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ABC journalist Dan Oakes tries to adhere to the principle that journalists "shouldn't be in the news", so he was slightly embarrassed to be receiving an Australia Day award for his work.
Oakes, best known for his work on the Afghan Files with fellow journalist Sam Clark, has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to journalism, after a 20-year career at The Age newspaper and the ABC.
Oakes and Clark's in-depth seven-part series was based on leaked documents exposing alleged war crimes carried out by Australian special forces in the Afghanistan war.
In 2020 Commonwealth prosecutors considered three criminal charges relating to Oakes's reporting of the issue, but the Australian Federal Police (AFP) decided not to pursue the case.
In June 2019, AFP officers searched ABC computer systems for files linked to The Afghan Files.
A senior reporter with the ABC Investigations team since 2013, Oakes started his career at The Age newspaper in Melbourne, where he covered sport, defence and foreign affairs, police, and telecommunications.
He welcomed the award while acknowledging the irony of being an OAM recipient after the controversy surrounding his most well known work.
"I'm very proud of the work we did with the Afghan Files and I know that it did have a positive effect in that it helps bring some of this conduct to light," he said.
"If the OAM is at least partly due to that reporting then I do feel some sense of satisfaction."
He was motivated to become a journalist to "give a voice" and achieve something for those in the community who don't have one, he said.
"Ultimately that's the thing I'm most proud of having done over the years, and alot of the stories I'm most proud of are not necessarily the ones that have got any real publicity or follow up or generated any sort of great public outcry," he said.
Weather presenter gets a nod
After almost half a century in broadcast, Queensland weather presenter Jenny Woodward has been recognised in this year's Australia Day honours list.
Woodward, one of Australia's longest-serving weather presenters, has received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her service to broadcast media.
David Damien Parer (AO)
Former ABC cinematographer David Parer has been recognised with an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) award for his service to wildlife cinematography, literature and the environment.
Parer was director of photography, as well as producer and cameraman with the ABC's Natural History Unit between 1973 and 2008.
Parer has been a freelance specialist wildlife cameraman since 2009.