An imaginer and an enlarger

I remember when I first met Morgan in 1997 at the SMH.

There was something special about him.

I worked only briefly with him and also met him as a contact for a story he was writing.

During his visit to Dili, East Timor last year we had dinner at an elevated waterfront restaurant where I backgrounded him on the general situation and Timor Sea oil and gas.

East Timor was more peaceful then, and Morgan was greatly impressed with the beaches, sunshine and fresh air, especially coming from Jakarta.

At the end of the night we took a cab back to Morgan’s hotel and we must have stood on the sidewalk for a good 25 minutes talking about his travels to South America, life as a correspondent in Jakarta and other great pursuits.

He struck me as someone who genuinely had time for people and was really passionate about life.

In backgrounding Morgan over dinner I couldn’t be totally forthcoming as some information had to be kept for a book I’m writing. One fact withheld was that the Woodside lobbyist Gary Gray was in Dili on a secret visit to meet with senior members of the government. The next morning Morgan called first thing to say he knew Gray was in town.

Morgan called me before he was due to fly out, and told me emphatically what the next big scoop was in East Timor – the siphoning off of the giant “honey pot” of petroleum revenue – and that he would write it.

Morgan was an “imaginer and an enlarger” in the great Manning Clark tradition.

I feel very privileged to have known him briefly and deeply saddened at such a great loss for family, friends, and to journalism.

Paul Cleary