Ceaseless pleas for an upgrading, The Australian, 2 June, 2002.

Fifteen years I worked for The Australian.

Not a single pay upgrade in all those years.

Sometimes I would become so frustrated I would put in a request for an upgrade every fortnight. 

In the end, although I kept showing up for work, I became very dispirited.

I couldn't leave because I had two young kids to support. 

Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd is renowned for the low morale of it's newspaper's staff, its poor management practices and its active contempt for journalists and the profession. 

Although I missed being in the centre of the action, in the end leaving was the best decision I ever made.