OIL PUNNECESSARY

LABOR'S RISING STAR DOES A POLICY SHUFFLE
Saturday 12 June 2004, Page 001 By Jason Frenkel PETER Garrett has taken just 24 hours to abandon policies he held true for more than two decades "I've made a decision, effectively, to go towards the mainstream," the former Midnight Oil front man declared yesterday. "If that's identified as being a little more conservative, then so be it." The rocker who forged his reputation by opposing everything from woodchips to American bases became an official member of the Australian Labor Party yesterday. But Mr Garrett's failure to enrol to vote for the past 10 years made him an immediate target for the Howard Government. And he is already singing a different tune on key environmental, defence and foreign affairs issues he once passionately advocated. "I pretty much stand by all of the things that I've said on the public record about politics," he said. But Mr Garrett, 51, has already changed his mind on a range of crucial issues, including now: SUPPORTING mandatory detention of refugees. GIVING the green light to a new pulp mill in Tasmania. WALKING away from a long-term goal of scrapping Australia's alliance with the US. ABANDONING a lifelong commitment to shutting down Pine Gap and other US bases. Explaining his decision to ditch the political fringe and move away from the Left, Mr Garrett said becoming conservative was "a part of growing up". The former head of the Australian Conservation Foundation said the US bases were "doing a greater good and . . . they are essential for Australia's national security". "I'm not in favour of Pine Gap being closed," Mr Garrett said. The Howard Government is set to seize on the backflips and to paint Mr Garrett as a celebrity without political conviction. Prime Minister John Howard said there was nothing spectacular about Labor's new recruit, and voters were more interested in policies than personalities. "I don't think people should get carried away with the idea that this is going to transform politics," Mr Howard said yesterday. "People are going to vote on beliefs and values, and the problem with Labor at the moment is nobody really knows what it stands for." Mr Garrett is also being dogged by his dubious voting record over the past decade after the Herald Sun revealed he had not been enrolled since 1994. Treasurer Peter Costello said that Australians were entitled to question Mr Garrett's political credentials. Mr Costello likened the saga to an aspiring AFL footballer who had yet to watch a game. "If you haven't been interested enough to have registered and voted in elections, it's a bit rich to ask other people to vote for you," he said. "It's like the Pope saying he hadn't been to church for 10 years. "If you are interested enough in political office to seek to be elected by other people, you could at least show enough interest to get yourself on the roll and to vote." Mr Garrett has refused to talk to the Herald Sun over many years, maintaining a long-term stance of shunning the country's largest-selling daily newspaper. But the Herald Sun can reveal behind-the-scenes machinations have been going on for months to find a seat for Mr Garrett. Key NSW party heavyweights, including Senator John Faulkner, with the backing of NSW Premier Bob Carr, looked at at least four seats. Electorates sized up for Mr Garrett included Sydney, Cunningham, Dobell and Chifley before they settled on Laurie Brereton's safe seat of Kingsford Smith. After a meeting with the ALP national executive yesterday, Mr Garrett said he did not expect to burn out in a similar fashion to Cheryl Kernot, who defected from the Australian Democrats to Labor. "I'm a long-haul player," he said.

