Three generations of the Murdoch family were on hand to launch the inaugural 2005 News Awards at a lavish presentation dinner in the new $60 million Advertiser Newspapers building.

The presence of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, her son Rupert - the chairman and chief executive of News Limited - her grandson Lachlan and other family members Janet Calvert-Jones, Prudence MacLeod and Geoff Handbury served as a reminder of the company’s Australian roots and the role of Australians who planted the seeds of its international success.

"Our roots are here, our entrepreneurial spirit springs from here," Mr Murdoch said in his introductory speech. "Australia is part of our past, present and future and that will never change," he said, expressing a desire to see new generations of Australians take the reins of senior management of News Corporation.

More than 260 guests, including South Australian Premier Mike Rann and News Corporation directors David Devoe, Peter Barnes and Ken Cowley, joined News Limited editors and the 12 individual News Awards finalists and their partners in a specially-constructed event room on what was an empty fourth level of the new Waymouth St building for the ceremony.

The tone of the night was set by News Limited chairman and chief executive John Hartigan who acknowledged the dedication and skill of editorial staffs across all the group’s publications.

Occasions like this allow us to stop and stand back for a change, to reflect on what we do and to acknowledge a job that is done to a high standard every day, and in some cases . . . done brilliantly," he said.

Rupert Murdoch’s speech

The chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, spoke with pride of the role Australians had played in building the company - and the role of future generations - at the News Awards ceremony.

"When we re-incorporated in America last year, I promised then that the move would in no way diminish our commitment in this country," he said. "Our roots are here, our entrepreneurial spirit springs from here, and some of our most important businesses are here.

"As you know, there are many people who started their careers at News in Australia who are now senior managers in News Corp around the world, to be followed, I am sure, by some of you here tonight.

"Australia is part of our past, present and future - and that will never change."

Mr Murdoch also referred to the new $60 million Advertiser Newspapers building where the awards night was held. "I am especially proud that this new building, which we are opening tomorrow, will bear the name of my father, Keith Murdoch, as does the major award here tonight.

"My father was first and foremost a newspaperman - a journalist to the core. He believed, above all, that journalism was a calling in itself - one that must never stop improving and never forget its high responsibilities to uncover and tell the truth, thereby underwriting our democratic way of life.

"I congratulate all the finalists and winners here tonight. What we've seen tonight is a reminder of the importance of great journalism."

Mr Murdoch presented the Sir Keith Murdoch Award for journalism to Hedley Thomas for his work in exposing rogue surgeon Jayant Patel which resulted in a Royal Commission in Queensland because of his links to more than 80 patient deaths at Bundaberg Base Hospital. Thomas also broke the story that Patel was responsible for a string of malpractice suits and patient deaths in America before being hired, bringing into question the checks made on him by the Queensland Government prior to his appointment.

Mr Murdoch described Thomas as a "great member of the News Limited family". He praised the News Awards for recognising and rewarding the great work of News Limited editorial staff members. He was critical of other award programs in Australian which he said had become monuments to political correctness, "slavishly following the way of the Pulitzers in the US. But that is all I will say on politics tonight.

John Hartigan’s speech

NEWS Limited chairman and chief executive John Hartigan spoke of the erosion of press freedoms through court orders and legislation which he says provides the greatest challenge to the role of newspapers in a democracy.

"Never before have there been so many orchestrated and sophisticated attempts to hamper us in our duty to tell people, as honestly and responsibly as we can, what is happening in their world," he said.

"We live in times when press freedom - the freedom of speech - is more restricted than it has been in living memory, and it's getting worse. This year our journalists and their managers have been bombarded with a record 1000-plus suppression orders in the courts, often imposed on the flimsiest grounds.

"Our freedom of information legislation is becoming an oxymoron, with our applications consistently delayed or denied. Again, the grounds are invariable spurious. Too often, the broader public interest is sacrificed to protect just a few."

Mr Hartigan said government and the judiciary were becoming increasingly secretive and self-serving in their attempts to gag the media and rule in and out of bounds, on their terms, what is fit to print. "This is not just a philosophical debate; it's a battle being fought with increasing animosity," he said.

"Then there's defamation, one of the best guarantors that the corrupt and villainous can remain unexposed. The expense of defamation is now so crippling that it does, occasionally, silence us when we should be heard.

"More troubling than all of these barriers is the general, pervasive and cancerous erosion of press freedom. Australia should be ashamed of its ranking in last year’s international press freedom index - at number 41.

My colleague Warren Beeby recently delivered an excellent address to the Press Council on this subject. In it he said: ‘Defence of press freedom is not a self-indulgent game played by media proprietors. Freedom of the press, exercised responsibly is the base line for freedom of speech generally in the community'.

"This goes to the question about who we are and what we do. Nights like tonight serve to remind us why we became journalists in the first place - because we knew it was important work and because, under those tough skins of ours, we are still usually idealists; people who are passionately curious, who care about what is happening in the world and who hope, and still believe, they can do their bit to improve it.

"Tonight we are also recognising that journalism asks not only a lot of us, but of our families as well. Your wives, husbands and children know all about the long hours and disrupted family lives because you need to make just one more phone call, one more correction - whatever it takes to make tomorrow‘s newspaper a step closer to the best you can make it. So, I'm delighted that our finalists' partners can be here tonight to share this occasion with you and with us.

"The work being showcased here tonight is inspiring. I'm in no doubt that we have some of the best journalists and produce some of the best newspapers in the world. Tonight we celebrate that. You should be proud of yourselves. I am certainly proud of you."