A. MUSIC

(a) Country Music There was a time when there were 19th century Australian bush songs and ballads thrived. But these slowlyfaded into the background, as American country and western music (or hillbilly music, as it was then called) became popular in Australian country towns. Aussie hillbilly singers began imitating the Americans. They adopted names like Buddy Williams and Slim Dusty�and then began writing their own songs about Australian rodeos, outlaws, bush picnics, pubs, bushrangers, tall tales, yarns and country myths. Before long, Australia had again developed its own hybrid style of country music, along with its own traveling music-and-rodeo shows and its own country music stars and radio stations.

Slim Dusty�s (real name is Gordon Kirkpatrick) �The Pub with No Beer� became a huge hit in the late 1950s. Born and bred in the Australian bush, he learned to yodel by listening to American records, and still churns out country and western songs. He still outsells every other artist in Australia, including local rock groups!

(b) Rock Music Rock bands and rock music is the one area where Australia has become well known, and as well known as for Australian movies and actors. The local pub music scene, especially in Melbourne and Sydney is extraordinary healthy. Bands that have made it big worldwide include AC-DC, INXS, Men at Work, Little River Band. Then there are really Australian local favourite bands like Mental as Anything, Split Enz, Skyhooks.

Midnight Oil became a self-consciously Australian group, politically committed to an independent, nuclear-free country.

Then there is the Aboriginal rock band Yothu Yindi. Yothu Yindi successfully blends traditional Aboriginal music and instruments with rock music. There are didgeridoos with tribal dancers, yet capturing music which is still unmistakably Northern Territory Aboriginal music.

As in any living art scene, the best way to find real Australian music is to do the rounds of the pubs and clubs; there are literally thousands of local groups, some aiming for stardom, others just having a good time performing their music. Both attitudes reflect the real Australian spirit.

(c) Classical Music Australia had much to offer in the world of classical music, especially in opera. First there was Dame Nellie Melba, the first of a line of Australian opera divas, made an international name singing French arias in Italian in British concert halls in the 1890s. Then much later came the diva Dame Joan Sutherland (sometimes known in Australia as �Wonderlungs�. Today, the golden voice of Joan Carden makes her a worthy successor to Dame Nellie and Dame Sutherland.

Classical music in Australia has always been a matter of performance rather than composition. Despite limited opportunities, contemporary composers such as Richard Meale, Peter Sculthorpe, Nigel Butterley, George Dreyfus, Anne Boyd and Moya Henderson frequently have their work performed in Australia and in other countries.

2. MOVIES

Australians made �Soldiers of the Cross�, which has been hailed as the world�s first feature movie. It launched the Australian film industry. Then the Australian film industry virtually disappeared for a while as the US took control of the local Australian film distribution networks. American movies, pop songs, radio shows and television shows took over much of the media. The results today is the unique sensation that Australia often gives today - of being part British, part American and part Australian. Since the 1970s, Australian film-makers have produced an increasingly variety of internationally known and acclaimed movies.

Australia�s movies hall of fame includes the following. The tragic �Breaker Morant� (starring Burt Lancaster), and then Peter Weir�s war epic �Gallipoli� and the atmospheric �Picnic at Hanging Rock� are in a class of their own. Then there�s the apocalyptic �Mad Max� series starring Mel Gibson, to �Crocodile Dundee�s� bushwacking swagger have made their places in the Australian mythology. There�s Baz Luhrmann�s dance comedy �Strictly Ballroom� to the recently released �Moulin Rouge�, not to mention George Miller�s 1996 surprise talking-pig hit, �Babe�. Then there�s �Muriel�s Wedding�, �Shine� and �The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert� etc etc etc . Australian actors have also invaded Hollywood USA with the likes of Errol Flynn, Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman. Can�t be bad, mate!

3. TELEVISION

The export of Australian movies was paralleled by a boom in home-grown Australian television. In the early 70s, there were �Skippy the Kangaroo�, not to mention the British-turned Aussie painter-entertainer �The Rolf Harris Show�. Then came the 80s with Australian day-time soap operas. There were �Neighbours� � which first brought Kylie Minogue to world attention, and �Home and Away� which became cult viewing (ironically) in England, attracting fans in Oxford Colleges as well as in working-class housing estates.