Peter Garrett

Some people are born with the necessary gift, and some work hard to build on the few gifts they have.

The fact is that we take music very seriously.

At an everyday level I would reckon myself more than fortunate.

Recently though, our State Governments have discussed instigating a carbon trading scheme – the details are still to be decided – and that’s an encouraging sign.

I believe that the quantum of our knowledge will increase considerably in the coming years and that scientists will continue to be amongst the brave voices speaking out.

I don’t blame my own parents for the way I grew up, as quite often there is little choice in these issues.

The Capitol was an occasion where you arrive at a sign in the road that says you have arrived at a place you may not have expected to be, but you know how you got here: Next!

In particular, Australia, because of its ancient geography, soil profile and distinctive weather patterns, is more adversely affected by climate variability than some other continents.

You don’t want to spend your life explaining yourself.

In our early period we pretty much survived or perished on our capacity to reach people, and on getting into the pattern of having no money and playing lots of shows.

There are a range of associated impacts related to increasing temperatures which affect both evaporation rates and river systems, which are already over stressed, and these will hit farming communities and the health of crop lands.

Climate change is such a huge issue that it requires strong, concerted, consistent and enduring action by governments.

That was the crossover line for us, to be able to play that many shows, sell them out real quick and have that tribe queue up outside and still be a mystery to everybody else.

There was never going to be a right time for a band that was still recording and had health in its environment, had made a very good record and was playing well.

It’s absolutely not acceptable for people to argue that, if we are going to do anything about climate change at all, well, the responsibility lies solely with the individual.

Once you start to look into the guts of climate change you find that just about every scientific institution in the world is conducting research on the issue.

And given that there’s been probably a ten-fold amount of information about terrorism through the media than there has about climate change; I think that’s quite an interesting statistic.

Climate change is also clearly a matter of huge interest and concern for the scientific community.

The forces that are in play on climate change essentially revolve around the generation of power, the transportation of goods and services and people, and the sorts of materials that we use to fuel the whole of our civilisation.

As far as performance, the roar of the crowd, the smell of the greasepaint no I don’t feel that.

What generally happens in this county is that our politicians don’t serve us well because they don’t tell the truth, and they don’t keep their promises.

And living in Australia I am relatively well off.

I guess for me what is more significant than success is the nature of each of the songs and of the words.

The place where the system and people’s intentions meet is the political arena.

Our career path has tended to be the most perverse and contrary approach to the entertainment industry imaginable, while at the same time doing the kinds of things that you have to do, the videos, the photos and all that sort of stuff.

I haven’t chosen to make an issue of faith.

I believe the divine is part of the world, not in a pantheistic way but by way of the movement of the Spirit.

Look, very clearly there are things that need to be done urgently in relation to climate change, and of those the most obvious is to have an enforceable and equitable arrangement delivering deep cuts in emissions into the middle of the century.

Our senses convey that all is not well with the natural world.