Peter Garrett Interview

If you were there at the start, back when the Narrabeen Sands was the Narrabeen Antler, when Peter Garrett had cropped blond hair, when the ceiling rained sweat like a tropical downpour, you might remember Midnight Oil the surf band, singing about Wedding Cake Island, long swell lines, and the low coast road. It was a carefree time, but the Oils were just finding their voice. A few years later Midnight Oil cared about everything, from American militarism to Aboriginal land rights, an activist rock band like none before or since. With a ferocious live energy and high musical IQ, they kicked back against an unjust system... but unlike punk they were smart enough to do something about it. Peter Garrett was a founding member of Surfrider, headed the Australian Conservation Foundation, and eventually, in time, became federal environment minister. Midnight Oil changed Australia for the better and became the social conscience of not one generation here in Australia, but two or three. By the time you’ve read this however, Midnight Oil will have played their last live show. It’s a significant moment for a lot of people, not least of them Peter Garrett. But the Oils aren’t going quietly. Their new album, Resist deals with issues of today – climate, Adani, Takayna – and is an acknowledgement that the fight never ends. “It’s the summer of another year,” as the lyric goes from Outside World, “a little world weary, a little more to fear.”

Peter Garrett speaks to Brett Burcher.