It's a year since Guardian Australia launched. Mary Hamilton looks back at the amazing, intriguing, powerful and outright hilarious highlights of our first year

The Red Wedding award for sudden yet inevitable betrayal

After kicking off her relationship with Guardian Australia by admitting that she speaks Dothraki and is barracking for the Khaleesi, Julia Gillard continued her tribute to Game of Thrones by penning a piece on power, purpose and Labor’s future that was almost as long (though not quite as bloody) as the books themselves.



A Saturday morning read published the weekend after Labor lost the 2013 election, Gillard's essay was the first time she had spoken about the leadership spill and being swept aside as prime minister:

Losing power is felt physically, emotionally, in waves of sensation, in moments of acute distress.”

Months later, in her review of the first episode of the new series, Gillard admitted that – like most of us, really – she wouldn’t have minded a few dragons at hand while she was in office.



Most educational Thomas the Tank Engine impression

Awarded to Labor's infrastructure and transport spokesman, Anthony Albanese, for attacking the Liberal government’s infrastructure funding using only a pen, a whiteboard, and a cheery “toot, toot” noise.

Most impressive transformation from shambolic laughing stock to dead-eyed cricketing assassins

When Guardian Australia launched, the national cricket team was a squad of self-destructing pub fighters who wouldn’t know a century if it hit them in the face. A hundred times. They duly lost the Ashes in England before a remarkable turnaround inspired by Mitchell Johnson’s destructive bowling and Brad Haddin’s nuggety genius led to a whitewash of England in the return series. What came next was arguably more impressive as they travelled to face South Africa, the world’s No 1 team, in their own backyard. Australia won the series 2-1 on a thrilling final day in the deciding Test.

Injured butterfly award for most depressing yet beautifully photographed story

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Great Barrier Reef, which is threatened by dredging, dumping and climate change. Photograph: Robert Harding Picture Library/Alamy

There has been a flurry of fear about the future of the Great Barrier Reef, with dredging and dumping from the Abbot Point port project the focus of much concern. Mike Bowers, Christian Bennett and Oliver Milman created an obituary of sorts, in the form of a gorgeously rich multimedia article that digs deeply into the reef’s past, present and uncertain future.

Most dignified response to idiocy

Adam Goodes rose above racist abuse from a fan and then a crass joke from Collingwood's president, Eddie McGuire. He was later named as Australian of the Year although, sadly, that didn’t stop the abuse.

Bladder control award for longest continuous liveblog

Awarded to assistant editor Alex Needham for Triple J's Hottest 100, which he liveblogged continuously for eight and a half hours without leaving his desk. We're not sure how.

Most enormous balls on a merino

The royals meet a ram at the Royal Easter show. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Enough said.

Most enormous balls on a wicket

Awarded to the South Australia bowler Darren Worrall, whose career as a cricketer remains significantly more illustrious than his career as an artist.



Most versatile live blogger

Won by Katharine Murphy, for switching elegantly from her Canberra focus in the politics live blog to blogging the Eurovision song contest without missing a beat. Experience in covering overly dramatic stage shows and divas of all kinds may have helped.

Cutest monster

First Dog on the Moon's adorable, unloved budget

Awarded to the poor, sad, unloved 2014 budget.

Spilled drinks award for awkward timing



On the evening of 26 June 2013, Guardian Australia was all set to hold its Canberra launch party. Unfortunately, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd had other ideas.

Patron of the arts award

When they discovered that sponsors Transfield ran the detention camps on Manus Island, numerous artists threatened to pull out of the Sydney Biennale – which led to the Biennale and Transfield severing their relationship.



In response, the arts minister, George Brandis, said artists who turned down corporate sponsorship – no matter how mucky the source – shouldn't get any government funding either.



Infomercial of the year

Won by A Rational Fear, for championing the best approach to social media if you can't criticise your employer but you can be a bigot.

Separated at birth award for interchangeable rhetoric

A tricky one to award, with entrants including odd couple Eddie Obeid and Tony Soprano, and deadly duo Bob Carr and Patrick Bateman. But the winners have to be Ayn Rand and Gina Rinehart, for their almost-identical approaches to the selfishness of man, tax increases and the private sector. Rand's poetry was probably better though.



