The title says it all. Friends from Australia, for the benefit of us at the other end of the world, what is your take on this news?
I’m not an Aussie, but I’ve always liked the man. The Bush backlash sure is strong down there.
I’m a conservative generally (though I voted for Garrett’s party this time), and I dislike the man as sanctimonious and insincere.
A lot of people on the left dislike him too, as a sell-out. Labor’s Blair-style centrist, moderate policies are a strange thing for Garrett to embrace from the point of view of many people who remember his music from twenty-five years ago.
On the other hand, some argue that he’ll do more good from within the establishment than from writing rock songs (and they sucked, IMHO).
My POV? He’s a buffoon celebrity candidate, he’s already tripped up embarrassingly during the election campaign, and I think he’s got plenty more embarrassing material to feed to the local comedians and satirists.
Wasn’t he the Oliphaunt driver in Return of the King?
Well at least perhaps he can extinguish some of those burning beds. Those are probably not so hot for the ozone layer.
I agree. I doubt that he’ll bring any more to the Environment portfolio than any of the other possible ministers would have. And let’s just see how he handles the pulp mill (which Labor supports).
Like a lot of outspoken types, I don’t think he ever understood how hard it is to actually do anything useful once you’re a politician. I am curious to see if he manages to achieve anything close to what he used to sing about. Perhaps he will. More likely he won’t; he’s already hamstrung by party policy, which apparently doesn’t agree with him.
Cunctator, what exactly is this pulp mill you’re talking about?
And, as an aside, I’ve read that Garrett has been a member of Parliament for 3 years now. How has he performed?
Moved from IMHO to GD.
I never heard of this band before and from the thread title I thought some oil-industry exec had been appointed to the post despite the new PM being from the purportedly left-of-center Labour* Party . . .
This recent article from The Nation argues that Rudd’s election is nothing to get all that excited about. But this development, at least, is encouraging.
*Or is that Labor? How do Aussies spell it?
“He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich.”
Gee, where were you in the 80’s? 
That’s Men At Work, not Midnight Oil.
Son of a gun; where was I in the 80’s? I shall post no more this evening.
And that’s Chief Joseph, which is more 1880s than 1980s.
“The time has come, a fact’s a fact
It belongs to them; we’re gonna give it back.”
Now THAT is Midnight Oil.
The Australian electorate knows that Peter Garrett has a genuine passion about environmental concerns; unlike his counterpart in the coalition (opposition party now), Malcolm Turnbull, who is just self serving and power hungry. That has got to be a good thing. Having a party in power for over a decade that did not give a rats arse about the environment means there is much room for improvement.
As TLD mentioned, he has to hone his political skills, but I think he will get the hang of being in government without creating too many problems for Kevin Rudd. Penny Wong has the important Climate Change portfolio, which I would expect would involve more political subtleties. Garrett wouldn’t cope with that role.
BTW the bands early music was actually good IMHO
Generally, Australians write “labour”, but Mr Garrett belongs to the Australian Labor Party, so in this context it’s “Labor”.
(It’s a bit like the way Americans write “theater” and “Theatre” in different contexts)
Mind summarizing for us non-Aussies? The first I heard about this was last week watching some Chasers War on Everything online, as they seem to be taking the mick out of him for reasons I couldn’t quite grasp.
-groan-
You’re kidding?! After his pre-election gaffes, I thought his electorate would turn on him and I was surprised he kept his seat. But to make him a minister… Odd choice. The only portfolio I’d feel comfortable giving him would be Minister for Sitting In The Corner Keeping His Mouth Closed. It will be interesting to see how he goes… fingers crossed he does the good work he’s been singing about all these years.
I lost a lot of respect for him over the Gunns Pulp Mill. I think he’s right to support his party, but wrong to sell-out his principles.