SYDNEY—Lee Kernaghan will strike an unprecedented blow for both country music and Queensland if, as bookies suspect, he is named 2008 Australian of the Year.
Kernaghan stands to become the first country singer to receive the accolade.
And while the sunshine state is already well represented on the honour roll, he would become the first banana bender to serve as Australian of the Year while a fellow Queenslander was Prime Minister.
If the Victorian-born Queensland singer gets the nod next week to succeed environmentalist Tim Flannery, he will garner the fifth honour for music in the award's 48-year history and the third for popular music.
Opera star Dame Joan Sutherland and conductor Sir Bernard Heinze scored for the classicists in 1961 and 1974, with The Seekers (1967) and John Farnham (1987) blazing the trail for chart-toppers.
This year's national holiday could really be one to remember for Kernaghan, who is also nominated for six country music awards at the annual Tamworth festival on January 26, a day after the Australian of the Year announcement.
The man behind hits like Hat Town and The Boys From The Bush has already won 24 awards at Tamworth.
Only Slim Dusty won more, but he never made it as Australian of the Year.
Kernaghan's favouritism springs not only from his sustained musical success.
He also cuts an inspiring example of the bush ethos of helping your mates after raising over $1 million from his work for drought relief and a decade of his Pass The Hat Around tours.
He faces stiff competition from the seven other state and territory nominees, including Victorian golfer Stuart Appleby, who is another prominent community benefactor.
Appleby is much more than a successful sportsman with an Australian Open title and eight US PGA tour wins to his credit.
He has personally donated more than $1 million to the Challenge Foundation for children with cancer, and supports the beyondblue organisation with a special focus on combating depression in rural communities.
Appleby is flying the flag for sportsmen this year along with Tasmanian Ken Gourlay, whose 70,000 nautical miles of sailing include a trip that made him the fastest and oldest Australian to circumnavigate the globe.
Along the way, he raised more than $130,000 for research into eyesight disorders and diseases in children.
The other nominees are film-maker Scott Hicks (SA), pediatrician Jonathan Carapetis (NT), social justice advocate Lin Hatfield Dodds (ACT), dancer Stephen Page (NSW) and indigenous arts leader Mark Bin Bakar (WA).
Academy Award-nominated Hicks, whose film credits include Shine, Hearts in Atlantis, Snow Falling on Cedars and the recently released No Reservations, is actively involved in his Adelaide Hills vineyard and contributes to the local film industry by post-producing his studio films in Adelaide.
Appleby and Gourlay may have their work cut out to reverse a recent trend away from sporting identities.
Although sport has dominated the award with 14 winners, the last sporting recipient was Steve Waugh in 2004 and sports stars have won just four times in the past 12 years.
Science and medicine is rapidly closing the gap, notching its 11th honour through Dr Tim Flannery last year.
That may help the chances of Professor Carapetis, an infectious disease specialist who has extensive experience working with Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory.
Two of the eight candidates this year have a chance of becoming the sixth Aboriginal office holder after Mandawuy and Galarrwuy Yunupingu, Lowitja O'Donoghue, Neville Bonner and Lionel Rose.
Stephen Page has achieved international recognition with the Bangarra Dance Theatre and for choreographing the Sydney Olympics Games ceremonies.
Mark Bin Bakar, known to many as the multi-media personality Mary G, the flamboyant "Queen of the Kimberley", has also raised awareness of key social issues facing indigenous people.
Whoever is chosen must hope to replicate the success of Dr Flannery, as well as enjoy easier access to the prime ministerial ear.
Dr Flannery said he had no contact at all with John Howard despite making a number of approaches to his office.
But his campaign to raise awareness of climate change was capped when new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ratified the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse emissions in his first week in office.
"The next thing is to act," Dr Flannery told The Age newspaper this week.
"We'll see what happens in the US in the next 12 months, but that battle for public awareness has now finished.
"We've won it, really."
Australian of the Year candidates
Lee Kernaghan OAM, country music, QLD
Mark Bin Bakar, indigenous arts, WA
Stephen Page, dancer/choreographer, NSW
Lin Hatfield Dodds, social justice advocate, ACT
Stuart Appleby, golfer and benefactor, VIC
Ken Gourlay, sailor, TAS
Prof Jonathan Carapetis, pediatrician, NT
Scott Hicks, filmmaker, SA
Senior Australian of the Year candidates:
NSW - David Bussau AM, micro-finance pioneer
VIC - Carrillo Gantner AO, cultural leader
QLD - Brian Egan, drought relief helper
SA - Prof Rob Morrison OAM, science communicator
WA - Sister Patricia Rhatigan, remote area educator
TAS - Les Blakebrough, ceramic artist
ACT - Prof Linda Reaby AM, breast cancer awareness
NT - Joy Green, mental health services pioneer
Young Australian of the Year candidates:
NSW - Casey Stoner, world MotoGP champion
VIC - Daniel Adams, poverty fighter
QLD - Lars Olsen, orphans' champion
AA - Niki Vasilakis, musician
WA - Simone McMahon, organ donor advocate
TAS - Robyn McKinnon, youth mentor
ACT - Xian-Zhi Soon, high achiever
NT - Simone Liddy, groundbreaker