The Braveheart rallying cry award

At the coming World Cup, the Socceroos face Spain, Holland and Chile in a group of death so deadly it may as well have been drawn by the Grim Reaper sitting in a lake of cyanide while listening to death metal’s greatest hits. So you think they’d need a few former players to encourage them before flying out to Brazil. Step forward former Socceroos captain Paul Wade.

"Something happens when you walk across that white line," Wade said before Australia named their squad for the World Cup. "As a footballer, we talk about the green and gold. As a footballer, you have pride in yourself and your performance and helping your mates out. That all comes into play.”

Yes! Aussie mateship! And the green and gold! And pride! And the southern cross! And Mitch Johnson! Even though he plays cricket! Give us some more, Paul!

"But right now, without doubt, we're going to get hammered."

Germaine Greer award for destroying the joint

Awarded to Tony Abbott on two counts: firstly for destroying language and meaning with the revelation that he is a feminist, and secondly for proudly destroying the gender binary itself as Australia’s minister for women.

Scooby Doo award for biggest mystery

Lost: 10 tonne, three-storey mango. Photograph: Bowen Tourism

The town of Bowen was shaken to its core in February by the unexpected revelation that its giant mango had been stolen overnight. Thanks to Guardian Australia’s expert metadata investigative work, the true culprits were eventually revealed as spicy chicken purveyors Nando's and not the enterprising if short-sighted chutney merchants we were all secretly hoping for.



Most emotional parting

Awarded en masse to the Canberra political bureau, the editor, the deputy editor, the production editor, First Dog on the Moon, two subeditors and the audience development editor, for leaving their phones behind and entering, voluntarily and almost without sobbing, into the budget lockup for six hours without the internet. For a digital-only news team, this was a little like being in purgatory.



Bang on 7.30pm, the team came out with a scream of "what have we missed?!", and immediately published approximately 1,500 stories about the budget in no time flat – on unemployed young people, the $7 GP fee and the probable impact on Lego families, among other things – before settling down to a traditional evening's liveblogging while cradling their iPhones and swearing never to be parted again. Until next year, of course.

Calmest reporter

Awarded to reporter Bridie Jabour, who was told to calm down by Tony Abbott after she questioned him about claiming $9,000 in travel expenses while promoting his book. Video of the event went viral, leading to almost everyone on Twitter joining the prime minister in suggesting she calm down. Since the exchange she has been a model of impeccable equanimity at all times.

Best dog

Awarded with merit to First Dog on the Moon, who joined Guardian Australia in April along with Brenda the Civil Disobedience Penguin, Ian the Climate Denialist Potato and Arthur the Bilby.

Worst dog

Awarded to the dog that attacked a toddler this month in California and was resoundingly beaten and chased off by a heroic cat.

Award for proficiency in one-handed typing (sponsored by Kleenex)

Won by Barracuda author Christos Tsiolkas, who told a startled audience at Sydney writers' festival the key to writing a good sex scene is to "write the first draft, orgasm, and then start editing". His interviewer, David Marr, went on to acclaim him as the best writer about masturbation in contemporary literature.



Golden clock award for timing a controversial announcement for 5.15pm on a Friday

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Australian politics during the past year, it’s that Friday evening is the best time to announce bad news, controversial policies or other things you’d rather not have anyone pay attention to. Whether it’s deciding to strip Tasmania’s forests of protection so they can be logged, or announcing that no asylum seekers who arrive by boat will be resettled in Australia, both Labor and Coalition seem to agree that if journalists have a busy evening planned, it’s best to disrupt it with a late-breaking story.

The final award can’t be given to just one story. Instead it goes to Friday 20 December, the Friday before Christmas, when Clive Palmer’s mine was given the go-ahead, internal reviews into three asylum seeker boat sinkings were released, and we all ate candy canes at our desks.

Most moving interview

Speaking out: Everlyn Sampi. Photograph: Guardian

In 2002 Everlyn Sampi starred in Rabbit-Proof Fence. Having not spoken to the media for a decade, she gave an interview to the Guardian about being abused as a child, her pride in her performance, and her turbulent life since the film.

She became such a hero as an actress, but the story she's telling now, about her life is even greater act of bravery."

Most incredible story of survival against the odds

In 2013, violent bushfires ripped through Tasmania and engulfed the town of Dunalley. The Holmes family sheltered beneath a jetty while the fires raged all around. The photograph of that moment was shared around the world.

