The climate crisis; existential threat/extraordinary opportunity, but if only the politics shifts, now. Got the chance to lay out some thinking in the Gandhi Oration this week. Thanks UNSW for the invitation.

We made it at last. It feels good to be dropping a new full length album and vid today. Resist is full of songs of defiance and hope in troubled times. Plus we’ll get across to the Northern hemisphere to play on this final run which closes the circle. Thanks to all those fans who helped make the Resist clip such a reaffirmation of the inherent power that people have to change the world for the better.

_______________

Nearly 20 years after their last full length studio release, Australia’s iconic Midnight Oil today release the brand-new album, aptly titled RESIST.

In signature style these dozen tracks tackle a slew of urgent issues. From opener, ‘Rising Seas’ through ‘Last Frontier’ which closes the set, recurring themes include climate crisis, environmental degradation and the role of citizens alive to the immense challenges of our times. Moods stretch from the wilderness reverie of ‘Tarkine’ and the poignant ‘Lost At Sea’ to the anthemic protest celebration ‘We Resist’ while the album’s musical span is equally broad, encompassing slashing guitars in new single ‘At The Time Of Writing’ and brooding synthetic textures in ‘We Are Not Afraid’. There’s even a three-part epic called ‘The Barka-Darling River’ that keeps delivering surprising twists as it snakes along.

In line with the album coming out today, the band have also shared the video for ‘We Resist’. This short film combines submissions of protest actions by Midnight Oil fans from around the globe as well as archival footage from a handful of the many such events staged by the band over the years.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ‘WE RESIST’ BELOW

The band also confirmed today that next Friday February 25th, they will announce a handful of June shows in North America and July shows in Europe as part of Midnight Oil’s final tour.

RESIST is Midnight Oil’s 15th studio release since they first exploded out of the post-punk scene back in 1978, blazing a singular trail of blistering gigs from Australia’s pubs and clubs to arenas and festivals around the world.  It is a fitting, forward looking, statement for a band whose clarion call has always been “it’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees”.  Featuring stellar production by Warne Livesey (DIESEL & DUST, BLUE SKY MINING, CAPRICORNIA) RESIST will be accompanied by some special live performances that will comprise the group’s final concert tour.

This new album was actually recorded in late 2019 and thus features long-time bass player, Bones Hillman, who sadly passed away 12 months later. Those sessions yielded 20 songs, but their release was delayed by the Covid pandemic. The first taste of this new work landed in late 2020 as THE MAKARRATA PROJECT – a mini-album featuring some of Australia’s finest First Nations musicians, and based on the themes of reconciliation, justice and truth-telling written in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It debuted at #1 in the band’s homeland on the same weekend that Bones passed away and went on to be nominated for five ARIA Awards. Lead single ‘Gadigal Land’ (feat. Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs and Bunna Lawrie) received the prestigious APRA Song Of The Year.

From the northern beaches of Sydney to the streets of Manhattan, Midnight Oil has stopped traffic, inflamed passions, inspired fans, challenged the concepts of “business as usual” and broken new ground. In 2017 the band returned from a 15-year hiatus for their Great Circle World Tour that encompassed 77 shows in 16 countries. The extraordinary audience and critical response to those shows lead to more European dates and an Australian outback gig in 2019 which then flowed into the recording sessions where RESIST was created. The album’s much anticipated release will therefore literally close the circle on this chapter of a truly extraordinary career.

The band also announced that this will be their final concert tour while making it clear that this does not mean the end of the Oils. Each of the members will continue their own projects over the years ahead. They remain very open to recording new music together in future and supporting causes in which they believe, but this will be their last tour. It will see them performing classic Midnight Oil songs from across their repertoire while also showcasing some urgent new works.

In the wake of last months acclaimed Tasmanian gigs, Midnight Oil also unveiled the full line up for each show of their imminent mainland tour, kicking off with sold out gigs in Newcastle and Wollongong next week. The dates will feature a broad palate of Australian sounds, from buzzing pub punks, Amyl & The Sniffers through the young surf rock of Darwin’s King Stingray to the mighty Hoodoo Gurus just as they launch their new album. Acclaimed singer/songwriters Jack River, William Crighton, Emily Wurramara, Stephen Pigram and Busby Marou will also appear, as will “Best Blues & Roots” ARIA winners, All Our Exes Live In Texas. Plus, the tour will feature a handful of rare reunion appearances by fellow 1980’s trailblazers, Goanna. Head HERE for tickets.

