‘Feast and famine': Aussie Gold Hunters star Paul Mackie on the risks and rewards of mining
Aussie Gold Hunters' Paul Mackie discusses the life of an Australian gold prospector and the magic behind being on a television series.
'It is feast and famine, you got the weather to contend with as well,' Mr Mackie said.
'As many times as you can get out the bush and keep chasing that dream, it is definitely a long time between wins.'
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Courier-Mail
44 minutes ago
- Courier-Mail
British actor Jim Sturgess joins Teresa Palmer at Australian premiere of Mix Tape in Sydney
Don't miss out on the headlines from Red Carpet. Followed categories will be added to My News. British actor Jim Sturgess added some international star power last night at the Australian premiere of the new Aussie series Mix Tape. The 47-year-old – who has gained fame on hit films such as 21 with Kate Bosworth, One Day with Anne Hathaway, and The Other Boleyn Girl with Scarlett Johansson – walked the black carpet at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory to promote the new BINGE Original Series, which premieres tonight on the streamer. In this series, his leading lady is played by Aussie actress Teresa Palmer, who, while heavily pregnant with her fifth child, accompanied the actor to the event. British actor Jim Sturgess brings the cool factor to the Australian premiere of Mix Tape in Sydney on June 11. Picture:The actor was joined by co-star Teresa Palmer at the event held at the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney. Picture:Sturgess and Palmer, 39, play former 80s high-school sweethearts Daniel and Alison who are now living in Sydney and Sheffield, respectively, but reconnect in the modern world through songs from their shared past. The pair's romance ended abruptly when they were kids, so when a chance encounter brings them back together after 20 years, they are forced to confront their past. Stream Mix Tape from June 12 on BINGE, available on Hubbl. The Mix Tape cast (from left to right): Ben Lawson, Chika Ikogwe, Jacqueline McKenzie, Jim Sturgess, Teresa Palmer, Julia Savage and Rory Walton-Smith. Picture:The series is already generating buzz overseas. Back in January, it was selected to premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film and Television Festival in Austin, Texas, where it won the coveted TV Spotlight Audience Award. It is a story about love and loss, family and friendship, and the power of music – and this resonated strongly with viewers at the festival. 'To have had Mix Tape even selected to premiere at South by Southwest was massive,' Palmer previously told 'I was hearing rumours of it, maybe this was happening. Then when we found out that we got into South by Southwest – that was just a huge accomplishment.' The BINGE Original Series premieres on the streamer on July 12. Picture: Binge 'And then to find out we won the Audience Award, which is the award that you want because we know that it resonates with an audience, it's huge. It's truly exciting.' Also in attendance at the premiere were co-stars Ben Lawson, Julia Savage, Jacqueline McKenzie, Chika Ikogwe and British actor Rory Walton-Smith, who plays the younger version of Daniel. Bridgerton star Florence Hunt, who did not attend the event, plays the younger version of Palmer's character Alison. Palmer, who is pregnant with her fifth child, took her husband Mark Webber as her date for the evening. Picture:Julia Savage plays Palmer's on-screen daughter Stella. Picture:Jacqueline McKenzie portrays Palmer's best friend Sheila in the series. Picture:Chika Ikogwe plays a publicist in the new drama. Picture: Scott Ehler caught up with Savage on the Sydney set last year and she couldn't contain her excitement about the 4-part miniseries, directed by Australian filmmaker Lucy Gaffy. 'I'm so privileged and so lucky and grateful to be part of it because I think Aussies have some cool stuff going on,' 18-year-old Savage – who was nominated for Best Lead Actress at the 2022 AACTAs for her stellar performance in the psychological drama Blaze – told us. 'We make great project and it's really cool to be being part of these other great projects in Australia and be able to really show how our film industry works and what we can do when we are given the chance.' MIX TAPE premieres Thursday, June 12 on BINGE and on Showcase at 8.30pm and will be available On Demand Originally published as British actor Jim Sturgess joins Teresa Palmer at the Australian premiere of new Aussie series Mix Tape
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir wary of much more than North Melbourne big man Tristan Xerri
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir says dominant ruckman Tristan Xerri is not the only midfield force the Dockers need to be wary of heading into Saturday night's away game against North Melbourne at Optus Stadium. Xerri is in white-hot form, ranked fifth for hit-outs with 440 this season, but it's his efforts at ground level that will clearly challenge the Dockers. The Roos ruck is ranked second in the competition for clearances, with 94, behind only Dockers midfielder Caleb Serong (103), 10 of them coming in last Sunday's narrow win over West Coast in Bunbury. He is poised to take on Fremantle's much-talked about combination of Luke Jackson and Sean Darcy for the first time. 'Clearly, he is in great form. He'd have to be All-Australian ruck at the moment or close to,' Longmuir said. 'That's going to be important. But they've got a lot of mids who go through there and get their hands on it and put good pressure on. 'The last four (games) they've been number one pre-clearance, number one pressure. So they make it a good, honest battle in there, and have been getting it going their way more often than not.' Xerri and Jackson are both cat like at ground level, but Roos prime movers Tom Powell, Colby McKercher, Luke Parker, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Dylan Stephens and Jy Simpkin combined for 25 clearances against the Eagles. The Dockers coach said they would look at structure and strategy, rather than major midfield change, backing in the proven combination of Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, Shai Bolton and Jackson, who are all clearance kings. 'Just understanding what they're going to bring and rolling up our sleeves and getting to work just on that,' he said. Veteran Nat Fyfe returned from injury for his first AFL game this season before the bye, having a major impact as the sub in the last quarter. Longmuir said Fyfe's impact was also big off the field and they were weighing up whether to again start the dual Brownlow medallist as the sub or on limited minutes in the starting 22. 'It is important when games get tough and tight to have wise calm heads, especially as a sub against Gold Coast,' Longmuir said. 