When Guardian Australia launched, we also launched Firestorm, an interactive, multimedia exploration of that day, the causes and consequences of the fires, and of the Holmes family, who spoke publicly to us for the first time. Late last year that work was honoured with a Walkley award for multimedia storytelling – our first.

The hand jive award for public speaking

Awarded to Kevin Rudd for his superb performance at the first leaders’ debate before the election.

Chairman's scholarship for design

Awarded to Frances Abbott, on merit.

Operational matters award for services to press freedom

Won by Scott Morrison's media team for redacting 23 questions – mostly from Guardian Australia – in the official transcript of an Operation Sovereign Borders press conference, at which the immigration minister was pushed on a damning letter from doctors on Christmas Island detailing the state of medical malpractice.

"We've had about half a dozen questions from the Guardian today, we might take a few from others," Morrison told the media.



Misplaced bravery award for facing down a dead-eyed cricketing assassin

After criticising the England team’s Ashes performance, Piers “the human wicket” Morgan faced an over from Brett Lee and proved once and for all that Twitter has consequences, that schadenfreude isn’t always satisfying, and that people shouldn't stand in front of Australia’s bowlers without specialist training.

Organic quinoa award for most Guardian headline

Named for the British article “Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa?”, this award celebrates headlines that encapsulate both lifestyle and geopolitical issues in a quintessentially Guardian way. “CrossFit: the new fitness craze has a lot to tell us about late western capitalism” was, we felt, a particularly strong Australian winner this year.

Special consideration also goes to Jimmy the Exploder, for the first recorded use of “mate” in a Guardian Australia headline.

Three word award

Stop the boats. A new way. A stronger Australia. A brighter future. Three-word slogans: best for politics, before the election. Build your own.

More tea, vicar? award for family-friendly film

Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler's River of Fundament. Photograph: Hugh Glendinning/Gladstone Gallery

For Matthew Barney's five-and-a-half hour River of Fundament, which made its Australian debut at the Adelaide festival. Scenes included people defecating, a close-up of an anus being licked, Barney being buggered by a golden dildo and a snogging session between two pregnant women that culminated in one removing her glass eye and sticking it up the other one’s backside.

Big Brother award for advancement towards a dystopian future

The primary recipient of this award is, of course, the US National Security Agency, for its services to internet surveillance, which have been revealed by Edward Snowden in the Guardian and other publications. However, special mention goes to the Australian intelligence agency which in 2008 offered to share information collected about ordinary Australian citizens with its major intelligence partners, and which also tried to monitor mobile phone calls made by the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and his wife.



Most #straya event of the year

“A man has escaped conviction and kept his licence after driving a motorised esky to McDonald's while drunk on pineapple vodkas and low-carb beers.”

Return of the King award for roadkill toupee

Awarded to assistant news editor Ian J Griffiths, who slipped into a white and gold jumpsuit and headed to the 22nd annual Parkes Elvis festival this year in search of the spirit of Elvis Presley.

Best thing on Twitter award

Since we launched, Guardian Australia has invited the changing hosts of the IndigenousX Twitter feed to answer a few questions each week on Comment is Free. Warren Mundine, chair of the Indigenous Advisory Council, NCIE chairman Jason Glanville and writer Siv Parker have joined dozens of others at the helm and spoken about their passions and hopes.

Most creative redefinition of a progressive Australian digital news site

Most committed attempt to define reporting as advertising

See above.

Tin foil extravaganza award for most challenging arts review

In March Alex Needham was tasked with reviewing Tectonics Live, a two-day festival of avant garde and classical music. The first day lasted five hours, but the second went on from 2pm to 11pm and involved such challenging turns as Crys Cole, whose ambient improvisational piece sounded like someone rustling a bag of crisps for 25 minutes; Marco Fusinato, half an hour of feedback played at savagely loud volume, and Hammers Lake, which featured a women screaming, then spitting into a piece of tin foil.



Silver lining award

Picture the scene: election day, 2013. After a hot Saturday out at the polls, the whole country was glued to the television – and the internet – watching and waiting as Kevin Rudd prepared to zip for the final time. There were graphs! There were sausages! There was Jaymes Diaz, who only hasn’t been given his own awards here because he swept the board at Christmas!

