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Golden Guitar Winners 2012

Beccy Cole and Keith Urban led the winners this year collecting two Golden Guitars each at the 40th Country Music Awards Ceremony Saturday, 28th January.

Keith Urban won Male Artist of the Year for Long Hot Summer. Beccy picked up her award for her song Waitress remarking that she was shocked to get Female Artist of the Year. APRA Song of the Year went to Shane Nicholson for Bad Machines. Catherine Britt picked up Single of the Year for Sweet Emmylou.

The CMAA Awards is a highlight of the 10-day Tamworth Country Music Festival. About 50,000 music fans came to the Festival this year. The Awards is organized by the Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA). More than 400 Golden Guitars have been awarded since it was first held in 1973. See our 40 years of CMAA Golden Guitar Winners

Australian of the Year

Geoffrey Rush has been named Australian of the Year for 2012 for his lifetime of contribution to the arts. He received the 8 kilogram green glass trophy from Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra.

An internationally acclaimed Australian actor (The King's Speech, Shine, Pirates of the Caribbean) and producer, Geoffrey Rush is won multiple acting awards including an Oscar, Tony Award, Emmy Award, and Golden Globe Award. He is also ambassador for UNICEF Australia and patron of the Melbourne International Film Festival.

Since 1960 the Australian of the Year Award recognises people who inspire us through their achievements to be better, do better. They challenge us to contribute in our own way to making Australia and the world a better place.
See our 50 years of Australian of the Year Awards on our site.

Victor Chang Info Updated

Neil B. pointed out that we had an error in our information about heart transplants by Victor Chang. We've corrected it and added a little more information you might find interesting.

Australian Military Ranks

Thank you to David K who let us know that we were missing a few ranks in our list of Australian Military Ranks. So we've revised the entire list.

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A Personal Thank You

Max and I would like to thank the following people for their generous donations. We truly appreciate everyone's help to keep our website online and free to use. (Last names withheld to protect their privacy.)

June L.             Gwenda P.
Debbie M.         Michael B.
Jill H.                Andrea N
George A.          Jarvis J.

Colleen (with the bouncing koala)
Dawn (Gilston QLD) and
her sister Carol living in the USA

Your kind words and encouragement make our day and we hope you continue to enjoy our website.

Passing of an Aussie Icon

We were greatly saddened to learn that Steve Irwin has died. He has touched the lives of people around the world as evidenced by the world-wide coverage his death has had. Locals have laid flowers at Irwin's Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland as a mark of respect.

Tributes to Steve Irwin have been pouring in . . . Prime Minister John Howard says Irwin's death is a "huge loss" for the nation. "He was the genuine article, what you saw was what you got, he took risks, he enjoyed life, but he brought immense joy to millions of people, particularly to children, and it's just such a terrible loss and I feel very distressed and I'm quite upset," he said.

“The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest Dads on the planet. He died doing what he loves best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. Crocs Rule!” said John Stainton, Steve's producer and closest friend.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says Irwin was a fine ambassador for his country. "He was a great Australian, he was obviously a great Queenslander, but he put Queensland and Australia on the international map," he said. "I mean I can remember going to the United States where people would not know the Prime Minister of Australia but they knew Steve Irwin."

"It is said you don't know what you've got until it's gone, and I think we always had enormous affection and love for Steve but, now that he's gone, what an extraordinary contributor he was to critical environmental discussions in this country." Kim Beazley, Federal Australian Labour leader.