'Every time someone comes to the bench, they look at the back of the bench and they've got someone who's really measured and calm talking to them and helping them problem solve and work through those situations.' The Dockers will stick with their forward line structure of three talls - Josh Treacy, Jye Amiss and Patrick Voss - which could stretch a North Melbourne defence missing the in-form key back Charlie Comben, who is out for two to three weeks with a shoulder injury suffered against the Eagles. 'I'm sure they've got some coverage to come in and replace but I think we can utilise that,' Longmuir said. 'The beauty about our talls is, they can provide good aerial targets and threaten aerially, but I feel like they're good at ground level as well, Vossy, Jye and JT. 'They join in at ground level and put pressure on and you don't even realise that we're playing three talls at times down there. 'So everything is an advantage there, but we also think we don't lose anything by playing those three talls.' The Dockers are coming off a hot run of form, with confidence inspiring road wins over GWS and Gold Coast, with a comfortable home victory against Port Adelaide wedged in between. But they are coming off the bye and have lost in the last three seasons off their mid-season break. Longmuir said they had made minor tweaks to their preparation. 'Slightly different,' he said. 'We've been changing up our schedule a bit, so it hasn't been specifically to the bye, but it's probably been specific to long breaks, the way we come out of the weekend in particular we've changed up, and probably most importantly, we've tried not to make it a narrative,' he said. 'We're a different team. We understand that the things that we've been doing prior to the bye have been working. 'So it's probably been more getting back to that process, rather than getting caught up in we need to win off the bye or that previous byes haven't worked for us. A few tinkers to the schedule, but it's mainly been getting players back to the process. ' North Melbourne will be playing its second successive 'home game' in WA, having edged the Eagles in Bunbury last Sunday in front of 12,700 fans with ticket sales for Saturday's game at Optus Stadium tracking on 30,000. The Dockers coach said it was 'critical' Freo fans turned up to the game, even though it was not included in their membership package. 'It's going to be unique. Clearly, it's an away game at Optus and it's not against West Coast, which is something new,' he said. 'It's something new for our players and we are desperate for our fans to get there. 'We understand it's not part of their membership, but we'd love them to fork out a few bucks and come and support us. 'We want to make our home ground a fortress and we need the purple army there to support us. The weather looks like it's clearing up, which may have held a few people back early in the week. 'I'm not 100 per cent on the financials, I don't get involved in that, but it was a bit like Gather Round, in some sense, to the Adelaide teams, where they get to stay at home for an extra week. 'It's an important part of our season, but it's also important part of equality of the fixture, in some sense. So yeah, we want, we want as many to get there as possible.'
7NEWS
an hour ago
- 7NEWS
Australian equestrian Heath Ryan issues statement after horse whip video emerges
Australian Olympic equestrian Heath Ryan has been forced to defend himself after shocking vision of him whipping a horse emerged on social media. The vision is two years old and it shows Ryan, 66, whipping a horse called Nico 42 times. The video was shared on YouTube and Facebook by DressageHub, with the title: 'Australian Olympian Heath Ryan Hits a Horse 42 Times in 30 Seconds .... Pretty sure this video will get pulled. Watch it while you can.' 'It's never-ending ... this horse is completely shut down. It's traumatised,' DressageHub says. has chosen not to show the viral video, which takes place in an indoor training arena. The sound of the cracking whip can be clearly heard, and the horse reacts by kicking its rear legs and swishing its tail. But Ryan was quick to defend himself when he realised the video had surfaced, and said that all the facts needed to be taken into account before any judgement was made. 'Oh my goodness! The most awful video of me on a young horse has just surfaced,' he said in a lengthy statement on Facebook. He then explained that it was a a 'life-and-death' situation for the horse and it was in fact saving it from the 'knackery'. 'I have never ridden anything like it. I am so sad this was caught on video. If I had been thinking of myself, I would have immediately just gotten off and sent Nico to the knackery,' he said. 'That video was a life-or-death moment for Nico and of that I was very aware. I felt I genuinely had to try my very hardest to see if Nico would consider other options. Anyway, by the end of that initial ride I did feel Nico was responding. 'I rode Nico for another couple of days and he responded very well and started to go without the use of excessive driving aids.' He said Nico — who had been 'beautifully bred' by his best stallions — had always been a 'problem child'. And before the horse was dropped off to him for training, Nico had a put his owner and good friend in intensive care. 'Nico, before he came to me, always had the best of best homes. He wanted for nothing. He was in wonderful condition, he was always rugged, he had his own paddock, he was regularly ridden and he was loved. Here is the question: if a beautiful 6yo horse turns up at your facility and it was bred by your stallion and it belonged to a lifelong friend of yours who had been put in hospital in intensive care by this horse, would you just send it to the Knackery??' He said he felt obliged to retrain the horse to 'see if it was possibly salvageable'. He said after that training session he found a 'brilliant' new home for Nico and the horse was 'thriving in a loving and competitive home with an exciting future'. 'All of this transpired sincerely with the horse's best interests the sole consideration. Unbelievably it was so successful for everyone except me with the release of this video. What can I say?' he said. 'If you think I did that flippantly, you are wrong. I hated reaching out in those moments to Nico and asking the hard questions. That was the last place I wanted to be. I have never before ridden a horse that reacted like that and I certainly will never do it again. 'Was it worth it?? Well, not for me, however, I am very happy for Nico. I need to add that this happened about two years ago and the video has been posted by an unhappy ex-employee. All I can say is that this awful video was collateral damage of me from the bottom of my heart launching a rescue mission.'
