All language subtitles for Midnight.Oil.1984.2018.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG_English

(FAINT CHEERING)

(SLOW INSTRUMENTAL
MUSIC PLAYING)

(CROWD CHEERING)

(DRUMS BEATING)

MAN: (SHOUTING)
Garrett for Prime Minister!

(CROWD CLAPPING)

(CROWD CHEERING)

(WOMAN SCREAMING)

PETER: What a night!

Oh, I can't believe it!

(NO TIME FOR GAMES PLAYING)

PETER: Let's dance.

(MUSIC INCREASES IN TEMPO)

♪ The raising of children
The rearing of young

♪ Used to be simple
But look what it's become ♪

(GUITAR SOLO PLAYING)

(MUSIC INCREASES IN TEMPO)

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD CLAPPING)

RECORDIST:
Midnight Oil Red Sails

Sound roll two, Musical Films
and that was the Oils
coming off stage.

ROB: Beauty, Michael!
Very good.

Fantastic. Isn't it marvellous?

We have a meeting
in the afternoon...

Four hours later,
we're making movies.

Oh, there he is.
God, right on cue. (LAUGHING)

Almost but not quite
more than we deserve.

PETER: This is Ray Argall,
cinema verite.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)

(CHUCKLING)
Mr. Verite.

(STRUMMING THE GUITAR)

It is pretty cold
out there still.

NEIL: Okay.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Well, the stick sounds
were like the other day
with the intro

when they changed
back to the bass

after you
played the stick.

You hear yourself,
you hear the beat

and then you
play like that, then
it will be great.

♪ Sometimes you've got to
Take the hardest line

♪ Two three four
Two, two, three, four ♪

(PLAYING THE TRUMPET)

(PLAYING POWER AND PASSION)

(DRUMS BEATING)

(MUSIC INCREASES IN TEMPO)

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD CLAPPING)

ROB: Perhaps it's easy to forget
what it was actually like
back in the early '80s.

That was kind of
our generation’s fear

that we were
about to be plunged
into a nuclear winter

and there was a lot
of saber rattling going on

with Reagan bullishly
shirt-fronting a succession
of Russian presidents.

I don't know who it was.
Andropov, Chernenko,
whoever it was.

So there was
a real feeling of brinkmanship.

The like of which we hadn't seen
since the very early '60s.

and of course
we found ourselves in Japan.

You know the place where nukes
had actually been used

and got to speak to some
of the Hibakusha, the survivors.

And so all of these things
added up to, you know,
song writing,

which could not
avoid that issue.

I think the Red Sails period
was a real period of
experimentation with the band.

Where we really wanted to
do something different.

PETER: And the nuclear build-up
and so on and so forth had
already started to permeate

through into our thinking
and my thinking

about what we might
or might not do,
and how someone should respond.

(CROWD CHEERING)

PETER: This is the joke about
the presidential elections.

Because on top of the dollar,
it's got "In God we trust,"
you see.

So, it's better than in a hacko
hillbilly man from California.

(PLEASANT MUSIC PLAYING)

I say, "Casper, let’s lob
a few on those commies."

(LAUGHING)

PETER: I think I’ll get cousin
Piston Rings to sing a song
for us this afternoon.

Mr. Robert Hirst.

(WHEN THE GENERALS TALK
PLAYING)

♪ Introducing the new
Introducing the new

♪ Introducing the new
Introducing the new

♪ Introducing the new general
school of Australian diplomacy
and philosophy

♪ If you disagree
When having breakfast

♪ Consider the consequences

♪ Quietly pouring the muesli
Into the plate

♪ General Electric

♪ Quietly sticking the T-shirt
In the middle of the drainer

♪ General Westinghouse

♪ Quietly considering
The confusion that rains

♪ On the front pages
Of the newspaper

♪ Every day and every night

♪ General inconsequentiality

♪ General miscomprehension
Ha-ha

♪ I tell you they are
The worst generals of all

♪ When the Generals talk
You better listen to him

♪ When the Generals talk
You better do what he say

♪ When the Generals talk
You better listen to him

♪ When the Generals talk
You better do what he say

♪ When the Generals talk
You better listen to him

♪ When the Generals talk
You better do what he say

♪ When the Generals talk
When the Generals talk

♪ When the Generals talk
You better listen to him ♪

Whoo!

(MUSIC CONTINUES)

(DRUMS BEATING)

All right, Mr. Garrett,
I want you to tell us

why you decided
to go into show business?

(IN FEMALE VOICE)
Show business?

(LAUGHING)

We broke away from
getting involved with agencies
and record companies,

and everybody,
and we just went
to our audience.

We looked at town halls instead
of going through promoters.

You know we started
to promote ourselves,

putting the posters
up ourselves.

And you have got, you know,
a couple of support bands

that will draw 200 people there,
and 300 people there

and you bring it together
with your audience,

and you‘ve got
1,000 people.

All of a sudden the agents
are going, "How did they get
1,000 people to that show?"

And so this whole
alternative way of surviving
and having an audience

that wasn't a radio audience,
wasn't a TV audience,

wasn't a top-40 audience,
wasn't a record
company’s audience.

There was no promoters.
You know, what's going on here?

When do the tickets
go on sale there? Saturday?

Are they on sale tomorrow?

(WHIRRING)

NEIL: Yeah, Steve.
Neil here, mate. Is Gary there?

ACCOUNTANT: Gary has already
given them a grand.

STEPHANIE: Yeah.
You are aware of that?

That is
2,100 bucks.

(PHONE RINGING)

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)

ACCOUNTANT: You want some
just general float cash?
For petrol, taxis.

There is 500.

They are going to be paid cash.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)

GARY: Just good value
for 300 bucks for
about 50 people to come.

GARY: This is an important
seven nights.

Oh, they are all
going to be standard.

MAN: (OVER RADIO) 2SM City's
Rock Of The Ages, with
Charlie Fox talking to Rob Hirst

from Midnight Oil
about the new Oil’s album
called Red Sails in the Sunset.

ROB: We're going down
with the new songs
on Melbourne people.

We're then going
to Adelaide and Perth.

And we end up
at the Horden Pavilion.

We've kept the price right down.

It’s about half, I think,
what you are paying
for some of the overseas acts.

(RACY INSTRUMENTAL
MUSIC PLAYING)

(STRUMMING THE GUITAR)

(LILTING INSTRUMENTAL
MUSIC PLAYING)

ROB: That was meaningful
last night. They all knew it.

I think they must
have been paid a lot.

Saxophone, hypocrisy,
democracy and ideology.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

CROWD: (CHANTING)
Oils! Oils! Oils! Oils!

(CHANTING INCREASES IN TEMPO)

About four minutes, okay?

(STRUMMING THE GUITAR)

You're right,
Bastard.

Anyone else
in the same trouble?

After the chaos.

(STRUMMING THE GUITAR)

Took all that asparagus
to get it out
of my system.

All right!

