Garrett, Peter

Peter Garrett was born in Sydney , attended Barker College in Hornsby, studied art at Australian National University and law at the University of New South Wales . In 1973, he joined the Midnight Oil group after reading an announcement about finding a vocalist that drummer Rob Hirst had given to the newspaper. Due to the social and environmental theme of the songs, Midnight Oil was called Australia's conscience. Garrett was remembered by the public both for his manner of singing and appearance - tall, completely bald and very mobile. On stage, he performed strange sharp dance moves, which became part of the group’s image.

Garrett twice headed the Australian Conservation Fund ( 1989 - 1993 , 1998 - 2004 ). In 1993, he joined Greenpeace . He was one of the founders of the Surfers Fund and participated in various cultural and public organizations.

Midnight Oil made political statements on and off the stage. Speaking at the closing of the Sydney Olympics in front of Prime Minister John Howard and a multimillion-dollar television audience, they donned black headbands with the words “Sorry.” This related to Howard's refusal to apologize to the Aboriginal people of Australia for a policy endorsing the excommunication of Aboriginal children from their parents. [2]

In 2000, Garrett was awarded the Australian Humanitarian Fund in the environmental category, in 2001 received an honorary doctorate in literature from the University of South Wales.

In 2002, Garrett left Midnight Oil, but in the following years he participated in various charity concerts with them several times. In 2004, Midnight Oil gave two concerts to help those affected by the tsunami , and in 2009 , a concert in Melbourne to help the Forest Fire Fighting Fund. Garrett never performed solo or with other bands.

Peter Garrett ran for the first time in the Senate in 1984 at the invitation of the nuclear disarmament party (shortly before that, the Midnight Oil album “ 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ” with the anti-nuclear theme of songs was released) . He needed to get 12.5% ​​of the vote, but he won 9.6%, and his party gave way to conservatives in the Senate.

In June 2004, Labor leader Mark Latham declared Garrett a candidate from the Labor Party to the House of Representatives to replace Kingsford Smith. On October 9, Garrett easily passed the election. In 2007, he was re-elected.

In 2006, Garrett campaigned for Labor against the Greens , telling voters that the latter were collaborating with the conservative Liberal Party . The leader of the Greens, Bob Brown, a former friend of Garrett, accused him of corruption and opposition to Greenpeace. [3]

On November 29, 2007, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appointed Garrett as Minister of the Environment, Heritage, and the Arts. Garrett again set the Greens against himself, deciding to deepen the Phillip Bay port with the excavator. In 2008, he authorized the expansion of uranium mining in South Australia and Tasmania . However, in December 2009, Garrett issued a negative decision on the construction of a dam in Traveston and forced a thermal insulation program for individual dwellings. [four]

In August 2010, Garrett was re-elected to the Senate, already with greater difficulties than in previous elections. He was appointed Minister of School Education.

It is known that Peter Garrett was the eldest of three sons in his family and grew up in the village of Varunga in the Sydney area. His father died when Peter was in school, and during his college years, Garrett's mother died in a fire in their family home.

Garrett is married, he has three daughters - Emily, May and Grace. His niece Maud Garrett works at Nickelodeon's Australian office. [five]