Meet our team of dedicated journalists and photographers, who work hard every day to advocate for and inform Far North Queenslanders.
Before moving to Cairns, Tyla was news director at the Townsville Bulletin, so she’s no stranger to covering North Queensland news.
Cairns Post editor Tyla Harrington. Picture: Brendan Radke
She was also the regional editor of nine digital-only Leader mastheads across Victoria, and edited McPherson Media Group newspapers including the Shepparton News and the Riverine Herald.
Tyla has won the Victorian regional Quill twice and formed part of the team named Rural Press Club’s Victorian media outlet of the year in 2018-2019.
Sian Jeffries – news director
Sian’s media career began almost 20 years ago when she wrote to and phoned most newsrooms in Queensland – persistently – attempting to get a gig.
Sian Jeffries is news director at the Cairns Post.
When that didn’t pan out, she snuck a foot in the door by applying for a job in the hectic classifieds department at the Cairns Post. She sold ads for three months before swindling an audience with the editor and landing a role as the newsroom’s editorial assistant. After her reporting career took her elsewhere for a while, she landed back at the Cairns Post in 2015 and has been the news director for the past five years. Outside of the newsroom, Sian is a dancer, performing in various stage shows around Cairns and is currently studying fitness.
Matthew Newton – head of content
His first posting in the Far North was as the Cairns Post’s court reporter.
Cairns Post head of content Matthew Newton.
Before moving to Cairns in 2021, he spent the better part of a decade moving around the state, reporting in Toowoomba, Chinchilla, and the Whitsundays.
When he’s not at his desk you’ll most likely find Matt wandering around the region’s pristine national parks with a camera in hand.
Andrew Graham – production editor
Andrew is known simply as ‘AG’ in the newsroom, where he is famous for his quick wit and magnificent beard.
Cairns Post production editor Andrew Graham. Picture: Brendan Radke
He has studied journalism, international relations and law.
He began his career writing for the Stanthorpe Border Post before working for Quest Newspapers in Brisbane as an editor.
He arrived in Cairns in 2012 as the sports editor.
Outside of work, he enjoys getting out of the country and has travelled extensively through Europe, Asia and North America.
Matthew McInerney – sports editor
Born and raised in south west Sydney, Matthew grew up in a rugby league-dominated house as a fan of the then-woeful Rabbitohs.
Matthew McInerney Cairns Post sport editor.
He started his career at The Daily Examiner in Grafton, and has enjoyed stints in Childers, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and Cairns over more than 10 years in the industry, primarily writing sport but has also dabbled in general news reporting and entertainment.
Matthew has won two APN sports writer of the year awards and was the winner of the 2015 Australian Sports Commission award for best sports journalism from rural, regional or suburban media.
Brendan Radke – photographer/photojournalist
Growing up on the Sunshine Coast and in Brisbane, Brendan developed an interest in photography at an early age, and not being very good at anything else at school, went on to study photography at Griffith University.
Cairns Post senior photographer Brendan Radke.
He began his career in newspapers at the Gold Coast Bulletin in 2006. He has worked as the Cairns Post photographer for almost 10 years, covering major events in the region such as the Murray Street murders, the Ravenshoe cafe gas explosion and Prince Charles’ visit in 2018. He has won many awards for his work on the Gold Coast and in Cairns, and continues to cover major events for online and in print such as the Path to Treaty announcement.
Peter Carruthers – news reporter
Peter arrived in the Far North from the regional Queensland sites of the Whitsundays and St George almost five years ago.
Cairns Post reporter Peter Carruthers. Picture: Brendan Radke
He now spends most of his time at work covering crime, business and infrastructure news. He is also well-known for penning stories about tropical wildlife. He says covering cracker yarns about crocs, cassowaries and amethystine pythons is the best thing about working at in the Cairns newsroom.
Bronwyn Farr – senior journalist
Bronwyn kicked off her career in the outback at the North West Star in Mt Isa, before ultimately heading to Sydney to join Australian Associated Press as international desk sub editor, Sydney desk reporting and then thoroughbred racing.