MICHAEL: So I started in 1980.

In those days, bands had to
learn their craft the hard way.

So we were
playing on milk crates,

with plywood on top sometimes.

I do corporate now and I
go into rooms with clients

and look at a room and say,
"Will we fit 300 people?"

And I go, "Hey, I can fit
1,500 people in here

"and still make money
on the door," you know.

(COLD COLD CHANGE PLAYING)

(MUSIC INCREASES IN TEMPO)

♪ Cold cold change
We were so excited

♪ But you came
And went so soon

♪ Left us all
Angry and uninvited

♪ We smile at the way ♪

GARY: There was
just this explosive energy
coming off stage.

and the room filled
with that kind of tension

and excitement and sweat
and heat and sound.

And you know the bottom end,
the kick drum would be
thumping through your chest.

ROB: The heat levels
in those pubs, particularly
the ones with the low ceilings,

with a couple
of thousand people smoking

and it was like
running ten marathons

all in the space of
an hour and a half, every night.

MICHAEL: We blew the switchboard
off the wall in the pub

and took out
the local sub station.

In those days,
the ceilings used to drip

with condensation
above the audience.

You know, everything
was wet from sweat.

The audience was wet with sweat.

There was no air conditioning,
or anything.

No one could breathe
and Constance,
the little tour manager,

was running around
with an oxygen blower

reviving people with oxygen.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(WHOOPING)

(STRUMMING THE GUITAR)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

JIM: It was always really
important to this band to be
able to deliver to the audience

and just make it count.

PETER: We were about
giving that audience
everything that we had.

Everything that was
happening on stage, we wanted
to give to them in buckets.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(DRUMS BEATING)

(BEST OF BOTH WORLDS PLAYING)

♪ You say times are tough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds here

♪ Things are rough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds here

♪ You say times are tough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds

♪ You say times are tough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds here

♪ Things are rough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds here

♪ Times are tough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds

♪ The real world is not as calm
As it appears to be from here

♪ The real world is not as calm
As it appears to be from here

♪ The old world is not as calm
With the new world closing in

♪ The great South land can be
As great as the one
It could have been

♪ The one it could have been

♪ The one it could have been

♪ The one it could have been

(MUSIC CONTINUES)

♪ You say times are tough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds here

♪ Things are rough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds here

♪ Times are tough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds here

♪ Things are rough

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds here

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds here

♪ We've got the best
Of both worlds

♪ Best of both worlds ♪

(CROWD CLAPPING)

(CROWD CHEERING)

(DRUMS BEATING)

(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL
MUSIC PLAYING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(STRUMMING THE GUITAR)

ROB: I remember ice-skating
around Prince Alfred Park

when we first moved
from the country to the city.

And they played
the Beatles relentlessly

and then, of course,
also the Stones and the Kinks

and The Who and
Freddie and the Dreamers

and Dave Clark Five and
all those British beat bands,

which influenced people
of our generation so much,

and then got absolutely
fascinated by what was happening
musically in the '60s.

They actually
wrote stuff about things.

So if you had a great melody,
and you had great lyrics,

and you had a great beat,

and then you also
were talking about
something really important

to ordinary people's lives,

then that was
a killer combination.

(INDISTINCT SINGING)

PETER: And I think it was
quite scary sometimes.

Particularly with Jim
in the corner,

the raw, the rhythm
and the drive.

It wasn't rhythmic or timely,
it was...

It was urgent.
It was urgent and threatening.

(STAMMERING) It was like,
you know, it would
make the hairs stand up

my things thinking
about it, you know.

The power that we could
create when we were in form.

(GUITAR MUSIC PLAYING)

JIM: And we were just doing
covers and Rob was the singer.

All the way through school,

and the school concert
that we played at my school
was hilarious

because we did
a lunch-time concert.

And in the middle
of the concert,

the head master
ran up on the stage

and just turned
all the amps off

and then ran off.

There was about 300 people
in the hall going, "What?"

And you know it was just
what we were dealing with.

Like we were just
schmucks to these people.

Like, you know,
the people at the school

that were really into rugby,
and they were really
into sort of the military,

and it was just sort of
not a good place

for a slightly sensitive
and artistic person to be.

(STRUMMING THE GUITAR)

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)

MICHAEL: The day I was
setting the gear up,

the monitoring engineer,
Mark Edwards, said,

"I'll show you how
everything gets set up,

"and I will show you once,
and that is it.
You remember it after that."

And I didn't care.
I thought I am only going
to be here for a day.

And as he was
setting things up,

I kept asking questions.

I went, "Why are you nailing
the drum kit to the floor?"

Like we had sand bags,
and I had done that before.

And then he was
tuning the monitors,

and he put this small road case
at the base of this
really tall microphone stand.

And I said, "What the hell
is the microphone so tall for?"

And he said,
"You'll see, you'll see. "

And they didn't do
a soundcheck that day.

And sure enough,
after the support act,

they went on stage,

and I saw it all
right in the first song.

They fucking destroyed it.
The whole stage near caved in.

You know, I had
never seen anything like it.

Never.

GARY: The first encounter
of the first kind

was at the Narrabeen Antler.

This tall bloke
got our curiosity.

Sort of had long blonde hair,
and there was
a lot of energy on stage

and there was just
a really interesting feel
with the band.

And I said, "Look, you know,
if I can get some shows,

"just started looking
for the rooms on
the Northern Beaches

"that we could
get them playing."

You realize,
"Wow, this is emotive."

It is actually generating
a lot of great ideas.

And that will engage debate.

"Call off
the ultimatums"
could be stronger.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)

You don't reckon?
Nah.

No, it should be just
that one low or two low choices.

If you do, I reckon they could
be they can be stronger live.

(STRUMMING THE GUITAR)

Sounds very pretty.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

PETER: As I sort of reach
back into the memory vault,

I can remember a bunch
of school boys sitting around,
sort of, you know,

frantic little guy,
you know, sort of
just out of school

banging away
at the drums, you know?

(CHUCKLING) A couple
of shy guys just
out of school playing guitar.

But, it was
what I heard, really,

I think, that got me
more than anything else,

and that was
really the key for me.

And I have always said,
you know, once I heard
the kick of the bass drum,

and just heard
the way that they played,

I thought, "You know, there is
something very, very special
going on here,

"and who knows
where it will lead?"

PETER: Be safe and nuclear-free
in 1985, and remember,

we have a grave international
problem on our hands.

Something called
"Idiot control the world."

(LAUGHING)
(CROWD CHEERING)

Oh, dearie me!
Henry Kissinger is
in South America.

It sends the very shivers
of all existence
down my large spine.

We're not waiting
for any kind of poise
to lay out the food.

