Luke Anthony Hunt (born 2 July 1962) is an Australian journalist, war correspondent and academic.

Biography

Hunt was born in Caulfield, Victoria, to Winifred Monica Hunt (nee Hayes) and Brian James Hunt, in 1962. He attended Mazenod College and

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn P ...

, where he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts in journalism The Bachelor of Journalism (B.J.) degree is a degree awarded at some universities to students who have studied journalism in a three or four year undergraduate program. In the United States, some schools that do not award the B.J. degree instead c ...

and a Masters of Arts in defence, and was named editor of the student newspaper ''Planet''. Hunt was hired by the

Australian Associated Press Australian Associated Press (AAP) is an Australian news agency. It was established by Keith Murdoch in 1935. AAP employs around 80 journalists who work in bureaus in all states and territories of Australia except the Northern Territory. It a ...

(AAP) as a cadet and moved quickly through the ranks in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Sydney and Canberra before joining Agence France-Presse (AFP) in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, where he covered the end of the

British empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading post ...

and was dispatched to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

as bureau chief during

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pas ...

rule. Hunt covered Taliban offensives in 1997 and 1998, launched against Ahmad Shah Masood and his Northern Alliance. While there he was charged with espionage and told by Taliban Information Minister Mutmaeen Mutawakkil he would "be executed on the football pitch" in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Ac ...

. However, Hunt was found not guilty in a Sharia court after a lengthy interrogation and was later commended by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

special envoy Lahkdar Brahimi for the 'best and most insightful' coverage of the civil war. He returned to cover the US invasion and occupation of

following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

and was embedded with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Forces during the

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

where he rose in prominence with his coverage for AFP and CNN as marines crossed the Diyala River and entered

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

. He was embedded with the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operat ...

on a second tour later the same year. Asked in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...

why the US was invading

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, Hunt replied: "There's beer in Baghdad" amid a gaggle of war correspondents. "It became a battle cry for reporters sent to this dusty, alcohol-free region so far from home." Hunt has covered the Indian/Pakistan conflict over Kashmir, the Sri Lankan civil war and the border conflict between

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

, which erupted at Preah Vihear in early 2008 when Hunt became a freelancer. He has also covered the ongoing running

Khmer Rouge Tribunal The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC; french: Chambres extraordinaires au sein des tribunaux cambodgiens (CETC); km, អង្គជំនុំជម្រះវិសាមញ្ញក្នុងតុលាការ� ...

since its inception. LHWIKIPHOTO

He has since written for ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' magazine, ''Far East Economic Review'', ''The Times'' of London, ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'', ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'' and ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territo ...

'' in Melbourne. Hunt has maintained a sharp focus on

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

since arriving in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

as the Cold War was ending. His exclusive interviews with Gen. Pham Xuan An, Gen. Tran Van Tra, Tran Bach Dang and

Khieu Samphan Khieu Samphan ( km, ខៀវ សំផន; born 28 July 1931) is a Cambodian former communist politician and economist who was the chairman of the state presidium of Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) from 1976 until 1979. As such, he served as ...

led to the publication of his second book ''The Punji Trap''. However, it was his experience in

that enabled him to specialise in

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...

and

jihadi Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, We ...

groups, like

Jemaah Islamiyah Jemaah Islamiyah ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) is a Southeast Asian militant extremist Islamist terrorist group based in Indonesia, which i ...

, in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

spending four years based out of Malaysian Borneo and a further seven years working from

. In Phnom Penh, Hunt was appointed as an academic program professor by Pannasastra University where he wrote the course War, Media and International Relations. He writes regularly about Southeast Asian affairs for UCAsia News and ''The Diplomat'', reports for

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

and AAP, and is a regular on radio in Australia and

. Hunt is a former president and life member of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia. He is also a founding member of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Malaysia and a former board member of the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong. In his work for ''The Diplomat'', Hunt hosts a semi-regular

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

where he talks to journalists, academics and Southeast Asian specialists.

Awards

* Shared, Certificate of Special Merit for Outstanding Contribution, Hong Kong Human Rights Press Awards 2015 * Finalist Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) 2015 * Gold prize SOPA, Excellence in Human Rights Reporting 2014 * Gold prize (shared) World Association of Newspapers best feature 2013

Publications

* ''Barings Lost: Nick Leeson and the collapse of Barings plc'' (1996, with Karen Heinrich) * ''Punji Trap: Pham Xuan An, the spy who didn't love us'' (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Luke 1962 births Living people 21st-century Australian journalists 20th-century Australian journalists Male journalists 21st-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian male writers Writers from Melbourne Australian war correspondents Australian expatriates in Iraq Deakin University alumni Australian expatriates in Vietnam Australian expatriates in Afghanistan Australian expatriates in Cambodia Australian podcasters Agence France-Presse journalists Australian expatriates in Hong Kong Australian expatriates in Malaysia War correspondents of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) People of the Iraq War People from Caulfield, Victoria