Cairns Post reporter Bronwyn Farr.
Bronwyn has always been passionate about horses and this was a dream role, which led to a full-time career as a freelance thoroughbred writer as Australian correspondent for respected international publications as well as marketing for prominent thoroughbred studs. A country girl at heart, she spent three years at The Land, took a break then made a big plunge back into the realm of general news reporting with the Cairns Post. Bronwyn’s goal in this role is straightforward – make a difference.
Isaac McCarthy – news reporter
After a six-year stint in the army, Isaac accidentally fell into journalism in 2019 and has flirted with missed deadlines ever since. He now spends his days covering federal, state and local government matters for the Cairns Post.
Cairns Post journalist Isaac McCarthy. Picture: Brendan Radke
In 2022, the deputy mayor gifted him with the nickname “the Hound”, after he persistently “hounded” councillors for a story. When he’s not starting debates with his colleagues, he’s starting them with politicians’ media advisers. His favourite lunch spot is Ganbaranba on Spence St.
Dylan Nicholson – news reporter
After Dylan completed his journalism undergraduate in Wollongong and a Masters with CSU in terrorism and security, he began his career writing for the defence industry in Sydney.
Dylan Nicholson.
He worked with Defence Connect before moving to the Far North to have the opportunity to cover on a diverse range of local issues, including business news. When not working Dylan is on the water training for and competing in outrigger canoeing races up and down the east coast with the Hekili Outrigger Canoe Club.
Andrew McKenna – court reporter
Andrew started out in freelance journalism and book publishing 30 years ago, writing articles and then destination and news updates for Lonely Planet.
Cairns Post senior journalist Andrew McKenna. Picture: Brendan Radke
He wrote for newspapers in central Victoria before moving to Gisborne, New Zealand to work at the Gisborne Herald and found himself on the other side of the Tasman for six years, running their website and writing news about the North Island, east coast, not Melbourne, northern fringe.
He has been in Cairns since October 2023.
Jake Garland – sports reporter
Jake started his career as a print journalist at the West Australian, covering crime stories before moving his talents to the airwaves, presenting news on the radio for 12 months.
Cairns Post sports journalist Jake Garland.
In October last year Jake landed the sport journalism role at the Cairns Post, where his passion has thrived ever since. When he is not covering local sport, he is most passionate about, well, sport. Jake’s love of cricket and AFL runs deep and his party trick is being able to recall every grand final winning team since 1990 along with every player who has won the Brownlow Medal since 1991.
Sandhya Ram (Ramachandran) – news reporter
Born in India and raised in Dubai, Sandhya studied film and video production at Boston University and has worked in the digital media and documentary space in Dubai and Los Angeles.
Cairns Post journalist Sandhya Ram.
She is passionate about covering cultural and business issues and enjoys reporting on social and community issues to enrich and broaden public discussion on sensitive but important matters. An Australian resident since 2019, Sandhya has lived on the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Brisbane but regards Cairns most special due to her tryst with the Post, which allows her to engage deeply with the wonderful people in this region.
Catherine Duffy – news reporter
Catherine has studied both creative writing and journalism and has been published in national and international publications including newspapers and magazines.
Cairns Post cadet journalist Catherine Duffy. Picture: Brendan Radke
Growing up in regional Queensland, Catherine has lived in many rural areas across the state. As such, she has a keen interest in keeping regional communities connected and knows the importance of having a reliable paper you can trust.
She has worked in both sides of the news industry, first as a printer before becoming a journalist and is passionate about keeping print alive in the digital age.
In her free time she enjoys reading, going to local music gigs, theatre and festivals.
Kristina Puljak – cadet journalist
Kristina studied journalism and international relations at the University of Queensland and took a job at Sky News before deciding the Far North life was for her.
Kristina Puljak.
She joined the Cairns Post team in 2022 and works the education round. Kristina enjoys reporting on the achievements of and challenges faced by the education sector in FNQ and believes a healthy city cannot be without a healthy newspaper. When she’s not chasing stories and honing her craft, Kristina enjoys running and is very passionate about music.
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