WEBVTT - Peter Garrett 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:12.320 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Barbed Left Sets podcast. 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:18.360 I'm here down Under with the legendary Peter Garrett. Peter Hi, Bob. Well, 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:20.360 let me ask you a question. If people call you Pete, 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:22.239 is that fine? Are you definitely a Peter? No? No, 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.640 I take I take either. I'm an assie. So we're 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:26.840 pretty easy about those things. Well, you know, I'm Robert. 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.320 I was never called Robert. I've been bobbed from like 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:30.920 day one. Okay, So what are we going to do 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:35.440 about climate change? Well, a bunch of different things. The 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:37.920 first one would be to make sure that we have 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:41.960 an economic instrument in every economy. The best way we 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:44.919 can fix it quickly is to put a penalty on 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:49.400 carbon pollution. So that's like a carbon tax. Use the 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:52.480 money that you get from the carbon tax to essentially 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:59.280 recycled dollars into zero emissions technologies, renewables, energy efficiency, the 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:01.520 new stuff, the hydrogened cells and the like that are 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:05.560 going to make the world continue to go without putting 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:09.360 more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Do it in a 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:14.280 way which essentially encourages first mover companies and innovators to 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.560 do their job well. And those who are going to 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.640 dig their heels in and don't want to change, and 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.720 are essentially writing a suicide note for for subsequent generations 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:28.280 pay the price. Okay, let's be very specific. The day 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.160 we're recording this, Trump says he's pulling out of the 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:36.640 Paris Accords. Those that plan sounds great, But in the 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:40.240 world we live in, can we enact that plan? Well? 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:42.920 I think we can, and I think the fact that 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:47.039 Trump's pulling out is in some ways not unexpected, but 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:51.040 it is not fatal to the Paris Accords essentially being 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:55.040 the next big stepping stone to the world community reducing emissions. 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:59.200 There's a couple of technical and political issues in the 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.880 Paris Accord which are challenging. One is that up to now, 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:09.440 countries are simply pledging. They're not promising to enact their 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.720 reductions in legislation or by a mandate or a feared 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:17.040 or a regulation or whatever that has to happen. And 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.359 a second thing is that, from what the science is 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:24.639 telling us, even if those countries who have already made commitments, say, 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:28.359 for example, to reduce their emissions down to a certain 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.120 figure in the next twenty or thirty years, unless they 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:33.480 all do it, unless we all do it, then the 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:37.360 chances of us holding warming to a level that makes 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:40.840 the planet habitable become less. So I think what's going 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.280 to happen is that when they next go the country's 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:48.160 next go to the Conference of the Parties as it's called, 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:51.519 America will still probably be an observer, even if they're 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:54.760 talking about pulling out. Those countries that have committed to 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:59.240 do it, mainly the European countries, China, India in particular, 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.800 and the South American block, will have more information in 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:05.800 front of them saying, you know what, we need to 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:09.480 accelerate reductions. So we can't go in with the business 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:12.600 as usual, let's play around at the edges approach. We 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.919 will have to do more. Some countries will then make 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.840 specific additional commitments. As they do that, the pressure then 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:23.240 comes on bad neighbors to to follow suit. And of 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:28.240 course the outliers are countries, particularly like Saudi Arabia and Russia, 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:32.200 who aren't playing ball at this point in time. Okay, 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.240 what will be the incentive to the people to become 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.720 more aggressive? I think there are two. One is that 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.720 the cost of inaction on dealing with climate change is 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:49.280 rising exponentially, whether it's insurance costs, infrastructure destruction, population movements, 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:53.040 effects on agriculture. I mean, look at your home state 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:57.320 now as we speak, can California I mean like seriously 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:01.760 becoming an extremely difficult place to even because of wildfire, etcetera. 