EASY RIDER
Saturday 12 June 2004, Page 025 By Gerard McManus Former Midnight Oil front man Peter Garrett is about to cruise into Canberra and a spot on Mark Latham's front bench, but, as GERARD McMANUS reports, both could be in for a bumpy ride PETER Garrett has spent recent weeks sailing around islands off East Timor, fishing, soaking up the local culture and occasionally strumming along with his friends, local musician Gil Santos and Melbourne singer Paul Kelly. The break from the foggy winter in the NSW Southern Highlands, where he lives, was the tonic he needed because he knew what was coming back in Australia. While Garrett has been privy to only some of what has been months of behind-the-scenes deal making to stitch up a federal seat for him, he knew a career in federal politics was his for the taking. Labor heavyweights had promised him the gig, which came with the imprimatur of new leader Mark Latham. Yet there are big risks for Garrett who, despite having one of Australia's most recognised heads, is intensely private and enjoys the cosseted life of one of the nation's most successful rock acts. Down the track there are also big risks for Labor, as shown by this week's near disaster. Peter Garrett called it his electoral roll "glitch", his excuse for not having been on the roll for the past decade. He took responsibility for the failure, but blamed the system at the same time. Labor just hoped it would all be quickly forgotten. But Garrett is a man used to answering to no one, running his own race and speaking his mind when, where and how he chooses. They are privileges which he just won't enjoy when he joins the Labor caucus and has the Australian taxpayer as his paymaster. There are parallels between Garrett's entrance into politics and the Liberal Party's star recruit of 2004 -- Sydney lawyer Malcolm Turnbull who has been preselected for the blue ribbon seat of Wentworth. Both are highly successful individuals in their own fields, intelligent, temperamental, volatile, articulate and brimming with ideas on how best to change the nation. Turnbull tossed around his own money and influence to elbow out sitting member Peter King, while Garrett was foisted on a grassroots party membership incensed at being told they had to wear a glamour candidate just because they happen to live in a safe seat. Turnbull is a republican in a party that is still deeply monarchist, a Liberal who once flirted with joining Labor. GARRETT, on the other hand, has some extreme environmental and economic views, but has joined a party which still has its moorings in a union movement of timber, factory, shop and rural workers. Indeed, in a traditional sense there is very little to link Garrett with the Labor Party at all. He was raised in Sydney's affluent northern suburbs and attended the prestige Barkers College, the alma mater of Attorney-General Philip Ruddock. He has degrees in arts and law, and an honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University of New South Wales. Midnight Oil is, after AC/DC, probably the most successful touring band in Australian rock history, with about 15 million albums sold. Garrett is a multi-millionaire. He owns a family estate in Mittagong, a south coast beach house, and a string of other investments. So how and why did Labor snare someone who, on paper, appears to be its antithesis? The ALP is keeping quiet on the identity of the players who brought Garrett across, but the Herald Sun can reveal the Midnight Oil operation has been going for months. Tasmanian senator Bob Brown, who is almost 60, also tried hard to recruit Garrett as the ideal high-profile figure to carry his torch. But the Labor Party got in first. Various NSW seats have been considered from marginal electorates such as Dobell, which Labor desperately wants to win back from the Liberals, through to Cunningham, held by the Greens. But after the Cheryl Kernot experience Labor hard heads knew there was no sense in burning up another star recruit in a marginal seat. At one stage the safer seat of Sydney, held by Tanya Plibersek, was considered with the young and capable MP being moved elsewhere, possibly to the Senate. Labor heavies also tried to crowbar Roger Price out of the stronghold of Chifley, which he has held since 1984. Price refused to budge. ALP insiders say the Garrett operation has the hallmarks of Machiavellian MP, Lawrence John Brereton, who also happens to be the MP Garrett is aiming to replace. But NSW Premier Bob Carr and possibly the