Hunt was born in
Caulfield,
Victoria, to Winifred Monica Hunt (née Hayes) and Brian James Hunt, in 1962. He attended
Mazenod College and
Deakin University, where he obtained a
Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a
Masters of Arts in defence, and was named editor of the student newspaper
Planet. Hunt was hired by the
Australian Associated Press (AAP) as a cadet and moved quickly through the ranks in
Melbourne,
Sydney and
Canberra before joining
Agence France-Presse (AFP) in
Hong Kong, where he covered the end of the
British empire and was dispatched to
Afghanistan as bureau chief during
Taliban rule. Hunt covered Taliban offensives in 1997 and 1998, launched against
Ahmad Shah Masood and his Northern Alliance. While there he was charged with espionage and told by Taliban Information Minister Mutmaeen Mutawakkil he would "be executed on the football pitch" in
Kabul. However, Hunt was found not guilty in a
Sharia court after a lengthy interrogation and was later commended by the
United Nations special envoy
Lahkdar Brahimi for the 'best and most insightful' coverage of the civil war. He returned to cover the US invasion and occupation of
Afghanistan following the
September 11 attacks and was embedded with the 1st
Marine Expeditionary Forces during the
invasion of Iraq where he rose in prominence with his coverage for
AFP and
CNN as marines crossed the Diyala River and entered
Baghdad. He was embedded with the
101st Airborne Division on a second tour later the same year. Asked in
Kuwait why the US was invading
Iraq, Hunt replied: "There's beer in Baghdad" amid a gaggle of war correspondents. "It became a battle cry for reporters sent to this dusty, alcohol-free region so far from home." Hunt has covered the Indian/Pakistan conflict over
Kashmir, the
Sri Lankan civil war and the border conflict between
Thailand and
Cambodia, which erupted at
Preah Vihear in early 2008 when Hunt became a freelancer.
The New York Times,
The Associated Press,
The Washington Times and
The Age in Melbourne. However, it was his experience in
Afghanistan that enabled him to specialise in
counter-terrorism and
jihadi groups, like
Jemaah Islamiyah, in
Southeast Asia spending four years based out of
Malaysian Borneo and a further seven years working from
Cambodia. In
Phnom Penh, Hunt was appointed as an academic program professor by
Pannasastra University where he wrote the course War, Media and International Relations. He writes regularly about Southeast Asian affairs for UCAsia News and
The Diplomat, reports for
Voice of America and
AAP, and is a regular on radio in
Australia and
Hong Kong. Hunt is a former president and life member of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia. He is also a founding member of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Malaysia and a former board member of the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong. In his work for
The Diplomat, Hunt hosts a semi-regular
podcast where he talks to journalists, academics and Southeast Asian specialists. == Awards ==