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:06.119 And that, whilst maybe not necessarily each time caused by 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:11.440 climate change, certainly global warming intensifies wildfires as it does 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:13.040 a whole bunch of other things. So that's the first 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:17.040 incentive is economies aren't going to be able to pay easily, 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:20.040 particularly economies that are in debt, which many world economies are, 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:24.039 for all of the infrastructure repair, emergency services and the like. 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.719 So that's the first incentive. The second incentive is that 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:30.480 if we're serious about a future for our kids, then 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:32.599 we have to be able to envisage a future where 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.960 there's they've still got jobs, have still got opportunities, and 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.960 of course all of those are in the new technologies, 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:44.720 in the new areas of low emissions, solar, wind, energy efficiency, 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.040 electric cars. I mean, you name it. There's there's a 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:50.599 whole world of zero economy out there for us, but 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:54.919 we need to get going on it. So you're optimistic, Yes, 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.839 I'm optimistic, although I've been in this issue on and 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:01.599 off for many, many years, Bob, and I think the 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:05.719 current political developments, particularly in your country, but in others 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:09.279 where you have rogue right wing governments who either don't 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.440 believe in it or don't want to do anything about it, 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:16.560 makes it more difficult. And additionally, I think in many cases, industry, 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:19.960 particularly the fossil fuel industries, the oil and gas companies 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:24.360 and others, have really played hardball with this issue and 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:28.640 are deeply culpable for knowing, as the tobacco companies did 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:31.760 thirty or forty or fifty years ago, that what they 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:35.400 were doing was imperiling the planet, but not being prepared 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.760 to scale back their activity. So I see the most 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:45.039 recent amount of citizens activities in different countries, including ours, 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.520 and more so in Europe perhaps than yours, but also 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:51.599 in yours extinction rebellion, this grassroots movement that's starting to build. 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.640 I see that as part of a new response two 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:57.720 people being absolutely frustrated that we're not getting enough done, 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:02.680 and on the other side, the potential for social democrat 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:05.880 parties eventually to reclaim some ground and enact things like 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.080 a green New Deal type thing, which you've seen in 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.360 your country well It's interesting because Greta Thunberg has been 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.080 put down by all the right wing. It shows the 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.360 power of one individual. Oh amazing, It's just you know, 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.279 people are playing in the background, just like one one 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.160 rock performer, one band can make such a difference. So 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.159 how do you become so politicized? To begin with? Oh? Gee, 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:29.760 I don't know. That's the way I am as a person. No, no, no, 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.839 let's go back to the beginning. You and I are 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.880 the same age. I'm trying to think whether I'm here 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:37.760 with an area nite man with actually you and me? 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:43.400 But in any event, uh, okay, you you grew up where? So? 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.720 I grew up in a suburb of Sydney, which is 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.800 the biggest city in Australia on the East Coast, and 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:53.200 I grew up basically in a middle class a little 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:57.560 bit slower. How many generations has your family been in Australia. 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:04.479 So on my mom's side, uh, four and on my 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.200 dad yeah, four, and on my dad's side, I think 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:08.880 three or four have Do you have any idea where 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.640 they came from and what their incentive was? Yes, I 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:16.920 do so. On my mom's side they come from the 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:20.600 United Kingdom, from England, excuse me. And on my dad's 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:24.960 side they come from Belgium and the United Kingdom. You 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:28.800 have any idea why they came, Yes, we know that 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.320 they came looking for a better life, as most immigrants do, 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:38.600 and that when they arrived. On my dad's side, they 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:41.040 were very involved in politics actually as it turned out, 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:45.400 and business and sport and all of those things. Unfortunately 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:51.200 on the wrong side, on the right wing side. But yeah, 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:54.360 so so I'm not from convict stock in Australia and 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.480 obviously our Aboriginal on island of people are the first Australians. 