“If Resist is the end of the road for Midnight Oil, it’s one to treasure. “All that I have now is a souvenir of you,” Garrett notes in the Jim Moginie gem ‘Tarkine’. But there’s no doubt we still need them. As Garrett asks in the final track, ‘Last Frontier’: “Who fixes the messes that we keep making?” STACK

“If the first concert of Midnight Oil’s last tour was indicative of the 18 dates to follow, the Sydney-born band is fighting against the laws of rock ’n’ roll nature by going out on top… If you can, go.”   The Australian

“Farewell tours often have one eye on the past and the other on the cash register – but if Midnight Oil’s show in Launceston on Sunday was any indication, they’re not coasting to the finish line.”   The Guardian

“Midnight Oil’s farewell lap, to mark a new album, and preserve the legacy of their blistering live shows, was never going to be reflective and dewy-eyed.”  Herald Sun

RESIST THE NEW ALBUM TRACK LISTING

Rising Seas

The Barka-Darling River

Tarkine

At the Time of Writing

Nobody’s Child

To the Ends of the Earth

Reef

We Resist

Lost At Sea

Undercover

We Art Not Afraid

Last Frontier

BUY / STREAM RESIST – CLICK HERE

MIDNIGHT OIL
RESIST: THE FINAL TOUR

FEBRUARY-APRIL 2022

Presented by Frontier Touring, Roundhouse Entertainment, Triple M (QLD, NSW, VIC & WA), Mix 106.3 (Canberra), Mix 92.7 (Sunshine Coast), Mix 104.9 (Darwin), Wave FM (Wollongong), Bay 93.9 + Geelong Advertiser (Geelong)

ALL SHOWS ON SALE NOW – CLICK HERE

Wednesday 23 February 2022
Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle, NSW
Previously SOLD OUT – FINAL tickets just released
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M
Guests: William Crighton
ticketek.com.au | Ph: 132 849

Saturday 26 February 2022
Heifer Station, Orange, NSW*
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M
Guests: Busby Marou and Emily Wurramara
ticketmaster.com.au | Ph: 136 100

Wednesday 2 March 2022
WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, NSW
Previously SOLD OUT – FINAL tickets just released
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Wave FM
Guests: William Crighton
ticketmaster.com.au | Ph: 136 100

Saturday 5 March 2022
Mt Duneed Estate, Geelong, VIC* 
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M, Bay 93.9 + Geelong Advertiser
Guests: Goanna and All Our Exes Live In Texas
ticketmaster.com.au | Ph: 136 100

Wednesday 9 March 2022
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC
SELLING FAST
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M
Guests: Amyl & The Sniffers
ticketek.com.au | Ph: 132 849

Saturday 12 March 2022
All Saints Estate, Rutherglen, VIC*
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M
Guests: Hoodoo Gurus and All Our Exes Live In Texas 
ticketmaster.com.au | Ph: 136 100

Saturday 26 March 2022*
Nikola Estate, Swan Valley, WA 
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M
Guests: Goanna and Stephen Pigram
ticketmaster.com.au | Ph: 136 100

Wednesday 30 March 2022
Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide, SA
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M
Guest: Jack River
ticketek.com.au | Ph: 132 849

Saturday 2 April 2022
Darwin Amphitheatre, Darwin, NT
Licensed All Ages
Guests: Busby Marou and Emily Wurramara
ticketek.com.au | Ph: 132 849

Wednesday 6 April 2022
Convention Centre Arena, Cairns, QLD
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M
Guest: King Stingray
ticketek.com.au | Ph: 132 849

Saturday 9 April 2022
Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast, QLD
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Mix 92.7
Guests: Goanna and Jack River
ticketek.com.au | Ph: 132 849

Wednesday 13 April 2022
Riverstage, Brisbane, QLD
SOLD OUT
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M
Guests: Busby Marou
ticketmaster.com.au | Ph: 136 100

FRI 15 April 2022
Bluesfest | Byron Bay NSW**
bluesfest.com.au/tickets

Tuesday 19 April 2022
Stage 88, Canberra, ACT
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Mix 106.3
Guests: Emily Wurramara and Jack River
ticketek.com.au | Ph: 132 849

Thursday 21 April 2022
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, NSW
SELLING FAST
Licensed All Ages
Presented by Triple M
Guests: King Stingray
ticketek.com.au | Ph: 132 849

*EVERY patron must have a ticket regardless of age, and under 18 patrons must be accompanied at all times by a responsible adult with their own ticket. This is a licensed, loud music event, staged over a long time: we recommend that this event is suitable for adults only.

