Many of the scenes of Baz Luhrmann’s ambitious film Australia were shot around the million-acre El Questro Wilderness Park and it’s here that you’ll find a character who could have walked right out of Luhrmann’s epic – Dave “Chilli” Chilcot.

A crocodile tooth leers from the side of Chilli’s akubra hat. “It’s a $30,000 tooth,” he says, fondling the memento of the cunning croc that got away, minus an incisor. “I’ll sell it to you for five bucks.”

Dave "Chilli" Chilcott was a professional rodeo rider before taking the ranger’s job at El Questro Station

He’s joking, surely. Outback legends don’t give up their trophies lightly. Or do they? Perhaps it is enough to have done it all – bareback brumby riding, buffalo wrangling, barramundi wrestling, crocodile trapping for the lucrative zoo market – without having to keep souvenirs. After 40 years of Top End living, Chilcott hardly has the room on his hat to notch up all of his wild adventures.

Chilcott first fell for Australia’s northern reaches when he ventured onto Darwin’s rodeo track in 1969. After a decade on the competitive rodeo circuit, he indulged his love of untamed landscape, working variously as station hand and butcher in the Northern Territory, Queensland and the Kimberley. A stint as fishing guide at Bullo River Station led to a ranger’s job at El Questro Station in 2006.

“I ain’t leaving here,” laughs the 58 year old, whose wife of 38 years, Kath, is also in thrall to the east Kimberley. She’s the skipper on El Questro’s Chamberlain River cruise boat, and is also handy with cattle. In her spare time she collects seeds to make hand made jewellery. The pair have a property in northern New South Wales where they plan to breed horses should they ever retire.

The illustrious sounding moniker David Charles Chilcott the Fourth was never going to sit easily with the lifestyle of its bearer, who has been known as “Chilli” since childhood. He is the quintessential larrikin, quick with a joke and compulsively anti-earnest. So he can laugh at his own ignorance of the who’s who of Hollywood – even when it comes to his home turf.

When the cast and crew of ‘Australia’ the movie came to El Questro, Chilli took homestead guests for a glimpse of the action.

“I knew the bloke who was in charge of the horses, so I went to find him to say g’day,” he recalls. “I bowled up to the first bloke I saw and asked him where my mate was. He directed me to him. When I saw my friend I asked him ‘So, where’s all the big knobs?’. He told me that bloke I just asked for directions was one of the biggest.
“It was Hugh Jackman.”

Fast Facts

For further information on visiting the epic landscape of Australia the movie, visit the Western Australia Tourist Board Website.

You can either fly through Perth or fly direct to Broome or Kununurra from many Australian capital cities. Qantas operates direct flights on a seasonal basis to Broome from Melbourne and Sydney, while Virgin Blue operates direct flights to Broome from Adelaide and connecting flights from all other capital cities. Skywest and Airnorth fly from Perth to Broome and Kununurra and provide connections between Broome, Kununurra and Darwin in the Northern Territory.

For more information  El Questro Wilderness Park click here.

Australia Day saw the launch of celebrations marking the 60th Anniversary of Australian citizenship. First introduced in 1949 with the enactment of the Nationality and Citizenship Act, prior to this, most Australian residents were British subjects. Since the act was passed, more than four million people have become Australian citizens in the past 60 years, and today over 95 per cent of the nation’s population are Australian citizens.

Celebrating Australia Day

The first citizenship ceremony was staged at the Albert Hall, Canberra, on 3 February 1949. Seven men became citizens – one to represent each state and the ACT. They were from Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Greece, Norway, Spain and Yugoslavia.
During 1949, almost 2500 people from more than 35 countries became Australian citizens. Most were from Italy, Poland, Greece, Germany and Yugoslavia. Today, Australian citizenship is celebrated annually on Australian Citizenship Day, which is the September 17.

Commemorations in 2009

• the opening of Citizenship Place, on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, on Australia Day. Citizenship Place will feature a timeline wall and engraving of the Australian citizenship affirmation, and will be a focus for future citizenship celebrations
• a commemorative mintmark coin released by the Royal Australian Mint
• a 60th anniversary of citizenship message from the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, for all conferees throughout the year
• a 60th anniversary edition of citizenship school education resources, and 60th anniversary-themed conferral ceremonies at landmark events including Citizenship Day.

Each year, local communities nominate exceptional citizens to become their state or territory’s Local Hero in the Australian of the Year awards. The local heroes are people whose actions exemplify civic values. The 2009 Local Heroes are:

• New South Wales: Dr Jamal Rifi, Muslim community leader
• Victoria: Beverley Wall, town hero
• Queensland: Cyril Golding, philanthropic businessman
• Western Australia: Graham Drew, sea rescuer and educator
• South Australia: Beverley Langley, wildlife rescuer
• Australian Capital Territory: Tim Gavel, sports journalist and community worker
• Tasmania: John Layton Hodgetts OAM, band leader
• Northern Territory: Chowdhury Sadaruddin, Muslim community leader

More than 120 000 people from more than 200 countries became Australian citizens in 2007-08:

• New South Wales: 45 000
• Victoria: 30 700
• Queensland: 17 400
• Western Australia: 17 000
• South Australia: 6300
• Australian Capital Territory: 2500
• Tasmania: 900
• Northern Territory: 600

Most were from the United Kingdom, India, China, New Zealand and South Africa.

The Citizenship pledge

Citizenship for all Australians Australian citizenship carries responsibilities and privileges. It is a commitment of loyalty to Australia and its people and their shared democratic beliefs, laws and rights. It is a bond uniting our culturally diverse society.

The citizenship certificate

It is fundamentally important that we all understand our civic responsibilities and the meaning of Australian citizenship, whether we are Australian by birth or by choice.