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.960 But I'm I'm a I'm a I'm a iterational Australian 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:04.120 in Okay, So you grew up in a suburb, your 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:08.080 parents work outside the home. Yes, so my my dad 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:12.880 is a business manager in English. That's like sort of 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:16.280 a like a managing director of a company, but a 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:19.080 small but a big German company. But the Sydney office 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.800 was the company they used to make tapes b a 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:26.679 SF really okay yea, so maybe the first chrome teams 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:31.920 you remember, I know, cause that's love to talk about them. Uh. 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.560 And my mom was who was a big influence onthing, 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:38.400 actually was one of the first generations of women here 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:42.319 in Australia to graduate from university. It was at the 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:45.520 end of World War Two. Of course, many men had 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.480 lost their lives, women had gone into the workforce. They 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:54.079 were working from America were completely uneducated. What was Australia's 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:57.760 rule in World War two? So in World War two 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:02.880 we were um basically followed the English into the war, 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.559 and in the middle of the war, after Pearl Harbor 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:10.720 was bombed by the Japanese, we of course we're on 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.000 the same side as you were, the Americans. And it 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:18.240 was during that time, in early nine in forties that 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:20.880 as a colony, which is previously what the country had 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:25.960 been a British colony, we pivoted to use an Obama term, 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.720 and our Prime Minister at the time said, up to 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.160 this point in time, we've been an English colony, and 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.680 we love the Queen and all of that, but we 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.920 are now going to become close friends with America and Americans, 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:41.120 and we need to because our survival depends on it. 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.640 And we fought with the Americans against the Japanese as 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.000 they proceeded to get closer and closer to Australia, I 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.400 mean Japanese actually bombed not only Pearl Harbor, but Darwin, 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.440 a city to the north of Australia, and sent submarines 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:57.280 down this side. The country was never physically invaded. And 0:09:57.559 --> 0:09:59.920 was your father in the war? No, my father was, 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.400 and actually he was very unwell. In fact, he was 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:05.679 unfortunately suffered ill health for most of his life. But 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:09.559 my mother was. So she served in the Women's Air 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:13.760 Force Regiment and along with many other young women, when 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.720 they were discharged or demobilized at the end of the war, 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:21.440 they went to university. And so she became a social worker. 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.120 And before you get there, her family, Yes, did her appearance. 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:29.440 Did her father go to university? Her father was a dentist, Okay, 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:31.520 so he was a professional. Yeah, he was a professional, 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.720 and he would probably feel positive about her going to university. Yeah, 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:38.040 I imagine so, although I think in those days they 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.640 were still pushing the boat out a little bit to 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:44.760 do those things. First generation. Really do you think about 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:48.840 him nine in forty seven? Probably your mother is a 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:53.720 social worker, correct, and working with who so working with 0:10:54.920 --> 0:11:00.360 poor people, the underclass paid by the government. Correct. She 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:05.160 actually was the first social worker to be employed here 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.120 in Sydney, the city that we're in the one with 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:11.160 the harbor Bridge and the Opera House. And to establish 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:15.040 what was essentially a community center in a working class 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:19.240 area down by the docks, which had many retired seamen 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:22.000 merchant seamen who had been at sea and who had 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.240 done this, that and the other, and then who had retired. 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:28.760 And they built community centers of which there are now 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:31.480 many in Australia, and it's really an opportunity for older 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:35.320 people just to come. They play cards that have sing alongs. 