OLD GUILDFORDIANS
Primary School ( 1956-1962 ) and then Guildford Grammar School ( 1963-1967 ). At Guildford Grammar School Paul won a Commonwealth scholarship and later became a School Prefect and Captain of Stirling House . A good all-rounder , Paul was Stirling House ’ s champion junior sportsman in 1966 , a regular member of the School ’ s swimming team and he played 1st XVIII Football in 1967 .
On graduation and fired up by the nickel boom , Paul went on to study geology at the University of Western Australia . After two annual holidays spent working underground in Kalgoorlie ’ s gold mines , he realised that geology was not for him . His father was a journalist at The West Australian and his brother a reporter at the Daily News , so with journalism in his blood it seemed natural for Paul to take this career direction also . Paul went on to work in the reading room of WA Newspapers towards the end of 1969 , a change in tack that would end up defining the illustrious career of this man .
The big break for Paul came in 1970 when he was awarded a cadetship with WA Newspapers after first missing out on selection . One of the successful applicants decided to go to university instead and Paul was given his start . Moving from the Fremantle bureau to the newspaper ’ s Kalgoorlie office for a year in 1972 , Paul then returned to Perth to start reporting politics at State Parliament in 1973 . The next year he was sent to represent The West Australian in Sydney . He returned at the end of 1975 , but by early 1977 the bright lights were beckoning and he was posted to Melbourne for three years .
In 1981 Paul was headhunted by Perth ’ s newest newspaper , The Western Mail , to become an investigative reporter with longstanding journalist Andre Malan . He obtained an undertaking from owner Robert Holmes à Court that the newspaper would become a daily to challenge The West Australian , but after two years and with no sign of that happening , Murray went overseas to live in France for a year . Coming home to Australia in the middle of 1984 , Paul resumed his post at The Western Mail .
L-R : The Headmaster , Stephen Webber , Paul and the President , Denys Warren ( St 1971- 1975 ), at the Old Guildfordians ’ Annual Dinner . The framed photograph of Paul was a gift to the School to hopefully inspire students , especially those interested in journalism and media , to work hard to achieve their goals .
In July 1987 he became the first of the former staff of The West Australian to return to the paper after being purchased by Holmes à Court . Paul went back as Chief of Staff and was appointed Night Editor in 1989 . The next year he was appointed Deputy Editor and then Editor several months later . As Editor he modernised the look of the newspaper and introduced a range of new attractions from Inside Cover to the Today section to Super Soccer . He was awarded travelling scholarships by the New Zealand and United States governments and every existing circulation record for the newspaper was broken during his tenure as Editor . In April 1997 he achieved a long-standing goal and pushed the circulation of the newspaper to over 400,000 for the first time . In August 1998 he achieved a magical one million readers target for the paper ’ s Saturday edition .
Paul ’ s acclaimed work in journalism has seen him awarded the State ’ s top journalism award , the University of Western Australia ’ s Arthur Lovekin Prize for Excellence in Journalism ( 1985 ), the Daily News Centenary Prize , which recognises the West Australian Journalist of the Year ( 1986 ) and the Beck Prize for political reporting ( 1986 ).
When Paul changed career direction to take up broadcasting in 2000 , he was the longest-serving of all the daily metropolitan newspaper editors in Australia . He moved on to work as a radio host , exclusively at first when he resigned from the newspaper to host 6PR ’ s morning program , and then served two three-year contracts at the station . The pull of journalism proved too great and Paul then juggled careers in both fields on and off , sometimes simultaneously , with return to the newspaper in 2003 as a columnist , expanding his writing to three days a week when he left 6PR in 2006 . In 2011 he was invited to return to 6PR ’ s morning program while still writing two columns a week for The West Australian , but retired from radio at the end of 2014 .
In Paul ’ s private life he is married to journalist Grace Malatesta and has one child , Toby , and one grandchild .
With Guildford Grammar School always in Paul ’ s heart , the result of a wish by a grandfather he never met , and engrained by the long list of family sacrifices needed to make this wish a reality , it seems fitting that these sacrifices have led to Paul being named the Old Guildfordian of the Year . Dedicated to uncovering the truth , Paul has carved out careers in two related but different industries in journalism and media . While still a columnist at The West Australian , he has started to wind down his career and is considering writing a book . We congratulate Paul on his life ’ s work thus far and wish him the very best of luck as he begins his next chapter , perhaps literally .
Reunions every 10 years – help us organise yours
1967 , 1977 , 1987 , 1997 , 2007 to celebrate in 2017
The Old Guildfordians Association holds reunions for classes every 10 years . If you are from the class of 1967 , 1977 , 1987 , 1997 , or 2007 , we need your help to make it a celebration worthy of the occasion . If you are not sure what your class year is , consider what the calendar year was when your age group graduated in Year 12 , even if you left before your final year . If you would like to assist in organising your reunion , please contact David Williams on og @ ggs . wa . edu . au or (+ 61 8 ) 9377 8522 .
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