For the natives, the anniversary is a "day of invasion and mourning". In recent years anyway, in the context of the Australia Day celebration the emphasis shifted from the arrival of the first whites.

Democracy is celebrated, prosperity and multicultural Australian society, while at the same time the injustices committed against the Aborigines are recognized.

Geoffrey Rush himself said that as "Australian of the Year" he wants to use culture "to stop the hysteria at the expense of asylum seekers" since neither politicians, nor the media, as he said, they don't go into the process of explaining why these people are risking their very lives to make a new start in another country.

Marita Chegg, a student of Asian origin, was named "New Australian of the Year"., 22 years old from Melbourne for encouraging girls to pursue distinct careers. For example to study engineering!

Lori Baimarwagen has been named 'Older Australian of the Year', Aborigine, to promote the culture of her tribe.

But the lights turned, mainly to Geoffrey Rush who after two decades of successful career in theater and film in Australian productions, attracted international attention 1996 with his performance in the film “The Soloist”, for which he was assigned, including, a BAFTA Award and an Oscar A’ male role.

Since then she has appeared in the Elizabethan films., "Shakespeare in Love", "Quills The Pen of Sin", "The Tailor of Panama", «The Banger Sisters», «Frida», "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Irresistible Charm", "Sellers Forever", "Munich", «Candy», «Elizabeth: The Golden Age», "King's Speech" and many others.

Russ has a passion for Australian cinema and theatre. He lives in Melbourne and does,what can be done to promote them.