David Wilson led The Age’s Insight investigative team for a decade and was one of the first journalists in Australia to build vast databases of information that enabled him to expose dozens of criminals and organised crime figures.
Wilson helped reveal corrupt land deals in Victoria in 1970s and early 1980s, claiming the scalps of two state ministers and jail for a senior official. A series known as The Age Tapes in 1984 led to a controversial political-judicial crisis that reverberated for years, embroiling a High Court judge and sparking numerous inquiries including a Royal Commission.