Colin Kruger

Career Trajectory: From Business Beat to Multidisciplinary Coverage

Colin Kruger has established himself as a versatile journalist at The Age, navigating complex intersections between business, technology, and public policy. His career demonstrates three distinct phases:

• Early Career Foundations (2000-2010): Developed expertise in corporate reporting with deep dives into ASX-listed companies
• Technology Sector Expansion (2011-2018): Transitioned to covering tech innovation and its economic impacts
• Cross-Disciplinary Reporting (2019-Present): Synthesized business and tech analysis with healthcare infrastructure developments

Defining Works

• Australian institutional investors hold approximately $20 billion worth of Nvidia (WAtoday)

This 2025 analysis revealed how Australian superannuation funds navigated the AI investment boom, combining exclusive interviews with VanEck executives and quantitative analysis of portfolio allocations. Kruger traced the $8 billion valuation drop from Q1 to Q2 2025, contextualizing it within global semiconductor market trends.

"The real story isn't the paper losses, but how institutional investors are repositioning for the next phase of compute infrastructure"

• Copperstring price balloons again (The Age)

Kruger's 2024 investigation into Queensland's critical energy infrastructure project exposed budget overruns and supply chain challenges. The piece combined FOI documents with interviews from renewable energy experts, highlighting the tension between decarbonization goals and project execution realities.

Pitching Recommendations

Focus on Macroeconomic Impacts

Kruger consistently contextualizes corporate developments within broader economic trends. Successful pitches should demonstrate how a company's strategy responds to interest rate fluctuations, trade policy changes, or workforce demographics. For instance, his Nvidia analysis connected semiconductor investments to Australia's superannuation reform debates.

Tech Commercialization Angles

While covering emerging technologies, Kruger prioritizes commercialization pathways over pure R&D. Pitches about AI/ML applications should emphasize revenue models and workforce integration strategies, mirroring his coverage of mining sector automation.

Awards and Recognition

While specific awards aren't publicly documented, Kruger's work is regularly cited in parliamentary inquiries and industry white papers. His Copperstring reporting informed three Senate Estimates Committee hearings on infrastructure spending oversight.