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:38.400 On Friday. I'd come down from my school and and sing, 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.959 you know, it's a long way to Tipperary or all 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:43.000 those old songs to these people. And she did that 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:44.680 for a while and then she moved further up the 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.760 food chain, so she became a senior social worker in 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:52.080 a big mental hospital here and basically working in the 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:55.200 areas of health and aged care. So how did your 0:11:55.240 --> 0:12:00.920 parents meet. They met on the North Shore, Sydney, which 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:05.520 is the area that we come from, where mutual friends 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:09.600 gathered at a boarding house. In those days, young people 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:11.800 when they left home didn't go off and you know, 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:14.560 share flats or houses or things like that. That they 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:16.720 would go to a boarding house which was run by 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.800 you know, somebody and an old couple or whatever. There 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:22.040 were a couple of spinster aunts that ran a board 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:24.880 run a really nice old fashioned boarding house out in 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.120 the suburbs. And of course the men could visit the 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:29.720 girls that were in the boarding house, or the boys 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.040 could visit the girls, but only you know, for between 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:34.240 six and eight, and they'd have to sip tea while 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:38.040 they were watched over by some martinette. But that's anyway 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.480 they met up there. So they just bumped into each 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.000 other and someone set them up. Look, I don't know 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.280 the full story. Yeah, so your mother didn't used to 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:48.240 talk about the good old days? Not really, Okay, So 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:52.280 how many kids in your family? So on their side 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:55.240 or on my side? So I'm I'm the oldest of 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:59.720 three boys, and the other two were how much younger? 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:05.800 So five years to my next brother who is in Brisbane, 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.559 and then another three years to the youngest brother. Okay, 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.040 and a lot of times the oldest kid has a 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:14.400 lot of pressure on them, but it's also the favorite 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:18.320 of what was it like being the oldest boy? Look, 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.640 I think I conform, you know, pretty much to the 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:24.960 letter to the responsible eldest child. Look, I actually had 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:27.720 a very happy childhood. My mom and dad passed away 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:31.079 in my late teens, but up to that point in time, 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:34.400 I never felt I never had that into sort of 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:38.360 parent to kid tension that quite often arrives. I think 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:42.640 I enjoyed taking on extra responsibilities as a kid and 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:44.560 looking after my younger brothers, which I did, and both 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.240 my parents worked so they were quite often away a lot. Okay, 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:49.240 so you didn't test the limits or your parents were 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.160 very you know, lenient, and I think there was so 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:54.480 much lenient. I think, no, I didn't test the limits, 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:56.880 wasn't interested in it. It seemed to me to be 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:02.199 completely unnecessary. I loved being kid, and from my perspective 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:03.559 when I was a kid is that I didn't want 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:06.360 to grow up. I could see the responsibilities that had 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:08.120 olds had, and I thought that there's plenty of time 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:11.280 for that to happen later on. And I still feel 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:15.760 this even more strongly now today, that we deny children 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:19.760 and young people the opportunity just to have those wonderful, open, 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:23.040 almost aimless periods of in their life where they're not 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.720 under social appression, they're not trying to meet somebody, they're 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.120 not trying to start their career. You know, it's kind 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.840 of weird because now if someone says they're board, you know, 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:33.440 I don't know what world they're living and not so 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:37.160 much input. But certainly in america's a result of incommittee quality. 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.440 The elite, so to speak, are so busy scheduling their children, 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:43.440 trying to get them in a better educational system that 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:46.120 they have. No, they don't even fear for themselves. The 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:48.440 other thing, of course, is the fear. I mean, I 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.600 would come home from school, I change into my play clothes, 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:51.960 I go off on my bike, and that would be 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:55.800 yet exactly same, no concept of a play date. Okay, 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:57.600 so how old were you? Well, how did your parents 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:01.640 pass away? So my dad add basically had a big 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:06.640 asthma attack. He was he worked pretty hard, and when 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:11.280 I was seventeen, and then four years later our family 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:13.800 home burnt down and my mom was in the family 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:18.360 home at the time and she perished. Yeah, it's hard 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:22.120 to have a response to that. So your father dies 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:27.480 at seventeen, doesn't that mess with the family's economics? Yeah, 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:30.520 a little bit. I mean we a he It's an 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:33.800 interesting story, Bob, because I think, like most parents, he 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:35.480 wanted the best for his kids. One of one of 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:36.880 the things he wanted