invisible hand of Paul Keating were also "in the joke", according to a reliable ALP source. SENATOR John Faulkner, whose relentless Senate estimates interrogations uncovered Australian knowledge of the Abu Ghraib torture, was brought in to make sure there were no snares in the Garrett transfer from environmental warrior to Labor MP. Faulkner was the MP who discovered Garrett's electoral roll glitch. The early detection saved Labor from a disaster akin to the Liberal Party's Robert Dean implosion at the last Victorian election. The rationale behind bringing in Garrett is threefold, according to Labor insiders. Firstly, ALP strategists have long been concerned about the growing Australian Greens and independent vote in inner-city electorates such as Lindsay Tanner's seat of Melbourne. Garrett would create the ideological bridge to disenchanted Left/Greens voters who left Labor in droves during the 2001 Tampa election. He would lift Labor's primary vote and guarantee Greens preferences would flow back to Labor, so the argument goes. Secondly, and despite his 51 years and the fact that Midnight Oil has been around in one guise or another since 1971, Garrett would also connect Labor with the youth vote, the strategists claim. He would give Labor an edge and vitality that would further highlight a prime minister who is past the retirement age of most Australians and who has given no indication of when he will call it quits. Thirdly, Labor hard heads, particularly Mark Latham, are convinced Garrett is a genuine political talent with a good political nose and the energy to shake up Labor at the federal level. But despite the gloss being put on the transfer, Labor and Garrett are far from a perfect fit. Either Garrett will have to renounce much of what he has been hectoring and singing about for decades, including dumping the US alliance, or Labor is going to have to shift to the Left to accommodate his views. AT various times Garrett has been a member of Greenpeace International, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Nuclear Disarmament Party, none of which demand the discipline required by a mainstream parliamentary party. During his music career he has cultivated an image of a rock singer who carries the flame for the Australian counter-culture, the political renegade and the angry voice of the change generation. How much of the outrage is concocted is hard to tell. Garrett is a conservative family man and the highly protective father of three teenage girls. At concerts he always sipped tea. He is a Christian and has reportedly objected to swearing at Australian Conservation Foundation meetings -- something he will not succeed with inside the ALP. The fact is Garrett has been brilliant at creating and marketing his own image. His imposing 193cm frame is topped by a natural head of blond hair which he has kept shaved. Garrett has selectively used the media to sell an album, promote a tour and to cultivate the persona of the outraged environmentally conscious rock star. But he is also a media censor. In the past his publicists have screened journalists before interviews to ensure their views were compatible and that they were sympathetic to causes he espoused. He refuses to talk to some newspapers, including the Herald Sun. The result is that in 20 years it is difficult to find a critical interview and he has been rewarded by being declared a "Living Treasure" by the National Trust, and one of the world's 20 most admired men by a US magazine. EVEN during major blunders where he has offended Aboriginal groups he has escaped unscathed. In 1986, when Midnight Oil toured remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, the band encountered audiences who hated their music. Aborigines of the Western Desert, whose usual fare was Slim Dusty and Charlie Pride, were alarmed at Garrett's bizarre act, which writer Les Carlyon once described as a man trying to do an impersonation of trying to shake off lice. After a few bad gigs and facing a publicity disaster for the album they were about to promote, Garrett had to unplug his band, sit down and sing music the people could relate to. A few years later Midnight Oil produced a song about the death of Truganini, the supposed last Tasmanian Aborigine. Garrett had to apologise to the 7000 Tasmanians who claim Aboriginal lineage. Politics may sound like a doddle compared with dancing frenetically on stage for hours to loud music but it is also serious business and the serious scrutiny is about to begin.

