Rough Diamonds (film)

Rough Diamonds is a 1994 Australian film. It was the first lead role in a feature for Jason Donovan.

Donald Crombie was inspired to make the film while filming The Irishman in north Queensland in 1977. He saw a farmer, who owned 80,000 hectares of beef country and on paper was a millionaire, working on a council road gang to make money. He wrote this up as a social drama for Film Australia to star Michelle Fawdon but it was never made.A number of years later Crombie was approached by Damien Parer who wanted to make features in Queensland and was looking for projects Crombie showed him his treatment and they developed it into a more populist film. The farmer who needed money became a singer who had a romance with a girl singer and saves his farm on the country and western circuit. ........

Source: Wikipedia