The ARIAs are underway and checkout the galleries for all the Red Carpet photos.

Joining Divinyls, Icehouse, Daddy Cool, Lobby Loyde, Rose Tattoo and Helen Reddy, the legendary MIDNIGHT OIL will be the final recipients to be inducted into the 2006 ARIA Hall of Fame.

ARIA Awards Committee Chairman and President and CEO, Warner Music Australia, Ed St John said "Midnight Oil is one of the greatest rock & roll bands this country has ever produced. They were incredibly successful all over the world, but much more importantly, they made music that mattered. They covered subjects that had rarely been addressed in a rock song before: land rights, the environment, social justice, war, human rights and Australian history. The sound of their music, created by five supremely talented singers and musicians, evoked the very essence of Australia. There has never been a band like this, and I doubt there will ever be one like them again. Midnight Oil were unique, and ARIA is enormously honoured to be inducting the band into the Hall of Fame."

MIDNIGHT OIL is a band that made a career out of making noise about the important issues. They brought a new sense of political and social immediacy to pop music with incendiary hits like Beds Are Burning and Blue Sky Mine, which brought global attention to the plight of, respectively, Aboriginal settlers and impoverished workers. MIDNIGHT OIL always put its money where its mouth was - in addition to staging benefit performances for groups like Greenpeace and Save the Whales, former singer Peter Garrett is now fighting from the frontline as a Member of Parliament for the Federal Labour Party in the NSW seat of Kingsford-Smith.

The Oils defied all musical fashions to create fourteen extraordinary albums with combined international record sales of more than 12 million units. As a musical unit they railed against injustice, apathy, inequality and the lurking evil forces of cynicism and conservatism with sound, fury and righteous indignation.

On October 28, MIDNIGHT OIL is releasing their 18th album Flat Chat, a cross section of heart kicking classics featuring the Oils at their hard, fast and rocking best and demonstrates once again why Midnight Oil were regarded as one of Australia’s premier international rock bands!

“We always tried to make music with words that spoke to the times and with actions that backed up the words, so it’s a mighty honour to be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame after more than 25 years of writing and performing together� said MIDNIGHT OIL’s lead singer, Peter Garrett.

Don’t miss MIDNIGHT OIL as they are inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, to be broadcast exclusively on Network Ten at 7.30pm on Sunday October 29th.

Honouring achievements in the Classical, Jazz, World Music and Soundtrack/Cast/Show recordings, the 2006 ARIA Fine Arts Awards was held at the magnificent Verbrugghen Hall at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music last night.

Paul Kelly and Dan Luscombe took out the BEST SOUNDTRACK/CAST/SHOW ALBUM category for Jindabyne, which also features the haunting vocals of Melbourne’s Soteria Bell, newcomer country artist Katie Brianna, actor Ursula Yovich and The Stormwater Boys.

The Necks unique blend of jazz, ambience and trance has brought them cult-fame in Australia and throughout Europe. They won their second BEST JAZZ ALBUM ARIA for Chemist and the award was accepted for the trio by bass player Lloyd Swanton.

It is no surprise that one of this year’s landmark recordings took out the BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM for National Living Treasure Richard Tognetti. Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin is his first solo album.

The Cat Empire is currently touring North America, so its ARIA for BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM was accepted by manager Correne Wilkie. The winning Cities: The Cat Empire Project CD is a musical homage to its home-town of Melbourne.

Nominees who performed in this year’s ceremony were violinist Niki Vasilakis, pianists Paul Grabowsky and Simon Tedeschi, and brothers Joseph and James Tawadros on Egyptian oud and req’.

The event was broadcast nationally on ABC Classic FM, hosted by Damien Beaumont, with special guest presenters Tara Morice and David Campbell.

The ABC’s John Crawford, announced that the ABC Classic FM Listeners’ Choice Award went to the impressive 4CD release Wagner: Die Walküre, the world’s first 6-channel super audio CD (SACD) recording of The Ring in surround sound, by the State Opera of South Australia and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

2006 ARIA FINE ARTS AWARDS WINNERS

Best Classical Album
RICHARD TOGNETTI - Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
(ABC Classics/UMA)

Best Jazz Album
THE NECKS – Chemist
(Fish of Milk/Shock)

Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album
PAUL KELLY, DAN LUSCOMBE featuring SOTERIA BELL - Jindabyne
(Capitol/EMI)

Best World Music Album
THE CAT EMPIRE - Cities: The Cat Empire Project
(Virgin/EMI)

ABC Classic FM Listeners’ Choice Award
WAGNER: DIE WALKÜRE – State Opera of South Australia & Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (Melba Recordings)