OIL'S NOT WELL WITH VOTERS
Saturday 12 June 2004, Page 032 By Gerard McManus Mark Latham's backing of Peter Garrett leaves Labor stranded between a rocker and a hard place MARK Latham made his first big mistake this week. Forget about the Christmas withdrawal of troops from Iraq, which the Coalition has been trying to pin on Latham as the first real example of a leader who isn't fit to run the country. OK, that decision was a bit rash and supported by a figleaf piece of advice Latham conveniently borrowed from some defence officials. But Latham backed his own judgment, took the position Australia was better off out of Iraq, and has stood firm against a torrential attack from the Coalition. In the meantime, the world has learned about the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US troops -- a public relations disaster that is arguably the greatest setback for the US in the war against terror since September 11 itself. Since then, and despite all the posturing by John Howard and Alexander Downer, George Bush and Tony Blair have adopted a form of what might be called the Latham line: "Let's get out of here as soon as we possibly can." And Latham is already starting to fudge on the pullout anyway, yesterday hinting that troops protecting Australian diplomats could stay beyond Christmas. Latham's far bigger blunder, and one that calls into question his political judgment, has been to invite Peter Garrett on tour with him as his back-up singer. There can be only one justification for installing a star recruit in a safe seat at this point of the electoral cycle, knowing the resentment and anger it would cause among ALP grassroots members. That recruit -- in this case a 51-year-old rock star with maverick views on economics and the environment -- would have to lift Labor's net vote. But no Labor or Liberal pundits are certain that Garrett will move swinging votes across to Latham. Labor's primary vote could well jump from the Garrett effect, but this will be achieved by stripping votes from the Greens and the disaffected Left. And because Labor picks up 70 to 80 per cent of Greens preferences anyway, it is quite likely there will be little net gain for Labor. Despite all the champagne popping inside the Labor Party this week, there are serious concerns about what impact Garrett will have in regional and outer-urban marginal seats -- the battleground of the coming poll. Latham's strategy since winning the leadership has been to court what might broadly be called the Hanson voters and the Howard battlers. They are alienated people who feel they haven't had their fair share of economic progress over the past 10 years, and that they pay taxes to prop up people who don't pull their weight. Significant numbers of them live in regional Australia and on capital-city fringes. They are the votes that are likely to determine the outcome of the next election. Certainly until this week Mark Latham was turning them on, and they were listening. He was more than just a new face, he had a different and new approach. He was down to earth, he spoke their language, he read books to kids, he attended town hall meetings where people could complain. Finally, there was a politician who listened and wanted the people to have a say. But at the first real test of his way of doing politics, he smashes the wishes of local branches to bring in the most radical Labor MP in memory. And he imposes someone who, from an outsider's point of view, has absolutely nothing in common with the electorate of Kingsford Smith. Despite Latham's words about changing politics to make it more democratic, to empower the grassroots, he pulled up at the first hurdle. Garrett is the high priest of symbolic Australia. He has spent a long rock career calling for the end of the US alliance and the closure of joint defence bases, and advocating a radical approach to environmental issues. The big question is can he change his spots or does the Labor Party shift towards him? If Garrett toes the party line he will be revealed as a monumental hypocrite, but if his agenda is Labor's secret agenda then Labor might be kissing goodbye to LaTrobe, McMillan, Gippsland and Corangamite in Victoria and a host of other regional seats it had its eye on. All the Coalition now has to say in the crucial regional seats is: "A vote for Labor is a vote for the Greens." The Coalition probably falls into the trap of over-estimating the depth of pro-American sentiment in Australia because it fails to recognise there is a fine line between being pro-American and appearing to be subservient to America. Australians are pro-American, but they are also patriotic. However, the Australian electorate is definitely not anti-American, and will certainly shun a party that espouses the violently anti-American rhetoric Garrett has pushed for the past two decades. GOOD WEEK As a parting payback to the NSW Right wing of the Labor Party, with whom Laurie Brereton has fallen out, he masterminds the installation of Peter Garrett into his ultra-safe Sydney seat. BAD WEEK The best-laid secret plans come unstuck after it is revealed Peter Garrett has not bothered to stay on the electoral roll for at least three elections. QUOTE OF THE WEEK "I take full responsibility for it and I recognise that it's one of those things in the system that's glitched me.'' ~ Peter Garrett on his lost name on the electoral roll.

Comments

[Brett Pee]

I've listened & enjoyed Midnight Oil's albums and found the guy expressed his strong views well- all that counter culture stuff is fine as long as you genuinely believe in it, but to change some views for a political movement could be hard to stomach.

I reckon the guy has no genuine interest in politics, he's trying to forge a new 'career' without the necessary backgound knowledge to do so.

He will be an obvious target for sniping comments and potential scandal mongering but he has always been a withdrawn, family orientated kind of guy and likes his privacy- wonder how he'll cope with all this??

[Tony.T]

Never liked the Oils.

[Patrick]

Me neither.

[Dirk Thruster]

The early stuff like 'Bird Noises' and 'Head Injuries' was fair, but it was all downhill from there when they tried to be the conscience of the nation.

[Tony.T]

I hear that, Dirk. But as I look behind me at the huge shelves stacked with records, the first one which was bought back in 1974, you'd think I'd own at least ONE Oil's album. I've even got a Leo Sayer's Just A Boy. What's more, I like it. But no Oils. Not a one.