We're waiting
for Henry and Co.,
they've got short memories.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(HARRISBURG PLAYING)

(MUSIC INCREASES IN TEMPO)

♪ The empire rings

♪ The umpire's not laughing

♪ The President's presented
Ambassadors in nightclubs

♪ You cannot get it out

♪ It's stuff you cannot
Taste or see

♪ It's stuff
You cannot smell

♪ It's stuff that's
Twenty times as hot

♪ As the hottest stuff in hell ♪

(MUSIC INCREASES IN TEMPO)

REAGAN: (OVER PA SYSTEM)
My fellow Americans,

I am pleased to tell you today
that I have signed legislation

that will outlaw Russia forever.

We begin bombing
in five minutes.

I have asked special guest
Mr. Colonel David Hackworth,

who now lives in
Brisbane and Nimbin

and has spent some time
with the United States Army

in Vietnam and Cambodia

to come along and speak.

Put your hands together, please,
for David Hackworth, thank you.

Hello.

Last night, I was asked
on a radio program

why I was talking to you.

And my answer was,
because you are what counts.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD CLAPPING)

Since 1945,
there have been 23 examples

where the US Military
have recommended

to use nuclear weapons.

(CROWD BOOING)

They have so much firepower,

it is like trying
to kill a mosquito

with a hand grenade.

(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)

PETER: All you have to do
is see a photo of
the victims of Hiroshima

and you'll understand
that it can never be allowed
to happen again.

And if everyone stands up
and says, "Look ,you know,
we think it's very, very wrong.

"And we're prepared
to do something about it,
then maybe we can change it."

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)

The reason
that we are here today

is because
we value the trees

and the environment
that we sit in.

And we realize
that this environment
is put at great risk

by the incredible proliferation
of nuclear weapons
in the world.

As a response to that risk,
ordinary Australians
have gathered together

and formed the
Nuclear Disarmament Party.

They approached me
to stand as a senate candidate,

and I decided that I
would accept their offer
to stand as a candidate.

It doesn’t mean
the end of Midnight Oil.
Midnight Oil will continue.

All it means is that I am
going that one stage further

to talk about those things,
which have concerned me
for a number of years,

which I have tried
to write songs about.

JOURNALIST: How will you
be able to do anything different

from the people with principle
within the ALP?

It's all very well
for the left wing of the ABC...

Excuse me.

Freudian slip.

It's all very well for
the left wing of the ALP

to put that particular
point of view.

The fact is, in 1984, we have
a pro-nuclear government.

JOURNALIST: Are you confident of
success? The coming elections?
Yes.

JOURNALIST: Why?

PETER: Jean Meltzer
in Victoria, who has
been a serving senator

is our candidate in Victoria.

And in discussions that I have
managed to have with her
over the last couple of weeks,

she has indicated
that there are lots
and lots and lots

and lots of
very, very effective
and fruitful ways

which you can operate
from the senate.

Operating from the senate
plugs us into the system.

Are you concerned that
your personality and image

will overshadow
what your party
is trying to say?

PETER: No, I'm not.

Both the band and myself

are people who have been
prepared to stand on principle,

and this is
one particular principle,

which we have
held to very firmly.

I am now elevating
this principle to the position

I think it should take
for every Australian,

for everybody in the world
if we are going
to see the decade out.

We are simply saying
the Nuclear Disarmament Party
is here,

the election campaign is on,
and we are going
to be successful.

STEPHANIE: I came
into work on the Monday

after the announcement
on the Sunday night

that Pete was going
to be running for the NDP,

and I could not believe
the amount of messages.

I just saw names
from mainstream radio

and TV and press
who had never bothered
to contact the Oils before.

Prior to that,
we were just a band.

JIM: And he just came
to our room and said, "Look,
I am going to do this.

"I am going
to run for politics."

No talk about
whether the band was
going to survive or not.

So when you have someone
like that in your band,
you have to...

You know, what do you do?

You just embrace it, really.

I think that is
what we did, rather than
try and stamp it out

because I mean,
you couldn't.

Why would you, anyway?

Like, it was all
to do with who
we were as people

and what the band
was talking about.

He was just going to
take it to the next level.

(CROWD CLAPPING)

MAN: The launching of
the Nuclear Disarmament Party

represents the dawning
of a new age in
Australian politics.

Heading the ticket,
we have Peter Garrett,

one of Australia's
foremost musicians,

and a man who for
more than a decade
has been fighting for peace,

disarmament
and social justice
through his music.

(CROWD CLAPPING)

PETER: It has been quite
an extraordinary campaign,

and it is quite
an extraordinary
political party.

In fact, it is not really
a political party.

It is much more than that.

It is a movement
of people in this country

who have decided that they
really have had enough.

They want to make
a nuclear-free Australia.

And I must admit that there
are times when it seems
very chaotic for us.

We're not operating out
of the flashiest premises
in the world.

We don't have
the biggest budget
in the world.

But we've got heart,
we've got spirit,

we've got hope,
and we've got faith.

And they're
the most important
qualities of all.

(CROWD CLAPPING)

ROB: Around about the time
of Pete's senate campaign,

we thought, "Well,
we'll probably just continue
playing in between

"when Pete's sitting
in the senate."

I mean I don't think
any of us thought
we were going to end.

It was like, "No, no,
we'll just work around
what he is doing."

And we were
very supportive
of what Pete did.

I mean there was no one
crying in their beer,
or anything.

We were all saying,
"Well, that's the way it goes."
We’d made plans.

We knew what we
were going to do
if he made it.

We’d effectively campaigned

just by singing songs
against nuclear issues.

I'll do yours quickly.
What's your name?

Mark Schultz.

Mark?
Yup.

Thanks a lot.
No worries.

There you go, mate.

And remember, tell your Mum
and Dad all about
the Nuclear Disarmament Party.

Yeah, I will. Sure.

My Mom is here.
Is she?

Yeah.
Right.

MARK: I think one of the reasons

why Pete wanted me
to get involved

was that I understood
about the band as well.

And trying to fit
the twin constraints
of the political campaign

and the tour for the band
was actually really important.

They needed to be
kept quite separate.

For a start, the band
couldn't put out a single

because they didn't want
to be seen to be exploiting
Pete's political campaign.

Um, the political campaign
couldn’t be seen as trying

to be promoted on the back
of the band's concerts.

MICHAEL: The biggest difference
from a crewing point of view

was that the venues
had to be searched every day.

So, we did a deal
with the police.

They weren't allowed
to just turn up any time.

The police made
my road crew very nervous.

Cause they searched everywhere.

They searched under every seat,

they searched
the dressing rooms,
the crew room,

the crew room,
which we didn't want.

And they use to search
the audience coming in, too.

That had never happened
at a rock and roll show.

Prior to those days?
Before 1984?

(LILTING INSTRUMENTAL
MUSIC PLAYING)

Our major ally plans
to spend 1.6 trillion dollars

on weapons of war
in the next four years.

The re-election
of President Reagan
brings Australia's role

and Australia's relationship
with the United States
into an even clearer focus.

(MUSIC INCREASES IN TEMPO)

(MOTOR WHIRRING)

LEE: Midnight Oil,
as we all know,

are not ones to shy away
from political issues.

