Media Room: Media Releases

CONCERT TOUR OF TIMOR-LESTE DRAWS TO A CLOSE

A group of Australian entertainers, including country music group The McClymonts, have successfully completed a concert tour for deployed forces in Timor-Leste.

The tour ended with a concert this evening in Dili, before an audience of Defence Force members from Australia and New Zealand, and the Australian Federal Police.

The tour, comprising of country band The McClymonts (sisters Brooke, Samantha and Mollie McClymont), singer/songwriter Amber Lawrence, comedian Troy Kinne and actor/singer Daniel Lissing, braved the intense November heat to perform for troops at a variety of locations around Timor-Leste.

The concerts have been well received, allowing Defence personnel in remote areas a chance to see the concerts, as well as engage with new and different people.

“We’ve been able to experience the daily life of a soldier serving over here,” said Mollie McClymont.

“Some of the soldiers we’ve met don’t have many luxuries, so it’s been great to be able to break their routine.”

For Amber Lawrence, the opportunity to learn more about her audience’s daily lives has been highlight: “This experience has really opened my eyes about the work of our troops over here, and made me appreciate their efforts so much more.

“I have also learned that it is possible to be in the most remote location, and still put on a really great show, which is fantastic,” said Amber.

The tours are organised by Forces Entertainment, and are part of a tradition of entertaining deployed personnel in-country that pre-dates the Vietnam War.

This is the McClymonts’s second tour of this kind, having also performed concerts for the troops in the Middle East during Christmas 2006.

According to Mollie, it is an experience they relish: “It’s been an amazing, life-changing experience for us all.”

For interviews with performers or any other information about the Tour, please contact Annabelle Haywood on 0417 639 230.

Images of the tour concerts are available at www.defence.gov.au/media/download

For more information on Operation Astute follow the links at www.defence.gov.au.

For more information on the Forces Entertainment Tour De Force go to www.forcesentertainment.org.au

Media contact: Defence Media Liaison (02) 6265 3343 or (0408) 498 664