Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett slams Scott Morrison: ‘Really low’

The Midnight Oil frontman accused PM Scott Morrison of being a “shill for fossil fuel industries” during a fiery Project interview.

Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett slammed Prime Minister Scott Morrison in an interview on The Sunday Project this week, calling the PM’s current climate change plan “a really low point in our political history”.

Garrett, a former Labor Minister, appeared on the show to promote Midnight Oil’s new song Rising Seas, released to coincide with the upcoming COP26 United Nations climate change conference.

The song’s video features snippets from Morrison’s infamous 2017 speech in parliament, when as Treasurer he brought a lump of coal into the House of Representatives and urged people “not to be afraid” of it.

Garrett said he gave ScoMo “absolutely nil” credit for his newly announced plan.

“It was a tragic choice for us, because we don’t really want Morrison in our clip, yet at the same time that was such an indicative, symbolic, meaningful gesture on his part when he was treasurer, that pretty much sums up the problem we have,” said Garrett.

Project panellist Hamish Macdonald asked Garrett if he gave Morrison “any credit for getting Australia to net zero by 2050.”

“Absolutely nil,” he said. “It’s almost difficult to talk about on a good show, because it’s such a bad scene. We did have a scheme in place to reduce emissions, and the sky didn’t fall in – of course, it was overturned by Tony Abbott.

“I think public opinion has moved on, and the science is clearer, and the need for action is absolutely right in front of us. So it is a really low point in our political history that (Morrison) shows up with 15 pages of nothing, and I give him absolutely zero credit at this point in time,” he said, referring to the new climate change plan the PM is bringing to COP26.

The PM is copping heat for his climate change plan. Picture: Brendan Smialowski / AFP

“It has just been a case of shoddy propaganda run on the behest of the fossil fuel industries,” he continued. “There’s nothing new in this document he’s waving around – he calls it the Australian way, it’s actually the unAustralian way to be going into an international conference with your clothes off like this, as a shill for the fossil fuel industries who don’t even pay their fair share of tax in our country.”

Morrison last week outlined his plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050 ahead of the major trip to the UN climate summit. Under the plan, more than $20 billion will be invested in low emissions technologies including carbon capture and storage.

The Prime Minister also unveiled new projections, which if reached, could see Australia reduce emissions by 30 to 35 per cent by 2030. But the plan has copped global criticism, with the PM yet to release modelling to demonstrate exactly how Australia will meet its targets.

Originally published as Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett slams Scott Morrison: ‘Really low’