And that culminated last week

in Peter Garrett's endorsement
by the newly formed Nuclear
Disarmament Party.

On the musical front,

Midnight Oil’s new album
Red Sails in the Sunset
is in the shops this week.

Their last album,
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,
incidentally,

is still number 51
on the album charts

and has been
in the top 100 now
for nearly two years.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

Ooh, shit, I find that
the hardest number
is the highest.

(PLAYING SLEEP)

♪ So you've got...

(VOCALISING)

♪ Take this heart

♪ Break this heart
Wrap it ♪

(PLAYING SLEEP)

(VOCALISING)

♪ So you've got the blues
♪ So

♪ You've got the blues
♪ The evening

♪ Wore out your shoes
♪ The evening

♪ Wore out your shoes
♪ So

♪ You've got the blues
♪ So

♪ You've got the blues
♪ The evening

♪ Wore out your shoes
♪ The evening

♪ Wore out your shoes
♪ So

♪ So

♪ You've got the blues ♪

(AUDIENCE CHEERING
AND WHISTLING)

PETER: What I am doing
at the moment apart from
being on stage for the Oils

is getting around and talking
to as many schools as I can.

We're involved
in a historic time, 1984
is a time of history,

which I invite you
to be involved in.

I don't think that politics
means being old enough
to vote.

I don't think politics
means being interested
in the difference

between capitalism
and socialism.

I think politics
means understanding
that you can change

the way society affects you
and you can change
that it doesn't matter

how old you are,
you just have to go out
and get in to it.

None of this stuff
is going to come easy.

It is not easy
for me to get up
early in the morning

and go out
and get on the road
but I believe strongly in it.

(AUDIENCE MEMBER WHISTLES)

The question is
if I win the election
what will happen to the Oils

and the answer is that

I will become
a Nuclear Disarmament Party
senator

and Midnight Oil
will continue to do
what it has done in its way.

Midnight Oil's been
going since 1977.

It's never been a band
that has seen itself up
on the top 40 charts.

It's never seen itself
as band which is,
you know,

like a pop band
that is a Duran Duran
or one of these people.

(BOOING)

(CHUCKLES)

PETER: It's important,
I think, to be on the street

or to be where people
are and a lot of young people

who were interested
in us as a band
were actually at school.

I mean schools are really
important places, you know.

This is where kids
are learning, obviously,

but it's also in the later years
where they are developing
their thinking

and starting to form up
their political values
and their social values.

All those in favour, would you
please raise your right arm.

All those against.

I now declare by unanimous
decision, Manly High,
a nuclear-free zone.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I think people felt like
their band was,

um, suddenly very important.

I think they saw
the band taking a stand

in a very public way and
felt quite proud of them.

It was almost like a chance
for the audience to grow up

and see that their concerns
were important as well.

This is historic,
let me tell you.

Girls and boys,
we are making history,
and we'll continue to do it.

We were approached
to do a street kids
open house foundation concert

prior to my involvement with
the Nuclear Disarmament Party.

There was no way
because an election started

that we were
going to detract from that.

JOURNALIST:
Now, can we get on to this?

PETER: No I'd like
to do this.
JOURNALIST: All right.

PETER: Okay. Is there
gonna be other questions
about the street kids?

Look, I am here to do
the Open Family Foundation
press launch

and that's really
what I wanna do

and I don't want to have
a token question about it
and then launch into Mr. Hayden.

JOURNALIST:
Look, we've only got

a short amount
of time anyway.
Okay. All right.

So despite the constant
attacks from Mr. Hawke
and most other people

you're not gonna speak out
on any other issues?

The fact that Mr. Hawke,
Mr. Bjelke-Peterson,
Mr. Hayden,

Senator Carrick,
Mr. Howard, Mr. Wentworth,
who claims the communists

are still under the bed of
the Nuclear Disarmament Party

are joining together
to attack us

simply shows how effective
we're being, how we've got
those politicians running.

They're scared of the votes.
We're concerned about the issue.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

(BACK ON THE BORDERLINE
PLAYING)

♪ From the bar to the bedroom
I'm swimming in the neon

♪ Lighted pictures
Of a redhead
Plasticoated hot on

♪ And sometimes
When that mirror shows

♪ The smile of disbelief

♪ Stained signature
Of nightmares

♪ They're stolen by the thief
Oh, yeah

♪ I'm back on the borderline

♪ Yes, I'm back
On the borderline ♪

PETER: Hello, hello,
hello, hello, hello.

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

Welcome to the tent.

You know, every time
that Midnight Oil
gets up out here,

it seems like
they've built another one
of those things that, uh,

screech up
to the top of the sky

and cast their imposing shadow
over the sunny, sandy terrain.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:
Yeah, Come on. (WHOOPS)

If you're not careful
it's gonna get
so if you're having a surf

at about 5:00
in the afternoon,

it will be like surfing
in the Grand Canyon
or something.

Except that instead
of walls of brown shale

it's gonna be
walls of cheap,

wait until everyone
has bought up their
timeshare resort,

it'll fall down
in 20 years
time home units, so...

(CROWD CHEERING)

JIM: I don't think
when people came along
at that stage to a gig,

they'd expect someone
like that to kind of, have
a microphone and talk.

'Cause usually it was like,
"Yeah, we're gonna
go on to our next song

"and here is our
latest single and

"and I wrote this about
my girlfriend" or something.
I mean, our stuff

was much more angular
and much more angry.

(PLAYING ARMISTICE DAY)

♪ You're watching
People fighting

♪ You're watching people losing

♪ On Armistice Day

♪ You're watching
People fighting

♪ You're watching people losing

♪ On Armistice Day

♪ The watchers do the wincing

♪ Reporters so convincing

♪ The TV never lies

♪ I went looking for a war

♪ And the only guns I saw

♪ Never used in anger

(DRUMS AND GUITAR PLAYING)

CROWD:
♪ You're watching
People fighting

♪ You're watching people losing

♪ On Armistice Day

♪ You're watching
People fighting

♪ You're watching people losing

♪ On Armistice Day

♪ The watchers do the wincing

♪ Reporters so convincing

♪ The TV never lies

♪ Never lies

♪ I went looking for a war

♪ And the only guns I saw

♪ Never used in anger

♪ The fixers do the fixing

♪ The locals do the lynching

♪ The papers deny ♪

(VOCALISING)

(INSTRUMENTS PLAYING)

GARY: His voice
was an instrument.

His voice was something
that just meshed
with the band’s sound

and it became a wail.

He was the social commentator
on stage

and I guess that sort of
process of people knowing
they're gonna go out.

They're gonna have...
they're gonna see
something spontaneous,

they're gonna see
something that reflects
their basic attitude

that they can't put
their finger on,

you know,
what's going on
around us.

STEPHANIE: People were seeing
themselves within the music
and the lyrics of the band.

