THE inaugural Newspress Australia Awards, held in Sydney, recognised Australian talent across the automotive media industry – including several GoAuto contributors past and present – and in particular those in the public relations field.

Alexis Truscott

More than 150 attendees from across the country attended the awards at Sydney’s Intercontinental Hotel, with public relations specialists nominated and voted from by motoring journalists on a simple “most votes wins” basis.

Several categories – including PR Innovation of the Year, Product Launch of the Year, Rising Star of PR, Event of the Year, PR Person of the Year, and PR Team of the Year – saw awards go to deserving public relations professionals from importers including Porsche, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan.

Cameron Kirby

Porsche Cars Australia head of public relations Alexis Truscott won PR Innovation of the Year while the Porsche was one of three finalists for Product Launch of the Year or the 911 GT3 at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia.

Kia was also nominated for the media launch of its all-electric EV6, held in Melbourne but it was the Nissan Patrol Warrior launch in Tasmania that took line honours.

Emily Fadeyev

In the Rising Star of PR field, the finalists included Audi Australia corporate communications executive Roxanne Salzborn and Hyundai Motor Company Australia PR specialist Nikki Jones, with Ford Australia senior product communications specialist Cameron Kirby getting the most votes overall.

Finalists for PR Person of the Year included Hyundai Motor Company Australia general manager of corporate affairs Bill Thomas and Isuzu Ute Australia PR manager Mark Harman, with the award going to Nissan Australia general manager of corporate communications Emily Fadeyev.

Hyundai Motor Company Australia

Importantly, the broader public relations team of importers including Kia Australia and Porsche Cars Australia were also nominated for the title of Public Relations Team of the Year, which ultimately went to Hyundai Motor Company Australia.

GoAuto congratulates all the public relations representatives nominated in the inaugural Newspress Australia Awards and extends special praise to the hardworking winners of this year’s awards.