“In the 1970s, we got a Labor government that put more emphasis on trade with Asia; the Vietnam war ended, and refugees were coming in. We were more part of Asia than America and the rest of the world. There was the proximity, for a start - all these countries and cultures just north of us. It just made sense that that's what we were part of.”

Australian rock singer

Jimmy Barnes is an Australian rock singer, known for his work as a solo artist and as the lead vocalist of Cold Chisel. Born James Dixon Barnes, he became one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time. His career spans several styles, including hard rock, blues rock, soul, R&B, country, country rock, and electronic music. By 2022, he had scored 16 solo number-one albums in Australia, more than any other artist. He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame with Cold Chisel in 1992 and again as a solo artist in 2005.