**Not promoted by Frontier Touring

All shows subject to final regulatory approvals. Frontier Touring reserves the right to alter show details to comply with government and health regulations.

Patrons are advised to purchase tickets only through authorised ticket sellers.
We cannot guarantee any ticket purchase made through any means other than the official ticketing agents listed on the Frontier website.

Been on the road for more decades than I can count – new chapter coming. Big love to my family, brothers in music, managers, crew and back of house teams, and, Oils fans everywhere. Onwards! www.midnightoil.com

Every child put down your toys and come inside to sleep / We have to look you in the eye and say we sold you cheap

Let’s confess we did not act with serious urgency / So open up the floodgates to the Rising Seas

These are the opening lyrics from Midnight Oil’s provocative new single which lands on the eve of next week’s pivotal United Nations Climate Change conference (COP26). Ice sheets are melting with ‘temperatures rising’ and still Australia is dragging the global chain on real action on meaningful carbon emission targets. The uncompromising song adds the band’s unique voice to billions of others around the world seeking a safe, habitable, and fair future for our planet.

‘Rising Seas’ continues a proud history of ‘campaigning’ Oils anthems – from ‘US Forces’ through ‘Blue Sky Mine’ to their recent APRA Song Of The Year collaboration, ‘Gadigal Land’.

The song is also the first taste of a brand-new Midnight Oil studio album which was created at the same time as their collaborative chart topping THE MAKARRATA PROJECT that recently received five ARIA Award nominations. Both releases were recorded pre-Covid with now sadly missed bass player, Bones Hillman and producer Warne Livesey. This new LP was originally supposed to have been released earlier this month, but it has been moved to early next year when it can be accompanied by live shows including an appearance on Bluesfest at Easter. However, the band decided to drop this one song now given its particular relevance on the eve of the important summit meeting in Glasgow.

“’Rising Seas’ has been burning a hole in our pockets ever since we started tracking it two years ago,” explains guitarist/songwriter, Jim Moginie. “The climate crisis calls for a real sense of urgency so we decided not to wait any longer to share it.”

“We encourage everyone to make their voices heard in their own way on this existential issue,” says Midnight Oil frontman, Peter Garrett. “The Prime Minister is fiddling while Australia literally burns. Scott Morrison may have reluctantly accepted net zero emissions by 2050 at last but that’s nowhere near enough. No more coal or gas and a clear plan to cut carbon pollution by at least 65% below 2010 levels by 2030 is urgently needed. The rest of the world knows that our future will be all about renewable energy – that’s where the jobs are and that’s our only way to avoid a climate catastrophe. We all have a right to let our leaders know that they need to do much more to address carbon pollution. And they need to start right now.”

‘Rising Seas’ will be accompanied by a uncompromising video featuring footage gleaned from recent climate campaigns and a dynamic performance by Midnight Oil. The single’s striking artwork is by acclaimed Spanish artist Juanjo Gasull whose work has appeared in The New York Times, TIME, New York Magazine and The Guardian amongst others. The video for ‘Rising Seas’ was shot in Sydney in September and is directed by Hype Republic‘s Cameron March with Mac De Souza (Bra Boys) as executive producer.  The clip features incredible stock footage provided by Greenpeace.

For more information about how to make a difference on climate go to www.acf.org.au  www.greenpeace.org.au  www.climatecouncil.org.au

WATCH THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ‘RISING SEAS’

Produced by Hype Republic  .  Directed by Cameron March
Executive Producer: Macario De Souza  .  Producers: Michaela Le / Macario De Souza
Featuring footage courtesy of Greenpeace greenpeace.org.au

DOWNLOAD / STREAM ‘RISING SEAS’

TOURING

FRIDAY APR 15 BLUESFEST, BRYON BAY NSW

Congrat’s to Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators on receiving five ARIA Award nominations today for The Makarrata Project … Best Album, Best Rock Album, Best Group, Best Video and Best Live Act. The first 3 categories will be determined by peers but Best Video and Best Live will be decided by public vote. To have your say go to https://www.aria.com.au/vote. (From Oils HQ)

ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART 

“We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.

This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.

How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years?

With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.

Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.

These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.
Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.”

For more info head to www.ulurustatement.org + www.fromtheheart.com.au.