New Australian citizens make a public pledge of their commitment to Australia. The Australian citizenship affirmation allows all existing Australian citizens to do the same by reciting the words:

As an Australian citizen,
I affirm my loyalty to Australia and its people,
Whose democratic beliefs I share,
Whose rights and liberties I respect,
And whose laws I uphold and obey.

Did you know…

Notable Australian citizenship conferees of the past include ground-breaking medical specialists Dr Victor Chang and Prof Fred Hollows, authors Bryce Courtenay and John M. Coetzee, former world boxing champion Kostya Tszyu and performers Jon Stevens and John Farnham.

The 26th January marks one of Australia’s most important holidays – Australia Day. Australia Day marks the anniversary of the day Captain Arthur Phillip first raised the British flag at Sydney Cove, and commemorates the arrival of Europeans to Australia on 26 January 1788.

However, the event has this year been surrounded by controversy after the newly crowned Australian of the Year, Mick Dodson, demanded that the date of Australia Day had to be changed because it “isolates” indigenous people.

Dodson said, “To most indigenous Australians it (Australia Day) really reflects the day on which our world came crashing down.
“Many of our people call it invasion day.”

However, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has ruled out a change to the date of the national day. He said, “Let me say a simple, respectful, but straightforward no.”

What is Australia Day?

It is a designated public holiday and is a time for Australians of all backgrounds to celebrate national unity. It is also a time to appreciate heritage and history; to take an active part in the community and to remember colonial pioneers.  The day usually begins with morning formalities; flags are hoisted, the national anthem is sung, cannons are fired, special community projects and individuals are recognised, ceremonies are held to welcome the country’s new citizens. Many of the formal occasions are coordinated by the national Australia Day Council network.

Over the years many informal events have become so popular they are now considered an Australia Day tradition. There are free BBQ breakfasts and fun beach parties, corroborees and concerts, parades and pageants, sports, festivals and fireworks.

For more information visit the Australia Day website.

History of Australia Day

Britain’s gaols were crowded and the crime rate was soaring in 1787 when King George III sealed Australia’s fate by declaring it Britain’s new penal colony.  Being sent to Botany Bay was a severe punishment. Sentences ranged from a minimum exile of seven years to life, with varying degrees of hard labour.

Australia Day commemorates the first landing Sydney Cove

Under the command of Arthur Phillip, 11 ships of the First Fleet left Plymouth on 13 May 1787. It was an arduous journey with more than 1,400 people living in cramped conditions for 251 days. Captain Phillip arrived at Botany Bay onboard The Supply on 18 January 1788, two days ahead of the rest of the fleet. He thought the unprotected bay with its poor soil was unsuitable for permanent settlement.

The fleet then sailed north into Port Jackson and landed at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788 after eight months at sea. The new site had everything the first settlers needed; deep water close to the shore, shelter and fresh water. Phillip named it Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney the British Home Secretary.

More than 700 convicts (188 female), 700 merchant seamen, Royal Navy and Marine personnel and families, 209 fowls, 74 pigs, 35 ducks, 29 sheep, 29 geese, 19 goats, 18 turkeys, five cows, four stallions, three mares and two bulls disembarked from the First Fleet.

Australia Day for Indigenous Australians

Australia Day means different things to different people and evokes mixed emotions, particularly for Indigenous Australians who face past and continuing inequities as a result of European settlement. For many Indigenous Australians, 26 January is an occasion to reflect on past loss and suffering. There are also people in the wider community who have mixed feelings about Australia Day and who acknowledge that Australia Day evokes a variety of emotions.

Today, organisers of Australia Day events are more mindful of Indigenous heritage and culture, and of the continuing problems confronting Indigenous communities. Australia’s national day is an important annual opportunity to recognise the place of Indigenous Australians in our nation’s history, and to promote understanding, respect and reconciliation.  It is also a time for each Australian to think about our identity, the many aspects of Australian life that give us pride and areas where we have the opportunity to make the nation stronger for the future.

The National Australia Day Council

It was not until 1946 that the name ‘Australia Day’ was adopted and proclaimed a public holiday throughout the country. A decision was made in Melbourne that year to establish an Australia Day Council (ADC) which would encourage an appreciation of the day’s significance.  The ADC played a major role in cultivating the goodwill which is now so prevalent in Australian society. The ADC network aims to foster national pride and to instill in Australians from all backgrounds a desire to contribute to the country’s future.

Australia Day Events 2009

So, how can you celebrate Australia Day?
Here is the UK you can visit the  Edinburgh Australian Wine Festival, find your nearest Aussie bar and enjoy and ice cold beer, watch a special Australia Day screening of Australia, the movie, or download the new Australia track pack for Guitar Hero!

On Australia Day, hundreds of events are held across the country

In Australia, hundreds of Australia Day events take place across the nation. In Sydney, thousands of people gather along Sydney Harbour foreshore to watch the Australia Day parade on the water. In towns across the nation, people gather to raise the flag. Other activities include citizenship ceremonies, community breakfasts, and the presentation of Australia Day awards. Also on the agenda are concerts, sporting events, cultural and historic exhibitions and, in a few cases, a fireworks display.

For the calendar of events visit the Australia Day website.

This week sees the start of Sydney’s biggest festival, with the sun-soaked Harbour City set to enjoy numerous fringe events, music, outdoor cinemas and fireworks.

2009 will see over 600 local and international musicians, dancers and DJs performing al fresco to the assembled crowds, and there’s plenty for the whole family to enjoy, with aboriginal stories, folklore and music for kids all included in the line up.

Culture vultures will have plenty to choose from, with theatre and dance events being held at venues across the city.