Finally, as everyone expected, Tony Abbott was announced as the new prime minister, and Ben Pobjie provided this handy cut-out-and-keep guide to getting through the next four years. It remains excellent advice, though Guardian Australia would like to remind you to follow point 10 responsibly.

Fastest reverse ferret



In an early interview with Guardian Australia's political editor Lenore Taylor, Julie Bishop claimed that the Coalition – then in opposition – had privately indicated that Indonesia would cooperate on the plan to turn back asylum seeker boats from Australian waters. But after the story was published she claimed it was a “beat-up” and that she had been selectively quoted. Guardian Australia published the relevant section of the interview in full.

Inigo Montoya award for using words that do not mean what you think they mean



Awarded for the repeated use of the phrase “convicted jihadist terrorist” to describe Sayed Abdellatif, an Egyptian asylum seeker who turned out not to be anything of the sort.

Amanda Huggenkiss award for best byline

Awarded to writer and film-maker Jimmy the Exploder, for obvious reasons.



Open gap award

Before the election, Helen Davidson visited two Indigenous communities in Darwin, Bagot and One Mile, to find out how the coming election would affect them. The answer seemed to be that it would make little difference; power and water were more pressing problems.

I guess you need to be more interested in what happens in the election, and whoever gets in. But then again politicians and whoever gets in needs to be interested in the issues that Aboriginal people are facing in these communities.”

Grauniad award for subediting excellence

The AFR wins this by a landslide for the front page of its special extended weekend Anzac Day edition, which sums up one story with the eloquent phrase "World is fukt".

Big data award

In February, Guardian Australia revealed that the Department of Immigration had accidentally provided the personal details of 10,000 asylum seekers as part of a publicly available document. This data breach – one of the most serious in Australia’s history – was compounded when Scott Morrison subsequently revealed the name and previous location of the document in press releases and interviews, claiming that it was not “in an easily accessible format in the public domain”.

Light the Dark award



Light The Dark Vigil at Federation Square Melbourne One minute silence to honour and remember Reza Barati at Melbourne's Federation Square

The death of Reza Barati, an Iranian asylum seeker, amid violent disturbances at the detention centre on Manus Island, sent shockwaves through Australia. In the days after his death, details about the involvement of G4S guards and local PNG police began to emerge, as did the first video footage of the night, showing a makeshift hospital for those who had been injured. His distraught family spoke about his hopes for his life in Australia:



He went to Australia to seek refuge from his land of dreams, where he could have a life and study but instead he was held in captivity and killed.”

In the aftermath, Get Up organised candlelight vigils across Australia, and dozens of Guardian Australia readers sent us images of Light the Dark gatherings, large and small.

Harmless metadata award for oversharing

Awarded to Oliver Laughland for selflessly sharing the intimate details of his internet use for 24 hours, to see what Guardian Australia commenters could uncover about his private life. This metadata – which is collected by the US National Security Agency and Asio, among others – encompasses a great deal more than simply “billing data” as Tony Abbott claimed at the time, and may put the relationship between journalists and their sources at risk.

Blisteringly sarcastic award for scathing rage

Awarded to Scott Ludlam, largely because we're now scared of him.

Emperor Nero award for scientific rigor

Won jointly by Greg Hunt for his use of Wikipedia- rather than his own department's research - to conclude there was no link between last October's bushfires and climate change, and by Tony Abbott for calling such suggestions "complete hogwash" and for his masterful summation of carbon emissions trading:

It's a market, a so-called market, in the non-delivery of an invisible substance to no one."

Meanwhile, 2013 was Australia's hottest year on record.

Below the line award for commenting excellence

Awarded to Vecsatious for this thoughtful and compassionate comment on the effects of unemployment and working for the dole.

Behind every statistic there is a real human being, with real problems and issues, unemployed people should not be treated as 'cases' and 'placed' on to work schemes, there will always be people in our society who have slipped through the cracks, our job is not to punish them or demonise them in the media, our job is to provide proper services that will really help them get back on track.”

Biggest welcome

In true Time Magazine style, our final award goes to you, and to all of our other readers, for the warm welcome we've received into Australia. Thanks to all of you for an excellent year – and here's to many more ahead. Now, what have we missed?