Max Thorburn, founder of Mildura community radio station Hot FM, and the Mildura Country Music Festival has passed away after a three year bout with cancer.

A journalist and broadcaster, Max was a member of the CBAA’s Community Radio Network Advisory Committee and had been on the  Mildura Council since 2008.

CRN Manager Martin Walters says  “…he was a great supporter of community radio, in particular initiatives that served country music audiences.”

Inducted into the Australian Country Music Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Max was a passionate supporter of country music and was involved in a number of radio stations.

After trying to set up a station in 1981, broadcasting illegally for 77 days and having the station shut down and the equipment confiscated, Max was finally able to get a licence to broadcast a decade later.

For more on Max’s tenacity and entrepreneurial nature this story from the ABC in 2012 is worth a read