to do was to send us 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:40.120 to a good school and inverted commas. So he worked 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:43.560 extra hard to enable us to do that. But in 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:46.400 so doing, I think he put his already not too 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:50.960 good health at jeopardy. We were, but my mom was 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:54.080 a successful professional by that stage, so you know, even 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.960 once he died, she was able to support us. And 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.640 by that stage I had left home and gone to university, 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.320 so my two brothers were still at home. And then 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:06.680 your mother dies tragically, yes, and you're an orphan. So 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.480 what's that like. Well, I mean, at the time, it was, 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:15.240 it was. It was traumatic and an extremely difficult period 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:17.440 for us, and it took all of us quite some 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.080 time to recover from it. And I think, I mean, 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.800 but they were slack, you know, they didn't have an 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:26.760 insurance or anything like that. That was it. But on 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:28.960 reflection now and I look back on it, I think, 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:31.320 even even though of course I terribly missed my mom 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.720 and we were close, but it made us in some 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:37.680 ways in other ways because we went back literally to nothing, 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:41.720 and we looked after one another. And of course, you know, 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:45.000 I started even though I was at Uni, doing law 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.400 and I'm a lawyer by professional training, but I'm really 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:50.880 a musician and an activist, and music had started to 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.360 come into my life. And so I think when I 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:55.960 got onto stage and some one of my closest, oldest 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.920 friends sort of said to me, who knew the family before, 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.320 when you got on stage, you you definitely it seemed 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:06.359 like you definitely had to expunge some of the heart 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.600 smashes that you had. But for me, it was a 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.840 case of making every minute. I just knew how precious 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.159 life was by that stage because I lost my mom. Okay, 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:17.840 so you were twenty three, you say when your mother died. Yeah, 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.960 I think, but in anything, your your brothers were much younger, 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.000 that's right. How did they manage? Well? We all we 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:27.840 all we all camped together. I was back in Sydney 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.919 and we just got a little flat somewhere and we started. 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.280 My brother and I got a contract cleaning out um 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:38.000 taxis that did the midnight shift on taxis here in 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:42.159 Sydney from twelve in the morning till five am. And 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:44.520 that's what we did to survive. How long did you 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.959 do that for? Oh, a year or two? Yeah, with 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:52.040 other jobs as well, thrown in whilst music was starting. Okay, 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:53.959 so let's go back to school. Were you a popular 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.640 kid at school? Um? Yeah, Look, I wouldn't have been unliked. 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.280 I think reasonably popular, but I wasn't sort of head 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.040 of the gang or anything like that. Do you have friends? Yeah? Yeah, no, 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:07.400 I had some friends. Okay. Now, you're obviously a tall gentleman. 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:10.359 How how tall are you? Six four and a half 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:13.280 in socks? Yeah? So what is it like were you 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:15.520 tall as a young kid? Yeah? I was tall and gorky, 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:19.440 you know. Okay, So how does that affect your personality? Well? 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:23.400 I think it probably means that you're a little aware 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:28.840 of social settings. Look, I'm I'm quiet and polite in 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:30.679 one way. This is just the character that I have. 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:34.920 But in another way, I'm not insecure about myself at all, 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:36.640 and I don't think I really ever have been, even 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.359 as a teenager. And I put that down to my 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:44.880 parenting inasmuch as, um, I had parents who encouraged us. 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:48.800 They weren't indulging us and saying, oh aren't you fantastic 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:51.280 little Pete? You know you can see you know you're 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:52.840 going to be a pop star. There's none of that. 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:55.760 They just treat you with respect. But say, you've got 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:57.480 if you want to do something, you've got the potential 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.119 to do. Whatever it is you choose to do, you 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.159 can do, and you get a good hearing here. And 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:06.160 we don't judge people, we don't label people. We don't 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.960 spend our time comparing ourselves against others. I never heard 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:11.479 my parents talk about the people next door and wishing 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:13.639 I had more or less money than that. Listen, my 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:17.320 parents were the exact opposite. My mother. My older sisters 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:20.800 still traumatized by, you know, my father and mother talking 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.320 about a girl in the neighborhood and enough great she was, etcetera. 