They wrote about
their world, their country

um... And how they related to it
and what they thought of it.

ROB: We were happy
for people to learn about us

but also about
Australia generally.

About, you know,
political, social,

environmental situation
that we faced.

♪ I've seen faces
In the window

♪ I've seen faces
In the street

♪ They talk and
walk of nothing

♪ Out-talked
By the mass media ♪

PETER: All right, all right,
all right. Let's calm down
a little bit.

Boys and girls.

Anyone who pushes
and carries on down there,

you'll get thrown out
immediately, all right? So...

(AUDIENCE WHISTLING
AND CHEERING)

Wormy, give me a spot down
here at the front down here.

Stage left,
just to the front, please.

A little bit further.

Now, boys, it costs Midnight Oil
a fortune in security guards
to come into this place.

I don't want you lot
destroying it for us and
for everyone else. All right?

And the next person I see
facing the other way

trying to cause
some aggravation,
I'll throw them out myself.

(YELLS)

I can't get this mentality.

We've got the fattest,
richest, stupidest people
in the whole world,

Russia and America,
they want to blast us
to smithereens.

Everyone knows that life
is a precious commodity

and you two want to kick
each other's heads in.

(AUDIENCE MEMBER WHOOPING)

I'm sorry...

PETER:
It was a weird thing.
You know, I would sort of,

look in to a crowd
and be able to tell,
you know, which corner

something would come
from and think, "Oh, hang on

"there's a bit of evil
lurking over in that corner."

That's you. And you're
gonna behave for me
tonight, aren't ya?

Yeah, all right.

All, right.

Thank you, boys and girls.

We shall have a good time.

PETER: I always wanted
a Midnight Oil concert

or a performance to be
somewhere where
everybody could come

and feel that
they could be themselves.

CROWD:
♪ Waiting for the meat
Of tomorrow

♪ Sing me songs
Of no denying

♪ Seems to me
Too many trying

♪ Waiting for the next
Big thing ♪

MICHAEL: And generally
they would listen to him

but if they didn't, or
they were fighting
he would send me in there.

You know, knee-high
to a grasshopper,

to diplomatically sort it out

and every now and then
he would come in
and rescue me.

(CHUCKLES)
Because he’d see me in shit

and it was just going to
turn to shit.

But I could go through that
audience, and they were
packed together

like, in these venues,
like sardines.

Or I could rush through those,
that audience, anywhere
from front to back.

They would
get out of the way.

They would assist me
getting through there
to do what I had to do.

It was aggression
but it wasn't aggression

like you talk
about nowadays.

They weren't...
It wasn’t fighting
aggression. It was passion.

(CHEERING)

(GUITAR PLAYING)

(VOCALISING)

(PLAYING READ ABOUT IT)

(AUDIENCE CONTINUE CHEERING)

BAND MEMBERS:
♪ The rich get richer

♪ The poor get the picture

♪ The bombs never hit you... ♪

MICHAEL: Yeah, a lot
of performers on stage
would be more than reticent

to get up and make a dick
of themselves like he did.

You know? And he knows
what I mean about that.

You can't call that dancing.

No one's ever seen that style
of dancing before.

Mate, they would just
stare at him.

Because I had to keep checking
that first four or five rows

and they would just stare,
and it wasn't because
he was good looking.

It wasn’t because
he had the body
of Adonis. No.

No, it was the dancing.

It was like he was
on the dance floor with them,
you know what I mean?

And because, yeah,
he held them
in the palm of his hand.

(PLAYING NO TIME FOR GAMES)

♪ Some kids
Got no time for games

(INSTRUMENTS PLAYING)

♪ Easy to follow
Your natural instinct

♪ Easy to follow
Much too hard to learn

♪ What opportunity
The modern child?

♪ Wasted passion
Wasted mind

♪ Some kids got no time
For playtime

♪ Some kids got no time
For games

♪ Some kids got no time
For playtime

♪ Some kids got no time
For games

♪ Some kids got no time
For playtime

♪ Some kids got no time
For games... ♪

BOY: Mount Druitt.
GIRL: We come from Mount Druitt.

(WHOOPING)

WOMAN 1: We've been
Oil's fans for seven years.

We know they're talking about
that nuclear disarmament

and how one day
it's going to affect us all.

Peter Garrett's gonna be
the next President.
Not Prime Minister, President.

WOMAN 2: He can get
everyone listening to him

because he is cool,
and he cares
about peace on earth.

WOMAN 1: He does.
He cares about
our country and everything.

This concert has been
one of the best concerts
there is.

WOMAN 1: I'm 19.
WOMAN 2: I'm 20.

(BOTH WOMEN CHUCKLE)

BAND MEMBER: There was
a dialogue between
the audience and the band

and we realised that writing
about Australian subjects...
uh, would work.

(PLAYING SECTION 5)

♪ Push start that car tomorrow

♪ I'll take it to the tip yard

♪ I'll leave it as a metal
Wreck for cats to sleep in

♪ Then I'll stop the small talk

♪ Then I'll stop the games

♪ I'll show them
That the plans
I've made aren't wrong

♪ What's wrong?

♪ I'm just part of this play

♪ I'm making an inroad
On the one and only... ♪

ROB:
The band could communicate
through its songs

and the power
of its instruments
and everything

and then on top of that
you've got Pete communicating

in a brilliant and diverse
and, might I say, initially
outrageous way.

One on one.

Initially with pub crowds
of 1,000, 1,500

but then to
festival crowds of 60,000.

It was such a gift.

♪ Oh, the power
And the passion

(PLAYING POWER AND THE PASSION)

♪ Oh, the temper of the time

♪ Oh, the power
And the passion

♪ Sometimes you've got
To take the hardest line

(GUITAR MUSIC PLAYING)

♪ Sun burnt faces around

♪ With skin so brown

♪ Smiling zinc cream
And crowds, Sundays... ♪

(INAUDIBLE)

(INSTRUMENTS PLAYING)

♪ You take what you get
And get what you leave

♪ It's better to die
On your feet
Than to live on your knees

♪ It's better to die
On your feet
Than to live on your knees

♪ Oh, the power
And the passion

♪ Oh, the temper of the time

♪ Oh, the power
And the passion

♪ Sometimes you've got
To take the hardest line ♪

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

(INSTRUMENTS PLAYING)

PETER:
I thought the audience
were fantastic in that era

because they were excited
about what was happening,

both to the band and also
to the band's singer.

And they listened to the music

and then they went out
and, you know,
listened to the campaign.

And they became a part of it

and some of them
would have had
very high hopes

and others would have
just been doing it for fun

and everything in between
but that didn't matter,
you know.

It was a really unique
and quite powerful

collective experience
that we shared

and I'm really proud
of the way in which people
became active players

if you like, in the concert,

in that period
of political engagement

because

it showed that
they were thinking about
what we were singing about

but it also showed that they
understood the spirit in which
it was being done.