How can we develop a stand – up, fearless form of leadership that moves us beyond the failure of business/and partisan politics/ as usual? 

The second part of the question: What does a climate emergency response look like?

As a young boy I loved walking through the bush, it made me feel alive, and heightened my awareness of the natural environment.

In my early adult years I came to understand how important the environment was to human health and happiness, and started working with environmental organisations whilst still making and performing music.

Climate change was known about, but sat under the radar. It seemed a long way away, the province of experts and scientists.

Over a decade and a half ago I entered the Federal parliament, primarily because Howard government were not taking the issue seriously. Climate change had become, as predicted, a major issue of concern.

On a sunny afternoon five and a half weeks ago, with the New Year barely underway, I stood aghast, looking towards the Kangaroo Valley escarpment, near where I live in southern NSW.

A massive blanket of smoke unlike anything I had ever seen, or imagined rimmed the rocky, wooded cliffs of the escarpment rising to 600 metres.

This was the Currowan mega fire, a big one amongst hundreds of bushfires alight and on the move down the eastern seaboard, and in four states across the country.

Despite the herculean efforts of firefighters -many volunteers – for weeks the smoldering giant had been advancing inexorably towards Kangaroo Valley village and its outlying hamlets.

As I watched, a deep orange glow like giant footlights on a stage illuminated the huge curtain of brown from the other side of the escarpment.

In a matter of minutes above the smoke blanket, a bundle of pyrocumulonimbus clouds formed, spiraling skyward as the fire spawned its own violent weather system.

A water bomber swooping over the ridges to drop its load was like a tiny insect spitting into the mouth of a dragon.

The fire had been declared catastrophic, lots of residents had left for safer locations – a difficult task as areas to the north, west and south were already ablaze – roads were blocked, birdcalls had been replaced by sirens.

A tipping point had been reached. We had lost control of the weather. An extra 1degree or so of heat already in the system was causing havoc.

The calamity we had been warned about for years had come to pass.

Whilst the fires raged, and people were evacuated by naval vessels from the coast, ice sheets were melting quicker, carbon dioxide filled oceans were turning to barren hot water. These phenomenons were part of the same process.

We were in a climate emergency.

The destruction of homes and farms, the decimation of wildlife, the collapse of local economies, are a reminder, as if one were needed, that the social, environmental and economic impacts, and hence costs, of climate chaos are astronomical.

Costs that will only rise unless we take urgent action now.

The Currowan mega fire ended up burning for over 70 days, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. We were spared, others were not so lucky.

With more than 16 million hectares burned in hundreds of fires, cities shrouded in smoke with air quality plummeting, including in the nation’s capital, the climate crisis was literally in Australian’s backyards.

Then community spirit rallied, and the fireys toiled bravely day and night, showing our best qualities.

Yet none of this could undo a cataclysm that would affect people for decades. We were face to face with the future, a world of pain, heartache and harm. And this was only the beginning.

So how do we develop a stand up, fearless form of leadership, given the failure so far to implement any far-reaching national measures to help confront and minimize the impending climate apocalypse?

One thing is certain. We no longer have the luxury of prevarication or deferral, of wishful thinking or blind denial. The time for half measures and incremental action is well and truly over.

But there is hope too.

Consider the ‘thought’ and ‘action’ leaders in this Town Hall, including on the panels to come. There are plenty of fearless advocates right here, and I’ll draw on some of their insights today.

Still we need to ask ourselves why have we failed to deal satisfactorily with the climate crisis that is upon us?

Of the many reasons offered, from the disproportionate strength of the resources industry to voter apathy, the answer is that notwithstanding these and other factors, above all we are experiencing an abject failure of national leadership.

People are mobilizing. The environment has reemerged as a leading issue of concern and support for declaring a climate emergency is higher than ever.

The Governor of the Reserve Bank just yesterday called for certainty to allow the nation to exploit ‘fantastic’ renewable energy opportunities.

European governments are setting ambitious reduction targets, and renewable energy is now established as a cost effective way of producing electricity.

A number of local councils, regional, state and national governments, here and overseas, have ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, some have declared a climate emergency, and more will surely follow.

Yes the broad arc of history suggests that when enough people stand up, believe deeply and are willing to move mountains, then change will come.

And yes, one common element when the times demand that change is in different ways, leaders, both elected and unelected, are essential.

