gentlemen of the Australian media."{{cite news |title=Parliamentary tribute for lost ABC newsmen |author=Thompson, Jeremy |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-22/parliament-tribute-for-abc-newsmen/2850522 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=22 August 2011 |access-date=15 September 2011}}

The renowned artist John Olsen, who was a regular visitor to Lake Eyre, had been invited to be a member of the helicopter party, but declined due to ill-health.[http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-was-meant-to-be-on-that-helicopter-says-olsen-20110820-1j3j7.html Andrew Taylor, "I was meant to be on that helicopter, says Olsen"], Sydney Morning Herald, 21 August 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2017 He later offered a painting and a poem in memory of those killed.[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/john-olsen-offers-painting-and-poetry-in-honour-of-abcs-paul-lockyer/news-story/40d5eb14144e242ab1801a67babab702 Sallie Don, "John Olsen offers painting and poetry in honour of ABC's Paul Lockyer], The Australian, 24 March 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2017

One of Lockyer's two sons, Nick, is a sports journalist with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-26/lockyer-memorial-service/2856948|title=Lockyer memorial: 'a man of greatness'|publisher=ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)|date=26 August 2011|access-date=13 December 2016}}

• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2005/s1344759.htm |title=Feud continues over water |format=transcript |date=13 April 2005 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113075822/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2005/s1344759.htm |archive-date=13 November 2012}}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s2167123.htm |title=Floods reignite water feuds |format=transcript |date=19 February 2008 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2009/s2543808.htm |title=Agriculture holds strong against the recession |format=transcript |date=15 April 2009 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2009/s2574064.htm |title=Lake Eyre region blossoms after decade long drought |format=transcript |date=18 May 2009 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2926716.htm? |title=Explosion of life as rivers run in Central Australia |format=transcript |date=14 June 2010 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2986873.htm |title=150th anniversary of Burke and Wills |format=transcript |date=18 August 2010 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s3087343.htm |title=Nature's fury |format=transcript |date=7 December 2010 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s3096485.htm |title=Long wet summer |format=transcript |date=17 December 2010 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3107840.htm |title=St George swamped |format=transcript |date=6 January 2011 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3109998.htm |title=Flood deaths in Toowoomba |format=transcript |date=10 January 2011 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201101/r700509_5364414.asx |title=A Town in Shock |format=video |date=11 January 2011 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201101/r701744_5388501.asx |title=Lockyer Valley tragedy |format=video |date=13 January 2011 |work=7.30 Report |location=Australia }}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/programsales/s3221068.htm |title=After the Deluge |format=video |year=2011 |work=ABC1 |location=Australia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818094615/http://www.abc.net.au/programsales/s3221068.htm |archive-date=18 August 2011}}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/landline/old-site/content/2010/s3287463.htm |title=Return to Grantham |format=transcript |date=7 August 2011 |work=Landline (ABC TV) |location=Australia }}

• {{cite news |author=Eastley, Tony |author-link=Tony Eastley |url=http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201108/r816430_7350236.asx |title=Paul Lockyer remembered |format=video |date=19 August 2011 |work=Lateline |location=Australia }}

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Category:1950 births

Category:2011 deaths

Category:Accidental deaths in South Australia

Category:Australian television journalists

Category:Logie Award winners

Category:People educated at Aquinas College, Perth

Category:People from the Wheatbelt (Western Australia)

Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2011

Category:Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents in Australia