Madonna
King

Speaker Profile

An award winning journalist, Madonna King is one of Queensland's best-known and regarded commentators and authors. Her weekly column in The Courier-Mail - on issues ranging from the Big Brother phenomenon to the future of our Constitution - is compulsory reading for the State's decision makers. After reading one of them, the State Government handed over a $350,000 cheque to the Royal Children's Hospital. Others, which have revealed battlers fighting injustices, have led to the law being overhauled.

It was legal injustices that became the subject when Madonna embarked on a career as an author. Her first book Catalyst, based on interviews with more than 130 people, looks at how individuals can join with the media to force politicians to right a wrong. Inside Bali 9: The Untold Story was Madonna's second book, co-authored with journalist Cindy Wockner.

A graduate of the University of Queensland and a fellow of the World Press Institute, Madonna's 20 year career has taken her from the police rounds desk of The Courier-Mail to the ABC mornings on 612, the State’s leading current affairs radio program.

Along the way, she has served as national political correspondent for The Courier-Mail, Queensland political correspondent for The Australian, chief-of-staff of The Australian's Sydney office, led the editorial Olympics planning for News Ltd newspapers, headed up the editorial plan for a free metropolitan newspaper in Australia and served three years as deputy editor of Sydney's Daily Telegraph.

A former visiting fellow in journalism at the Queensland University of Technology and Board member of the Walkley Advisory Board which oversees the industry's media awards, Madonna has interviewed everyone from Prime Ministers and Premiers to convicted murderers and armed robbers.

In 2011 Madonna finished her work with ABC to concentrate on writing another book, her family, and being a prominent MC within the conference and event industry. Her exceptional preparation work comes to the fore with the hypotheticals and panel sessions she is so well known for. This positions Madonna at an elite level within the industry.

Travels from Queensland