I am not going to talk about
the serious things in the world

like politics except to
say I hope that you all,
those of you that came along

and witnessed
the Stop the Drop concert,
understood what was going on.

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

JIM:
He was very excited
by the idea of being

involved in politics,
you know.

He was on top
of the world.
He was like, alive

and

effusive and, you know,
that's kind of who he was
going to be, you know.

(INSTRUMENTS PLAYING)

MICHAEL:
From the public's
point of view,

they never really behaved
like pop stars.

Because they didn't do drugs,

they didn't drink

and they didn't
whore around.

Now, you don't have to cut
any of that out because
that's all good stuff.

The road crew had more fun
than Midnight Oil did.

(MAN LAUGHING)

MAN 2: What happened?

First around North Adelaide
with Mr. Argall.

Get your running pants
on there, boy.

Get your running pants
on there.

Got your shorts?

I can see
the sort of running
you're gonna do.

(CHUCKLES)

In the Ford Falcon.

(WHO CAN STAND IN THE WAY
PLAYING)

♪ And there's just one thing

♪ And there's just one thing

♪ I was hanging round off
Dobroyd Point

♪ When the first fleet
Chain sailed in

♪ Looked into the clearest blue

♪ The scurvy smell
The convicts cry

♪ But it's metal on metal

♪ It's the dance of TV

♪ If Christ were here
He'd camera check

♪ He'd cry so loud
The planes would stop

♪ He'd cry so loud
The earth would shake

♪ And men would fall
In tinsel town

♪ And there's just one thing

♪ And just one thing

♪ And just one thing

♪ And just one thing

♪ And just one thing

♪ And just one thing

♪ And just one thing ♪

(VOCALISING)

JIM:
Peter at the beginning

was always a very
imposing character

but I remember
a conversation he had

saying to all of us,
"Look, guys, I can't
do this all on my own.

"You can't just stand there
and play your guitar

"and, you know, your
fancy licks and stuff.

"You've got to come up
and help me cause I can't
do it all on my own."

ROB:
The first great Australian
performer that I saw up close

was JOK, Johnny O'Keefe.

Someone who just,

just screamed and put
every ounce of energy
in to this take

and I remember being
so knocked out by it

and I thought, "Fuck, you
know, that's a performer.

That's the level you've got
to give, you know, to do this."

(PLAYING KNIFE'S EDGE)

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

♪ It's a knife-edge razor day

♪ If you listen long enough
They've got nothing to say

♪ It's a time warp place
Don't change

♪ The rhythm of the night... ♪

PETER OVER MIC:
The speech is called
We Live In A Nuclear Age,

1984,

George Orwell
is looking nervous.

(AUDIENCE CHUCKLING)

Actually, it is a pretty
frightening thought,
you know.

If some Russian submarine
person has got a bit pissed

and saw something
coming across the radar
and panicked

or Mr. Reagan
went sleep walking

and accidentally slipped
on the button.

(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)

I am making light of it
because we have to
laugh about it a little bit

because unless
we laugh about it

we don't see the humour
in the position that we've got
ourselves into.

And okay I'm getting older
and I've had some success
in rock and roll

but I think to myself,
if we allow Russian generals
or American generals

or European politicians
or international arms
manufacturers

or science
and research people,

if we allow them to determine
what the future's gonna be,

then we're stuck
with the consequences.

MARK:
It's very easy now, sort of,
more than 30 years on

to forget what 1984 was like.

You know, 1984 was, um...

It was Big Brother.

You know, people who had read
George Orwell knew that 1984
meant more than 1984.

The cover of their
album was apocalyptic.

Their songs were apocalyptic.

There were movies
that were apocalyptic.

People feared the consequences
of the nuclear arms race

and they were powerless
and it wasn't really
a political issue.

And even it was a bit
naive at the time, I guess.

You know, we were only
young fellows talking about
nuclear disarmament

but, you know, really,
when you look at it,
it put the issue on the table

for both political parties

to the point where they
had to actually
have a look at this

because it did
concern young people.

We are generally
not interested in having
nuclear wars on our soil

or certainly being part of
anybody's territory
for that matter.

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

(SHORT MEMORY PLAYING)

After last night I decided
we’d make this barn
come to life easily, you know.

♪ A smallish man Afghanistan

♪ A watch dog in a nervous land

♪ They're only there to
Lend a hand, short memory

♪ The friendly fire
And dusty smile

♪ Wake up in sweat
In dead of night

♪ And in the tents
New rifles, hey, short memory

♪ Short memory, must have a

♪ Short memory

♪ Short memory, must have a

♪ Short memory

♪ Short memory, must have a

♪ Short memory ♪

NARRATOR:
An issue hungry media has given
Garrett immense exposure.

RADIO HOST:
Twenty-six minutes to 7:00

and my guest in the studio
is Peter Garrett

from Midnight Oil and
would be senator.

NARRATOR:
And that interest
isn’t confined to Australia.

This was an interview
for a Japanese
television network.

Just one of several
overseas media outlets

interested in what
the NDP has to say.

Australians need to understand
that they have to get active.

They need to understand
if they want to have some say

over what happens
in the next 10 or 15 years.

They've got to get out
and get involved.

NARRATOR:
As Garrett threatens
to upset the established

political parties,
it's not surprising

that he has been attacked
for being emotional, naive

and for being a rock star.

Do you think that because
you are well known
that people will vote for you

because it is a trendy thing,
and they know who
you are rather than the issue

that you're standing for?

PETER: Everyone's vote
is worthwhile.

Whatever reason they give it.

It is the same as
people coming
to a Midnight Oil concert.

I wanted my audience,
who I knew felt strongly
about the issue

even if they weren't
articulate about it
particularly,

to have an opportunity
to represent that feeling.

I do...

STEPHANIE:
I remember a few
mainstream media individuals

who I guess were stars
at that time having slight
hissy fits

like, "Do you know who I am?

"I want to speak
to Peter Garrett."

And in my head I'm going,
"Well you never really wanted
to speak to him before."

GIFFORD: But it was a difficult
time because the band
wasn't the band anymore

because Pete was gonna be
in federal politics

and wasn't able to say
"fuck" anymore or anything
like that, you know,

so it was all,
it was all a bit strange.

I guess in a way I was
a bit more, you know,
distant from it.

I probably saw it all
with a great deal
of suspicion really.

I was sort of, "Well, okay.
Pete's doing this thing

"and there's all these people
buzzing around him
who are politicians

"and who have got
something to say.

What I'll do, I'll stick
to the music and I will,
as long as I can do that

that's my job in the band.

I will be okay, you know.

I mean, I didn't want
to get into waters
that were very unfamiliar to me.

NARRATOR:
This week Garrett
and his band, Midnight Oil

are performing
seven sell out concerts
at Sydney's Horden Pavilion,

to no fewer than 50,000 fans.

And everyone we spoke to
said they would vote
for the NDP.

Yay!

He would be a good politician
if he got into it, I reckon.

