Dobe Newton OAM (born 14 July 1948) is an Australian musician and member of folk and country music group the Bushwackers from 1973. He co-wrote the patriotic song "

I Am Australian "I Am Australian" (or "We Are Australian") is a popular Australian song written in 1987 by Bruce Woodley of the Seekers and Dobe Newton of the Bushwackers. Its lyrics are filled with many historic and cultural references, such as to the " dig ...

" in 1987 with

Bruce Woodley Bruce William Woodley (born 25 July 1942) is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. He was a founding member of the successful folk-pop group the Seekers, and co-composer of the songs " I Am Australian," "Red Rubber Ball," and Simon & G ...

. For his service to the performing arts as an entertainer and advocate he was appointed to the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Career

Dobe Newton was born on 14 July 1948 in Sydney. During the 1960s he acquired a lagerphone and

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

after hearing Irish folk group

the Dubliners The Dubliners () were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in pers ...

. He joined Australian

bush band A bush band is a group of musicians that play Australian bush ballads. A similar bush band tradition is also found in New Zealand. Instruments In addition to vocals, instruments featured in bush bands may include fiddle, accordion, guitar, ba ...

the Bushwackers (initially the Original Bushwhackers and Bullockies Bush Band) in 1973 on vocals and lagerphone. As the group's longest-serving member he became their leader during the 1980s. In 1987 he co-wrote "

" with

the Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop group originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Unit ...

. Outside of performing Newton ran workshops and seminars on music in both Western Australia and Victoria. He was the CEO of the Western Australian Music Industry Association in the 1990s, before he relocated to Victoria where took a similar role at the Victorian Rock Foundation. For 18 years he was a member of teaching staff at North Melbourne Institute of TAFE (

Technical and Further Education Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...

) running a course on Music Business. In 2013 he also became President of

Country Music Association of Australia The Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA) is an association formed in 1992 that promotes and represents the Australian country music industry. As the peak national industry body, its activities include organisation, promotion and stagin ...

(CMAA) replacing John Williamson. As of March 2022 he still held that position. He was awarded an

Medal on Australia Day, 2013 for "service to the performing arts as an entertainer and advocate." Along with fellow

Bushwacker Bushwhacker, Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and American Civil War. Bushwhacker(s), Bushwacker(s), or Bushwhacking may also refer to: * Bushwacker (bull), #13/6, hall of fame bucki ...

Roger Corbett, Newton was added to the Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown in 2021. In August 2023, Newton performed a rendition of his song "

", alongside fellow Bushwacker Roger Corbett, in their audition on the twelfth season of ''

The Voice Australia ''The Voice'' is an Australian singing competition television series. It premiered on the Nine Network on 14 April 2012, before moving to the Seven Network in 2021. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', a ...

'', in which they received a four-chair turn before securing a place on coach

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...

's team.

References

External links

The Bushwackers official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Dobe 1948 births Australian musicians Living people Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia