Popular singer and political activist, born in Sydney, New South Wales, SE Australia.
Education
Garrett attended Gordon West Public School.
Garrett was educated in Barker College in Hornsby before studying arts at the Australian National University (ANU) and later he studied at the University of New South Wales, where he graduated in arts and law respectively.
Career
During 1973 - 2002 he was lead singer with the band Midnight Oil, which has achieved
considerable fame in Australia and abroad, many of their songs dealing
with issues such as Aboriginal land rights, conservation, and prison
reform. He became widely known in 1984 when he stood for parliament,
narrowly missing out on becoming a senator for the Nuclear Disarmament
Party. He is president (1989-93, 1998-2004) of the Australian
Conservation Foundation, a job he combines with that of a rock-and-roll
star. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 2003.
Politics
He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Kingsford Smith, New South Wales, since October 2004. After the Labor Party won in the November 2007 election, Garrett was appointed Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. On 8 March 2010, his portfolio title was changed to Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts. He continued in this role in Julia Gillard's first Ministry. He was re-elected at the 2010 election and was appointed Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth by Prime Minister Julia Gillard. He was sworn into this portfolio on 14 September 2010 as a member of the Second Gillard Ministry. In 2009, the French Government appointed Garrett an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 2010, WWF Australia and International presented him with their Leaders for a Living Planet award.