INTERVIEWER:
Will you be voting for him?

Yes.

I'd vote for any
nuclear disarmament party,

whether it was with
Peter Garrett or not.

I, you know, just don't like
nuclear weapons at all.

It is good that someone
is finally standing up for it.

INTERVIEWER:
Do you think it's just
a young people's issue?

Definitely not.
It's everyone's issue.
Our lives are at stake.

INTERVIEWER:
So what sort of a politician
do you think he'll make?

A very good politician.

INTERVIEWER:
Are all your friends
voting for him?

Yeah. I reckon.

I have even talked
my grandmother into it.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)

You're not gonna get
a song today

(AUDIENCE SIGHING)

but that's because
I've spent the last
two and a half weeks

talking to television
and radio all the time

but I think it's a good idea
for a surf club
to get together

and for those people
who haven't had
the opportunity

to get work yet,

they've got to start
thinking for themselves
and working through...

ROB: I seem to remember
Pete rushing in to rehearsals

and interviews or whatever,
you know, with a huge folder
of stuff under his arm

and doing what he had to do
and then rushing out again.

I think the band
was kind of worried
at the pace he was going.

JIM:
I mean, he was up
in the morning

on Sunrise or whatever show
it was in those days,

he was out there
spruiking the NDP message.

And then he'd come in
at night and play this
cathartic rock show

and somehow be the one
in the band who did
the most work

and run around the most
and be in a catatonic state

at the end of the night
and then he'd get up
and do it all again.

ALL:
♪ I can't get lost

♪ I can't get confused

♪ Something's misplaced

♪ Maybe for good

(SHIPYARDS OF NEW ZEALAND
PLAYING)

♪ I can't get lost

♪ I can't get confused

♪ Something's misplaced

♪ Maybe for good

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

PETER:
♪ I can't get lost

♪ I can't get lost
Who's there?

♪ And something's misplaced

♪ Maybe for good

♪ Oh, I can't get lost

♪ I can't get lost ♪

(PLAYING RIFF)

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

ROB: There was
a lot of pressure
within the band,

on the band and also
we were playing at a peak,

we were experimenting,
we were using harmonies

more than we ever had.

The music was complex,
we brought out a lot of brass.

Jim was going from guitar
to keys and back again.

There was a lot of energy
but also quite a lot

of anxiety in the camp
about how things
would work out.

(GROANS)

PETER: I was trying
to think through

what would happen
if I did win.

How would we manage,

you know,
the business of having
a career with a band

and what would it mean
for family life and so on.

ROB: Any more tea?

STEPHANIE: Ultimately,
what Pete did
impacted on the band.

Impacted on their careers.
Impacted on the, um, album.

Impacted on the tour.

JIM: Pete wasn't so much
hanging out
with the band anymore.

I think he was
sort of starting to...

Maybe he was questioning
the whole thing
about being a musician

and wanting to do more.

JEAN: It is not just the kids.
Nor is it just the women.

It is right
across the community,

right across the factions,

from working from the outside

and showing
how strong the mood is

for an anti-nuclear Australia,

then we can really hurt them,

uh, in the only area
they care about: their power.

JOURNALIST: Have you been able
to use the Midnight Oil tour
to do a bit of electioneering?

PETER: I am not confusing
the two things.

I am a full time person working
for a nuclear-free Australia

and I'll do that
in whatever way I can.

If it means being a senator,
then I will be
a full-time senator.

ROB: Soon we realised
the kind of spin

that politicians
and some journalists
would put on the situation,

but if they had done
their homework,

they would have realised
that this was a band
that was talking political songs

from the very first one
on the first album,
Powderworks,

was clearly on the same topic.

That is, you know,
the dangers of nukes
and whatever.

'84, '85, we didn't suddenly
jump into another boat

and start swimming
a different way upstream.

PETER: Everybody expected it
to crash and burn,

and us not to be able
to run a campaign
at the same time.

And then once
the public opinion poll

showed that people
were supportive,

then, ah, they started to take
it a little bit more seriously,

but we were under attack
the whole time.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

COLIN: I think it's possible
that Peter Garrett

will be elected
as well as me.

Being a senator
in the balance
of power situation

is a full time job,
believe you me,

and I would like
to see an under taking

from Peter Garrett
here and now

that if he is elected
to the senate,

he will resign,
he will leave Midnight Oil

and he will drop
his previous career

and he will devote himself
full time to the job
of being senator.

Now if he doesn't do that,

if he doesn't front
the people to that extent,

then I think he should withdraw
his nomination now.

(JIMMY SHARMAN'S BOXERS PLAYING)

♪ From the red dust
North of Dalmore Downs

♪ Sharman’s tents
Roll into town

♪ Twelve will face
The auctioneer

♪ SHARMAN'S boxers
Stand their ground

♪ Days are darker
Than your nights

♪ But they won't be
The first to fall

♪ Children broken
From their dreams

♪ But they won't be
The first to fall

♪ Fighting in the spotlight

♪ Eye's turn blacker
Than their skin

♪ For Jimmy SHARMAN'S boxers
It's no better if you win

♪ Standing in the darkness
Lined up waiting for the bell

♪ The days are wasted drinking
At the first and last hotel

♪ Why are we fighting for this?
♪ Why are you paying for this?

♪ You pay to see me fall
Like shrapnel to the floor

♪ What is the reason for this?
There is a reason for this

♪ What is the reason

♪ They keep coming back
For more?

♪ Why are we fighting?

♪ Why

♪ Why are we fighting?

♪ What is the reason

♪ They keep coming back
For more? ♪

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

Damn my hand
and it is so sore.

JIM: Everything in the world
could be going wrong,
you know.

I mean your lead singer
could be going into politics,

but you would have
this thing, you know,

where it was your thing
and you really loved it,

and I still love playing
with Rob and Martin.

Once we all get in a room,

it is just this thing
that starts

and it is just
like a beautiful thing,

because we just love
the feeling of playing together.

It is a very special thing.

It's... it's...
it's like family.

Just feels like family to me.

ALL:
♪ John Laws is
On the air again

(MUFFLED CHATTER)

♪ Heavy traffic, jacarandas

♪ Eye in the sky
And foot on ground

♪ See a million
Sand speck'd ants

♪ In mortal combat
Hand to hand ♪

PETER: I was well supported
by the band

and well supported by my wife
and family and my mates.

You know, it meant such
a great deal to me

to know that people
were supporting

what we were doing
and what I was doing.

I just had to get myself there.

You know, I had to get
on to that stage

and, uh, on some nights
after a long day’s campaigning

it was actually quite fun,
you know,

because it was such a relief,

and the energy of the crowd
and the band was fantastic.

(LUCKY COUNTRY PLAYING)

♪ Speed and this ♪

NARRATOR:
In a more exciting election,

Garrett and his colleagues
could have got lost
in the wash.

Instead, they could
create history

and a generation
removed from politics

looks set to be reawakened.

