By Henry Walsh
Simon Bouda is one of Australia’s most reputable journalists and crime reporters, commencing his career in 1978 as a young copyboy at News Limited. He soon found himself writing feature stories and reporting on high-profile crime cases throughout Australia.
In 1992 Bouda joined Nine News as chief crime reporter, reporting on many high-profile cases included the Ivan Milat backpacker murders, Sydney bushfires and the Thredbo landslides.
“With the backpacker murders each time they found another body we’d jump in the helicopter and head to the Belanglo forest, we’d file our stories on the scene via a link technician to get them back to the newsroom on time,” said Bouda.
“I was very lucky because I was well trusted by the police, they would often tell me information which I used for my stories.
“I received a tip a few days prior the arrest so I was able to plan for that with my camera crews and properly cover the story, that was a very memorable case for me.”
Bouda described the Sydney bushfires and Thredbo landslides as memorable but in a different way.
“I was heading home across the Bridge and I saw massive plumes of smoke to the south and headed straight to the scene.
“When I got there I realised it was a very big deal, there were paramedics pulling body bags from the scene.
“I accompanied a female police officer to do a welfare check and we found the body of a mother who perished in a pool after saving her children, those things really stick with you.”
Late one night in 1997 Bouda received a call from the newsroom about the Thredbo landslides and scrambled to the scene. He spent a week reporting on the tragedy which he described as nothing short of horrific.
“The amazing rescue of Stuart Diver was uplifting but the 18 deaths made it an extremely tragic case,” he said.
In 2000 Bouda covered the Fiji coup where he and his cameraman survived being shot at by rebels. Another cameraman was hit but survived the attack.
“It was a very scary event and Cameron and I still feel the effects of the incident.
“Later that year I was embedded with the Australian military in East Timor and again I came under attack so it was a pretty rough but interesting year.”
Bouda credits his colleagues at Nine, especially Mike Dalton, who mentored Bouda in his early years transitioning to television reporting.
“Back then I threw everything at the job, life was good and I was doing what I loved even though sometimes it got a bit hairy,” said Bouda.
Featured image: Simon Bouda on assignment in Iraq. Photo: Supplied
