Selling Fast

DNA Disaster: The Judge and the Journalist

Sat 13 May 2023

Matthew Condon + Hedley Thomas + Walter Sofronoff

The Edge Auditorium, slq

Main Festival

BWF078

#Performances

#About the event

Duration: 60 minutes

In his recent hit podcast Shandee's Story, renowned investigative journalist Hedley Thomasexposed one of the greatest travesties in the administration of criminal justice in Queensland’s history. His work triggered an inquiry by retired judge and brilliant legal mind Walter Sofronoffand the total revamp of the state’s DNA testing laboratory, costing the government millions of dollars. For the first time, Thomas and Sofronoff publicly discuss this epochal case. Session curated by Matthew Condon, Presented by The University of Queensland.

#Sponsored by

The University of Queensland

#Artists

Matthew Condon

Matthew Condon is a prize-winning Australian novelist and journalist. He began his journalism career with the Gold Coast Bulletin in 1984 and subsequently worked for leading newspapers and journals including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun-Herald, Melbourne’s Sunday Age and The Courier-Mail. He has written ten books of fiction, including The Trout Opera and is the author of the bestselling true-crime trilogy about Queensland crime and corruption – Three Crooked Kings (2013), Jacks and Jokers (2014), All Fall Down (2015) and Little Fish are Sweet (2016). His most recent book is The Night Dragon (2019). He is the host of two true crime podcasts – Ghost Gate Road and Dig: Sirens Are Coming.

Hedley Thomas

Hedley Thomas, The Australian’s national chef correspondent, is an investigative journalist, author and true-crime podcaster. Hedley has won eight Walkley Awards including two Gold Walkleys. For his reporting through 2022, he received the Graham Perkin Award as Australia’s Journalist of the Year.

His first job in newspapers was as a copyboy on the Gold Coast Bulletin when he finished high school in December 1984. Hedley worked as a journalist covering tumultuous news events in London, Europe and Hong Kong for eight years. He and his wife Ruth have lived in a semi-rural community near Brisbane since 1999.

His investigations since 2017 have attempted to solve cold case murders of Australian women. Hedley pursued Chris Dawon for the 2018 global smash hit podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, leading to the former star footballer finally being found guilty 40 years after the 1982 murder of his wife, Lyn. His other podcasts are Shandee’s Story, Shandee’s Legacy, The Night Driver, The Teacher’s Trial and The Teacher’s Accuser. His first book was Sick To Death in 2007.

In October 2023, his book The Teacher’s Pet book was released. If you thought you knew the story of The Teacher's Pet, get ready to be shocked. Hedley Thomas takes you behind the scenes with a blow-by-blow account of one of the most intriguing and enduring murder mysteries of our time - the crime, the podcast investigation, the sexual exploitation of teenage students, the courtroom drama - and how justice was finally delivered.

Hedley’s podcasts have achieved more than 100 million downloads and have topped charts in Australia, the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

Hedley Thomas’s dedication to investigative reporting has shaped narratives, exposed hidden truths, and honoured the memories of those whose stories deserve to be told.

Walter Sofronoff

Walter Sofronoff was a barrister for 39 years. During that period he was Queensland's Solicitor General. He served 5 years as President of the Queensland Court of Appeal. He flies a vintage aerobatic bi-plane.