Barney chats to Peter Garrett about the band, previously performing in South Africa and politics
Two rock legends in the same room, Barney chats to the lead singer of the legendary Aussie rock band Midnight Oil, who famously dropped music to launch a political career.
While vocalist Peter Garrett was studying at Australian National University in Canberra, he answered an advertisement for a spot in Farm, and by 1975 the band was touring the east coast of Australia. By late 1976, Garrett moved to Sydney to complete his law degree, and Farm changed its name to Midnight Oil by drawing the name out of a hat.
One of his famous songs in South Africa that has extra meaning for South Africans is 'Beds are Burning'.
As Minister for the Environment, Garrett was instrumental in the campaign against so called “scientific whaling” in the Antarctic, culminating in Australia’s successful challenge to Japanese whaling in the International Court of Justice in 2014. He secured agreement to a national waste policy leading to Australia’s first ever e-waste recycling scheme, and delivered a long awaited resale royalty scheme for visual artists.