SAM’S DISARMING PERFORMANCE

Kevin Rudd had a very unnerving start his Australia Day weekend at The Lodge in Canberra yesterday when Young Australian of the Year finalist Sam Cawthorn decided to play a practical joke on the unsuspecting Prime Minister. The Tasmanian motivational speaker, whose right arm was amputated above the elbow after a car accident, accepted a dare from his young daughter and unhooked his prosthetic arm so it was left hanging from Rudd’s right mitt when the two shook hands.

Kev09 told the reception to honour Australian of the Year finalists he had not recovered from shock and was still “in therapy”. The Australian of the Year finalists gathered at The Lodge for scones and quiches with Kev09 and his wife, Therese Rein ahead of last night’s announcement of the winners. Buoyed by all the goodwill among the finalists, Kev decided to have a little fun himself, and grabbed one of the photographer’s cameras and started taking photos of finalists and his wife.