Police investigate the targeting of Gold Walkley winner Nick McKenzie’s home

Police are investigating the targeting of the home of one of the nation’s leading investigative journalists, Nick McKenzie, in an incident authorities suspect was designed to intimidate or silence the reporter.

The matter is being probed by local detectives and monitored by counter-organised crime officers from Taskforce Hawk, the special operation launched to investigate crime and corruption in the building industry.

On a recent morning this month, an offender entered McKenzie’s property and attempted to disable the home’s CCTV system.

Detectives have recovered CCTV footage of the incident that captures images of the suspect, who appears to have surveilled the property beforehand.

Law enforcement sources said the manner of the attack suggests it was designed to send a message to the reporter, who works for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes.

High-ranking officers from crime command have also been briefed on the incident and were being regularly updated on the ongoing investigation.

Police confirmed local area detectives with the assistance from Taskforce Hawk were investigating the burglary.

“It is believed an offender gained access to the roof of the residential property, tampering with the CCTV cables. Nobody was home at the time of the incident,” a police statement said.

Police urged anyone with any information or CCTV to contact Crime Stoppers.

The Age editor Patrick Elligett said intimidation of any reporter represented an attack on the entire media.

“We are working closely with authorities and our own security teams to respond to this concerning incident,” he said.

“Any effort to silence or intimidate a reporter is an outrageous attack on the freedom of the press, and we condemn it in the strongest terms.”

Elligett noted that McKenzie had conducted extensive reporting on crime and corruption in the building industry and CFMEU over the past 18 months, winning the nation’s highest journalism honour, the Gold Walkley, for his work.

Sydney Morning Herald editor Bevan Shields said the newsrooms were supporting McKenzie.

“Our newsrooms stand with Nick and stand by his brilliant work,” Shields said. “This very disturbing incident is a reminder of the difficulties our investigative reporters face simply by doing their jobs.”

Erin Madeley, chief executive of the Media and Entertainment & Arts Alliance, said McKenzie had the union’s support.

“While this is a police matter and the facts are yet to become clear, one thing is very clear – all workers deserve to be able to do their jobs safely, and journalists must be able to perform their jobs without fear, intimidation or harassment,” she said.

Intimidation and attacks have been common in the construction sector. McKenzie recently exposed a series of firebombings and attacks on the family homes and machinery owned by construction company directors.

McKenzie has also reported extensively on war crimes allegations, corruption in politics and business, and extremism.

Police urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit an online confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.

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