Catherine Ellen Martin (1918 – 17 April 2009) was a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

for ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' newspaper from 1957, specialising in medical reporting. The winner of the inaugural

Gold Walkley The Gold Walkley is the major award of the Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic ...

, Martin is known for her reporting the impact of

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

related diseases on the mining community in

Wittenoom Gorge Wittenoom is a declared contaminated site and former townsite north-north-east of Perth, in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The declared contaminated site comprises , making it the "largest contaminated site i ...

that led to the company

James Hardie James Hardie Industries plc is a global building materials company and the largest global manufacturer of fibre cement products. Headquartered in Ireland, it is a dual-listed company, being listed on the Australian and New York Stock Exchanges. ...

being found in the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...

guilty of misleading conduct and failing to meet its obligations over its handling of asbestos compensation.

Biography

Martin was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and emigrated to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

together with her

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

born husband. Following his premature death and faced with the challenge of raising three children, Martin sought and gained work with ''The Western Australian''. In 1978 she began investigating the high incidence of death and disease among workers at the Australian

Blue Asbestos Riebeckite is a sodium-rich member of the amphibole group of silicate minerals, chemical formula Na2(Fe2+3Fe3+2)Si8O22(OH)2. It forms a solid solution series with magnesioriebeckite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system, usually as long prism ...

mine at Wittenoom Gorge. Martin was able to access a study by Professor Michael Hobbs, a

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

epidemiologist, of the mine workers and their families. This study found a high incidence of illness and death from asbestos-related diseases among the small number of workers in the sample. Between 1947 and 1967 when the mine was closed more than 6500 people had been employed at Wittenoom. Nearly half the workers had been European migrants, some of whom had returned to their homelands. In 1978 the effects of

pleural The pleural cavity, pleural space, or interpleural space is the potential space between the pleurae of the pleural sac that surrounds each lung. A small amount of serous pleural fluid is maintained in the pleural cavity to enable lubrication bet ...

abnormalities and other asbestos-related diseases were beginning to show up in the former mine workers. Martin's front-page story for ''The West Australian'' won a

Walkley Walkley is a suburb of Sheffield, England, west of Burngreave, south of Hillsborough and north-east of Crookes. The area consists mainly of Victorian stone-fronted terraced housing and has a relatively high student population. It also has a ...

award and she produced a series of another nine articles highlighting the impact on workers and their families.

Awards

Martin was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) on 12 June 1982 for services to medical journalism. She had won numerous awards for journalism including the Walkley four times, the

Arthur Lovekin Prize in Journalism The Arthur Lovekin Prize for Excellence in Journalism is an annual journalism award in Western Australia. The Prize was established with the University of Western Australia in 1928 by journalist, newspaper owner and politician, Arthur Lovekin, ...

five times, and a number of

Australian Medical Association The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is an Australian public company by guarantee formed as a professional association for Australian doctors and medical students. The association is not run by the Australian Government and does not regul ...

awards. Martin received the inaugural Gold Walkley in 1978.

Legacy

The Judith Neilson Institute Journalist-in-Residence Program named one of its two positions after Martin.

References

External links

Walkley Awards

Obituary
in

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Catherine Ellen 1918 births 2009 deaths Writers from Perth, Western Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire The West Australian Walkley Award winners 20th-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian writers 21st-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian writers

Biography

Awards

Legacy

See also

References

External links