Yet in Australia the absence of such leadership is holding us back. As a New York Times headline said, “When will Australia’s PM Accept The Reality Of The Climate Crisis?”

Local and state governments, let alone communities and individuals, cannot do the heavy lifting required on their own.

Ultimately the only institution that can guide and underwrite a major challenge of the scale we face in the time we have left is the national government.

This crisis is also about our core Australian values.

Here surely it is a matter of returning to first principles, as understood in a religious, humanitarian or even planetary sense.

And if by these principles – say ‘do unto others’ or ‘do no harm’ or ‘protect all living things’ – a certain action is understood to be wrong, the task of opposing and putting it right is the only reasonable thing to do.

That and being willing to work in collaboration with others, cooperating to achieve together what one individual or group would struggle to do alone.

It is wrong to irresponsibly jeopardize the future by polluting the atmosphere to such an extent the world becomes a furnace, committing “national suicide”, as the Nobel Prize winning Australian researcher Professor Peter Doherty stated.

Who can deny this? Only those who betray the interests of their fellow citizens.

It is wrong to leave the poor, who can’t afford to cushion themselves against climate impacts, and less well off Pacific neighbours who played no part in bringing the world to the brink, with nowhere to turn.

Who can deny this? Only those with such rampant self – interest or blinkered ideology they persist even when the evidence is spray canned big on the wall. Their power and influence must be taken away.

It is wrong to frustrate real actions on reducing the risk of climate chaos, to pretend the situation is under control, and to sabotage international efforts to reach agreement on reducing emissions.

Who can deny this? Only those unfit to govern.

Leadership comes from every person who stands up, takes a principled stand and declares we must act now, as young people have begun to do.

Leadership comes from those who get involved and stay involved, whether in lobbying, education, or non-violent direct mass action – all worthwhile, all needed more than ever – until the race is won.

Leadership of this kind cannot be described down to the last detail, but I see it emerging from many different parts of the country.

I see it in the work of environmental organisations like the ACF, taking polluters to court, and Greenpeace, showing up to keep fossil fuel exploitation out of the Great Australian Bight. I see it in campaigns Like Stop Adani.

It is present in local governments and communities, and in this place today, even if still absent in the corridors of power in Canberra.

So what does a climate emergency response look like?

In 1942, Australian Labor Prime Minister John Curtin contemplated the threat of Japanese invasion.

To secure Australia’s survival would require nothing less he said, than “…the reshaping, the revolutionising, of the Australian way of life until a war footing is arrived at, quickly, efficiently and without question.”

This meant the resources of the state must be mobilized to that end above all others.

Climate chaos most resembles war in the scale of threats to humanity. We don’t have long, and the changes needed are far reaching. The climate emergency dictates the nation must go onto a ‘war’ footing.

So think John Curtin as Japan advanced in 1942, US president Franklin Delaware Roosevelt in the Depression, Winston Churchill in WW2, and more recently Jacinda Ardern at Christchurch.

What might a national leader determined to respond to the climate crisis actually do?

Here’s a scenario.

He/she walls into the House of Representatives and moves that Parliament:

‘Accepts the best scientific advice that to hold temperature increases in check to around 1.5 degrees and avert an increasingly dangerous climate crisis we must act immediately to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;

Recognizes that Australia is particularly vulnerable to climate chaos, caused by consistently hot weather nationwide, as evidenced recently by the largest, most destructive bushfires in living memory;

Understands that any delay imposes incalculable costs and greatly increases the risks to national security and the stability of our immediate region equivalent to war in terms of impacts;

Acknowledges that real action has been left to the eleventh hour, and that the unjust burden of repairing this negligence will increasingly fall upon the young;

Recommends to the House a joint sitting of the Parliament to declare a climate emergency, and approve plans to enable the Commonwealth government, working in partnership with state and local governments, large and small business, unions, farmers and the community, to deal with the crisis immediately. ‘

What follows?

A super department aligned to Treasury, similar to the Department of Post War Reconstruction headed up by Nugget Coombes in 1946, is formed with the specific task of implementing the transition.

A stand-alone ‘War’ Cabinet committee chaired weekly by the PM, charged with the responsibility of overseeing the new plan, ensuring Australia meets new ambitious emission reduction goals.

The Australian Defence Forces and the Army Reserve must be geared up to play a greater role, given climate chaos will put significant pressure on domestic infrastructure and emergency services, as well as the unpredictable ways it will reshape geopolitics in our region, including growing numbers of climate refugees.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) should be directed to ensure planning, investment and infrastructure decisions are aimed at smoothing the transition to zero emissions and managing climate chaos.

