Tom Cruise wins Australia award -- for sexism

(Photo: Reuters)

Tom Cruise put on a brave face on August 24 with fiancée Katie Holmes in Santa Monica despite his split with Paramount Pictures.

Actor Tom Cruise has a new award from Australia to add to his collection -- for being the most sexist celebrity.

About 400 of Australia's most powerful women gathered in the New South Wales state parliament late Thursday to decide on the winners of the 14th annual "Ernie Awards" which are handed out for the worst derogatory public statements.

The awards were named after a trade union leader called Ernie whose union members included sheep shearers. He once famously said: "Women aren't welcome in the shearing sheds. They're only after the sex."

The "Ernies" have an international flavor -- and Cruise was awarded the 2006 Celebrity Ernie.

Dumped by Paramount Pictures for his erratic behavior, Cruise won for a comment he made about his pregnant partner Katie Holmes: "I've got Katie tucked away so no one will get to us until my child is born."

The political award went to Bill Heffernan, a member of Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government in a hotly contested field.

Heffernan chastised opposition Labor MP Julia Gillard for being single and childless. "Anyone who chooses to deliberately remain barren ... they've got no idea what life's about," Heffernan said.

But the Golden Ernie for 2006 went to cruise liner company P&O for an advertising campaign that included postcards featuring bikini-clad women and the caption: "Seamen wanted."

The company has subsequently apologized for the campaign and described it as inappropriate.