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:24.879 And my mother would you know if I called her 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:26.760 up and I was gonna do something, you know, as 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:29.399 she would say, you know, essentially, why you I'm still 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:32.880 dealing with that, so so certainly. And then I grew 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.560 up on the eastern coast of the United States, and 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:40.720 the transistor came along, and we were listening to the sports, baseball, 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:44.080 the Yankees, and then I had certain singles. Then of 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:46.399 course the Beatles hit and all hell broke loose. What 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:50.520 was it like for you being here? Well, so, yeah, 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:54.240 I can count my equanimity, I said, because I think 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:57.040 I was pretty decent parenting, uh and my mom my 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.600 parents loved the Beatles. So the parents loved the Beatle. 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:02.600 So let's go back to the beginning. In my house, 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:06.080 my parents were avid music lovers, but they played the 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:10.600 show tunes, right, how about your parents same? So yeah, 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:15.959 I grew up on a diet of show tunes Crosby, Sinatra, Elvis. 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:19.719 But they kept going and they enjoyed parties. And so 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:25.120 the Beatles came and that sort of first British pop 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:28.720 invasion so rolled through the suburbs of Sydney and came 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.520 into our living room. But by that stage as well, 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:35.680 I had years for music too. I did a stand 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:37.760 a boarding school. You talk about transis, I did a 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:42.240 boarding school. I distinctly remember having my little transistor under 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:45.479 the pillow at night, listening to the Kinks, you know, 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:49.320 listening to the Who, listening to whatever. Doors. So, if 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:54.960 your parents are Beatles fans, that doesn't square with the 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:59.360 generational revolution that we experienced, and people talk about where 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:03.320 people are finding against their parents. Your parents were they hipsters? 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.200 Were most other people's parents like that? I wouldn't say 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.000 they were hipsters. I just think they were relatively broad minded. 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:12.280 And open, and I think they just enjoyed music, and 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:15.760 I think they were civil sort of people, so they 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.800 weren't trying to impose their strictures and their views on 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:22.760 their kids. They taught us good manners and you know, 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:25.920 how to treat other people. But it was pretty basic stuff. Okay, 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:27.800 So you have three kids yourself, that's what I have 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:32.399 three daughters. And how old are they? Thirty three, thirty two, 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:34.720 and thirty Okay? Well there, they've been out of the 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:39.080 house for a while and they never leave anymore. No, 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:43.000 I'm noticing. Yeah, I love that. Okay, So how do 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:46.840 you feel about their music? Well, I think it's incredible 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.000 for them, because it's incredible for them. How do you 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:52.920 feel your parents were Beatles fans? Are you a hip 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:55.840 hop fan? Yeah? I don't mind a little bit bits 0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:59.000 of hip hop? Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm selective, I think, 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:01.840 am I listening? The reason I said incredible though, is 0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:04.520 that their palettes so much wider than mine. Of course, 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:07.800 it's just massively wider. And if you listen to their playlists, 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:10.800 you know what they curate. It's crazy. I mean, I'm 0:22:10.840 --> 0:22:13.160 hearing stuff I never knew. But I'm also hearing things 0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:15.439 that I loved, but I thought they would never actually 0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:18.560 ever listen to. Okay, so you're in boarding school. What 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:20.159 age do you got a boarding school? I only did 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:21.960 a brief stinting boarding school, but I was in boarding 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:25.159 school when I was fifteen and a half. So what happened? 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:28.280 Why was a brief? My parents went away and they 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:30.200 just stuck us in there, you know, for a period 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:33.520 of time. Where did they go? So my dad had 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:36.760 to go to work in Germany because and my mom 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:39.359 had relatives in actually North America and Canada, so she 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:42.159 took off as well. So that you parked you in 0:22:42.240 --> 0:22:44.919 boarding school? Thanks mom and dad. So how long was that? 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:49.760