Giselle Wakatama
Newcastle, NSW
Giselle Wakatama is a senior broadcast journalist and has been reporting for the ABC since 2000. Follow Giselle on Twitter: @gisellewak
Latest by Giselle Wakatama
Man and woman found drowned at nearby Moonee, Birdie beaches north of Sydney
There has been a double drowning with a second body pulled from the water today off the Central Coast, north of Sydney.
Posted 
Properties deemed unsafe as swimming pool-sized sinkholes open up
Dozens of sinkholes have appeared in the rural Hunter Valley community of Broke in the aftermath of flooding rains, filling up with the suffocating stench of sewage.
Posted Daniel Johns avoids time behind bars, sentenced to intensive corrections order in the community over drink-driving crash
The former frontman of the now-defunct Australian band Silverchair, Daniel Johns, has been sentenced to a 10-month intensive corrections order to be served in the community over a high-range drink-driving car crash.
Posted Updated Man alleges girlfriend inflicted severe injuries on her baby he's accused of killing
A court has heard 31-year-old Jie William Smith, accused of the murder of a six-month-old boy, allege the child's mother injured her own baby, but admitted to police he had also dropped the child.
Posted Updated 'I don't feel like the same person', long COVID sufferer says
Ballooning waiting lists at Sydney's long COVID clinic sparks calls for the state government to roll out treatment centres across NSW.
Posted Updated Catholic Church deliberately kept paedophile priest Vincent Gerard Ryan's death a secret, survivors say
Abuse survivors have lashed out at the Catholic Church, claiming they were not told about the death of a paedophile priest and only found out weeks after he died.
Posted Updated Jury finds 'psychotic' man guilty of murdering teenage girlfriend he believed had cursed him
A Supreme Court jury rejects a New South Wales man's defence that he was mentally impaired when he strangled his girlfriend because he believed she had turned into a "demon".
Posted Updated Federal Court intervention sought to refloat offshore gas plans sunk by former PM
A company is hoping to refloat plans to tap into offshore gas supplies between Newcastle and Sydney, after the proposal was sunk by former prime minister Scott Morrison.
Posted Updated 'It's a market-wide issue': Eraring power plant running out of coal
Australia's biggest power station running out of coal at a time when a Hunter mine expansion has been recommended for approval.
Posted 'Unfinished business': Victims furious as notorious paedophile priest dies with holy orders
"They still support him, even in death," says a victim of Vince Ryan, whose attacks on at least 37 victims in the Newcastle area were key to exposing a church cover-up.
Posted Updated Diver found dead among cocaine bricks in Newcastle confirmed as 31-year-old Brazilian national
Police believe drug smugglers hired Bruno Borges, a professional diver, to retrieve a load of cocaine worth an estimated $20m from a ship in Newcastle.
Posted Another inquiry into Kathleen Folbigg's four convictions for killing her children announced
NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman says he can understand why people "will roll their eyes" as he announces plans for another inquiry into Kathleen Folbigg's convictions for killing her four children.
Posted Updated Police hunt for South American wanted over deadly Newcastle cocaine shipment
Police say Jhoni Fernandes Da Silva, 32, may be able to help them piece together what happened to the diver who was found dead in Newcastle last week.
Posted Updated Norm nearly missed his 91st birthday lunch because his wheelchair taxi didn't come
Norm Edwards was dressed and ready to go, but the cab his daughter had booked a week in advance never arrived. Other Newcastle locals have reported similar issues with wheelchair-accessible maxi taxis.
Posted MP blames port security workforce cuts in wake of Newcastle cocaine haul
But Australia's border force denies that the death of a scuba diver during a suspected cocaine operation in Newcastle is due to gaps in the port security workforce.
Posted Updated Search for extra 200kg of cocaine underway after diver 'left to die' in Newcastle
By Mark Reddie, Giselle Wakatama, Andrew Lobb and Helen Clare
Police say they only found "a portion" of a cocaine shipment they estimate has a street value of $120m near the body of a diver on the banks of the Hunter River.
Posted Updated Prison guards who assaulted Indigenous colleague in his home at night spared convictions
Two Cessnock prison guards have been given good behaviour bonds and spared convictions for assaulting a First Nations colleague.
Posted Updated Federal leaders told to do more as housing crisis worsens domestic violence situation
Support services say both major federal parties need to step up with too many women staying in unsafe homes and fearing poverty if they flee domestic violence.
Posted Elderly man dies during nap after 4WD crashes into house near Maitland
A 74-year-old man was asleep in the front room of the house when the LandCruiser crashed into it.
Posted Updated Mother of boy with autism angry that teen who allegedly bashed son is not charged
A Newcastle woman whose son was allegedly bashed by a group of boys is calling for a rethink on cautions given to young offenders.
Posted Updated Forced into retirement aged 18 months, Becky is one of the lucky chooks
A chicken rescue group in NSW says it has taken in more than 50,000 former egg layers in the past five years — and needs to adopt out more — as hens are deemed no longer profitable.
Posted Daniel Johns charged with high-range drink driving after head-on smash
The former Silverchair frontman says he has checked himself into a rehabilitation facility after a crash on the Pacific Highway.
Posted Updated 'I've been bashed': Heartbreaking text sent by 12yo autistic boy to mum
Police say they're investigating an alleged group attack on Damien in broad daylight in Newcastle, which his mum says has left him "broken".
Posted NSW man gets eight years for hitting and killing love rival with four-wheel drive
Hunter Valley man Joshua Walker Smith will spend at least the next three years in jail for running down Ewan Sams, 36, in his Cessnock backyard.
Posted 'I don't know how we'll fill the gap': Two more aged care homes to close, leaving 68 residents stranded
A month ago more than a third of all residents in Bulahdelah's only aged care home had COVID, today residents were told their home was one of two to close in the NSW Hunter region by provider Anglican Care.
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