At a time of record low interest rates the government should issue long-term climate bonds to boost investment in new zero emission industries, and enact sensible tax reform measures targeted at unsustainable activities and free riders.

The economy should be stimulated by a massive public works scheme to build resilience to extreme climate, including the provision of large scale tree planting and vegetation management to draw down carbon already in the atmosphere, rehabilitating degraded waterways and landscapes, involving farmers and regional communities, with substantial participation by First Nation’s peoples.

A rapid transition out of coal, with an immediate moratorium on future coal, oil and gas developments, whilst increasing the target for renewables – the most successful measure for reducing emissions we’ve had so far – is essential.

A special transitions fund, with a minister responsible, for displaced workers to provide support, retraining opportunities and adjustment would be established.

Above all there should be a targeted price on carbon to enable a faster reduction in greenhouse pollution, with the revenue used to compensate those unduly affected, stimulate clean technologies and strengthen our physical and industrial infrastructure for the consequences of wild weather that’s coming.

Before the Gillard government’s scheme was bought down by a climate denying former Prime Minister – and let the record show it was Tony Abbot who destroyed the scheme – it actually worked. Emissions came down for the first time in years, and the sky didn’t fall in.

This is where future growth will be. New jobs are already being created in so many areas. Grey water specialists, builders expert in fire protection, manufacturers of new battery technologies, developers of solar farms.

These new jobs already exist. More will come.

So there is a positive future which is also kind to the planet.

And with leadership of people who care about the Great Barrier Reef, care about the fate of the world and the future of their children it will be realized.

People from all quarters; school students, senior citizens, in sports clubs, homes, farms, factories and boardrooms.

All of us naming the climate crisis a real emergency, demanding our leaders respond, ensuring this great challenge can be met and a safe future won.

But as the mega fires of 2020 showed us, there is no time to waste.

Over the coming weeks, you’ll start hearing about some of the specific things we’re doing in 2020, so before all that starts we wanted to tell you directly about the broad brushstrokes.

After coming home from Europe via Birdsville in mid-2019 we started recording new music together for the first time in nearly two decades. Our mate Warne Livesey travelled from Toronto to Sydney to produce these sessions just as he did on Diesel & Dust, Blue Sky Mining and Capricornia. It felt good to be back in the studio, and intriguing to see where it all ended up.

We had over 20 songs we wanted to record and eight of them shared a strong focus on the issue of indigenous reconciliation, so we invited some of our First Nations friends to collaborate with us in various ways on each of these eight tracks. Our collective work will be released as a mini-album called The Makarrata Project in June/July. Band profits from this release will be donated to charities which elevate The Uluru Statement From The Heart (ulurustatement.org/the-statement). This mid-year release of The Makarrata Project will be accompanied by a small handful of themed live performances in Australia featuring some of the very special guests who helped create this mini-album.

Then toward the end of the year we’ll release a new Midnight Oil album which is currently at final mixing stage. This completely separate batch of material deals with various lyrical themes including climate chaos, no surprise after the mega fires we’ve just experienced in Australia. We plan to follow the album with lots more Australian and international touring across late 2020 and early 2021.

Over the next 12 months we will also be releasing various singles from both The Makarrata Project mini-album and the new Midnight Oil album. We’re seriously excited about all of these songs and the two separate works on which they will feature. Stay tuned for more detailed announcements about our new music and our touring plans. Thanks in the meantime for your patience … we know it’s been a long wait but good things take time!

Very Best
Midnight Oil

Image: ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN via SMH

Here’s what we know.

The natural world – our environment – the basis of our existence, is under threat as never before.

We are surrounded by fires, force fed by a super hot spring. Our cities and towns are blanketed with smoke and the sun has gone out, it’s hard to breathe.

Rivers and springs are drying out, big and small towns are running out of water, out of life.

The planet is burning and weather is veering out of control and it’s going to get a whole lot worse, very quickly, unless we act with a sense of urgency, and get ourselves on a zero carbon pathway.

These aren’t disputable facts nor an ideological position, this is our reality. We are facing a climate crisis equivalent to war in terms of the scale of the threat.

Other than for a brief, ‘Eureka’ moment when the Gillard government’s scheme to put a price on carbon kicked in and emissions actually starting coming down, the anti-science, anti-environment stance of a belligerent coalition has derailed the debate, frustrated real action, and cost the country dearly.

The Prime Minister cuddles a lump of coal in Parliament and lies when he says the situation is under control, and that we will reduce greenhouse pollution to the extent necessary. In fact, emissions are slated to rise. And are rising.

There is no economic incentive in place to reduce greenhouse gases spewing into the atmosphere, nor the political will to save the Great Barrier Reef, no plan for how we are going to survive the climate emergency and the environment department has just been dismantled.

So the Labor Environment Action Network – the largest non-factional grouping in Labor – which aims to ensure the environment is central to decision making and policy-making in the party, and when elected, in government, is more important than ever before. Indeed, LEAN is the future of Labor because it is LEAN that is tackling the fundamental new social reality.

Whether it’s heat driven droughts and bushfires, rising seal levels already washing over our Pacific neighbours, vanishing forest cover and retreating ice caps, increasing deaths in cities and suburbs from heat waves and air pollution, the signs of the new social reality are unmistakable.

Whilst it’s not too late to avert the worst of the climate catastrophe, we are running out of time.

We have just over a decade to act if we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, which means cutting emissions by half by 2030 to have an even chance of surviving in a livable world.

If we act with purpose a great future is possible with Australia a clean energy superpower, nature repaired and revitalized and our cities and towns clean and livable gain.

What does this mean for Labor, and the Labor Environment Action Network?

There must be real ambition. The party must have the wits to realize what’s at stake. Labor was founded in response to a social reality.

Historically Labor represented the ideal that everyone should have a fair go, safe working conditions and decent pay. In the 1980’s Labor’s response to the social reality meant preserving the safety net while modernizing the economy.

Today Labor again needs to be that party. What we used to call ‘the environment’ is now a mainstream threat to the lives and realities of working Australians – indeed all Australians.

We need to move past the false dichotomy debates of jobs versus the environment, to develop national policy that will enable us to rise to the scale of the challenge, in the time required.

Politics has been lagging behind. Too often in Canberra climate and environment are seen as just another issue for argument. But this is a deadly category error because the changes we are seeing are not a matter of opinion or ideology, they are of a different order of magnitude altogether.

Recognizing the decade of failure we’ve experienced and the intensity of the culture wars, Labor must be its best in rising above the short term, building coalitions not descending into tribes, responding to the crisis with real leadership.

Climate is such a big issue that building a national consensus and delivering a nation wide transformation of the economy is the answer to the question about the legitimacy of political parties and the relevance of Labor. This is not business as usual politics. Labor’s future is tied to its capacity to rise to the biggest challenge in its history, arguably the biggest challenge in the nation’s history as well.

Labor must draw on its proud record in protecting the natural environment, and its proud history of bringing the country together to face the conflict of World War Two, remembering the green movement and the Green Party are not necessarily the same thing. Millions of Labor voters are proud and committed environmentalists, because they trust in Labor and in the ideals of social democracy as the best way to unite the country on a challenge of this magnitude in a way that is both fair and effective.

As many Australians worry they no longer live in a cohesive society, whilst at the same time expressing greater concern about climate change, Labor can build a sense of shared purpose, drawing these parts of our tradition together.

Our true believers are dying now. The suburbs of western Sydney and Melbourne are being crucified on the altar of inaction, regional and rural communities are hostage to climate damage, and only a party with an understanding of a just political economy can deliver lasting climate solutions.

Labor must face down self interest and sectional interest, whether from some in business, or some in the CFMEU, or from individual members who eschew reality and are not committed to the challenge, and indeed in the case of the Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Resources Joel Fitzgibbon, deliberately undermine the party whilst still holding their position.

It’s important to realize that we are witnessing a tectonic shift in the world’s climate at the same time as faith in established institutions and the liberal democratic experiment is waning. Only by responding with courage can any political party hope to establish lasting legitimacy in the eyes of the citizen.

This past week saw concern about the environment reemerge as a key issue for Australians. For young Australians it always has been important. They will be more radical and less forgiving then their parent’s generation for it is they who will bear the brunt of the climate crisis if we fail to act now.

This is Labor’s great challenge, and there is no time to waste. Labor’s mission then is not simply to avoid catastrophe, but to build a just, decent country where the world we inhabit is healthy, and the prospects for our children fair.

For more info: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/peter-garrett-urges-labor-to-reconnect-with-environmental-movement-warns-true-believers-are-dying-20191206-p53hqe.html