(AUDIENCE CLAPPING RHYTHMICALLY)

♪ No conversation as you go

♪ There's so much space
The heat moves you

♪ Terracotta homes

♪ Backyard barbeque
And eucalyptus smell

♪ It's fine on the clothesline

♪ It's fast food and slow life
And red roof

♪ My silence

♪ Comic interruptions

♪ Surely there's some relief
From atomic art and the fragile
State of world events

♪ With clowns who love
The kings and power

♪ And the mutant media babes.
Wanking on dreams and fashions
And toilet paper flowers

♪ Don't talk to me
In this backyard
It's clandestine, it's nuclear

(SINGS GIBBERISH)

ALL: ♪ Lucky country

♪ Where the geckos are paid
To live in the sun

♪ Lucky country

♪ There’s a ribbon of road
And a mile to spare

♪ And a mile, mile
Mile, mile, mile

♪ Lucky country

♪ Lucky country

♪ Lucky country

♪ Lucky country ♪

PETER: There is a 10,

there is a nine,

there is an eight,

there is a seven.

AUDIENCE: Six,

five,

four,

three, two, one.

(ONLY THE STRONG PLAYING)

♪ When I'm locked in my room

♪ I just want to scream

♪ And I know what they mean

ALL: ♪ One more day
Of eating and sleeping ♪

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

JOURNALIST: Across town,
Mr. Hawke chose

to vote at Coburg State School
in his electorate of Wills.

But even in Hawke territory,

there was the Nuclear
Disarmament Party.

The Nuclear Disarmament Party
was polling something
like 7.7% of the vote.

So that is some
sort of a pointer

to what we might expect
to see in the senate later on.

Yes, when the campaigning began

some members
of the Liberal Party

believed that they had
an outside chance

of gaining a senate majority

but that hope seems
to have evaporated somewhat

with the arrival
on the scene
of the NDP.

JOURNALIST: The NDP
was formed five months ago

and still appears
as a loose coalition
of anti-nuclear groups

who've consistently demonstrated
against the mining of uranium

and the existence of foreign
defence bases in Australia.

Certainly the government
was worried enough
during the campaign

about the slip
of support to the NDP

to push a strong line
that a vote for Garrett
or Meltzer

was a wasted vote.

Let's cross over now
to Geraldine
and our politician’s panel.

GERALDINE: I am going
to ask Senator Gareth Evans

whom I know has been
watching the senate poll

obviously with
great interest indeed

whether you really do think
that Peter Garrett

can score as we have been
assessing here in the panel

an extraordinary number
of primary votes

to actually get up?

Well, it’s certainly looking
that way, Geraldine.

Again we haven't seen
any senate figures

come up
but on the opinion polls...

PETER: I was announced
at one stage

as having won the seat.
(CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)

Channel Ten announced
we had won the seat.

MARK:
The decision-making process

took such a long time,

uh, in which
there were various moments

where we thought
maybe he would get in

and other times where we went,
"No, he probably won't get in."

That in the end
it didn't really matter.

We were prepared
for both outcomes.

And it was
an interesting feeling,

because we didn't
really know the result

until the New Year.

And people,
things started to go
back to normal.

We are in Australia.
We’ve had an election.

(CHUCKLES)
Let's get on with life.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

PETER: We sing a song
for Christmas.

Um, what's that?

Oh, I have got it.

Santa voted for the NDP,
did he? Okay.

STEPHANIE: There was
a little bit of unease

about well what is next,
you know?

What is going
to be the outcome?

You know, if Pete gets in.

MARK: You see the band
was prepared to lose everything.

They were as one
in terms of the issue.

I mean my view was
I wouldn't stop making music.

Um, but I wasn't quite sure
how I'd keep making it.

Life isn't all depressing
in politics.

There are times
when you have
just got to dance.

(POWER AND THE PASSION PLAYING)

ALL:
♪ People,
Wasting away in paradise,

♪ Going backward,
Once in a while

♪ Moving ahead
Falling behind

♪ What do you believe
What do you believe

♪ What do you believe is true?

♪ Nothing they say
Makes a difference this way

♪ Nothing they say will do

♪ You take all the trouble
that you can afford

♪ At least you won't have
Time to be bored ♪

MARK: And when we came
to the election,

the Liberal Party
gave their preferences
to the Labor Party,

and the Labor Party
gave their preferences
to the Liberals

as a way of keeping Pete

and the Nuclear Disarmament
Party out of power.

(GUITAR RIFF PLAYING)

STEPHANIE: And then,
at the end of it
I remember going,

"How did he end up losing it?"

But there was also
a feeling of relief,

and I am really,
you know, sorry for Pete

but the other side of me,
the music fan side of me

was like, "Phew," you know.

Good, we can continue on.

That was
Pete’s first venture

into the sort of
political arena.

I think he was glad
that he didn't win it,

and we were
all pretty relieved
when he failed.

(LAUGHING)
He didn't actually fail

but as far as to get
the seat, yeah.

Pete didn't really want
to be a senator.

You know, the issue
was the most important
thing for him.

He really wanted
to see the issue
on the front pages,

which we achieved fantastically.

Um, I think
it would have been terrible

if he had gone
to Canberra as a senator.

Um, but I think
what he did

by having a red-hot go
at it, um,

was achieve exactly
what he and everyone else

in the nuclear disarmament
movement really wanted,

which was to make
the issue addressed

and taken more seriously.

NARRATOR: Like the Pied Piper,

Mr. Hawke led the children
into a Parliament House
committee room.

There was undoubtedly
one common thread

running through the questions.

Why do you continue
mining uranium

when we know it is used
for nuclear bombs?

If there was a nuclear war
what would happen
to Australia itself?

Would you have
a nuclear fallout shelter?

Mr. Hawke, you sell
uranium overseas,

so how can you be sure
that it will be used

in a manner
that you want it to be used?

NARRATOR: Mr. Hawke told them
about nuclear safe guards

and about Australia's efforts
on nuclear disarmament.

NEWSREADER:
Mr. Hawke had his problems

when he arrived for talks
with Secretary of State
George Schultz,

cooperate with the testing
of the MX Missile

and be damned by his own party

or refuse and face criticism
for letting down a major ally.

GEORGE SHULTZ: A decision
has been made by the US

to conduct the MX test

without the use of
Australian support arrangements.

BOB HAWKE:
We as a government,

the people of Australia
have played a part

uh, in the maintenance
of systems to ensure

a world which, uh,
is not threatened

with the nuclear holocaust.

NEWSREADER: The Prime Minister
said Australia's cooperation
with the United States

did not entail endorsement
of the controversial

Star Wars weapons system.

He asked for
and received an assurance

that the joint facilities
in Australia would not be used

for anti satellite systems.

(THE DEAD HEART PLAYING)

(BAND VOCALISING)

♪ We don't serve your country
Don't serve your king

♪ Know your custom
Don't speak your tongue

♪ White man came, took everyone

(BAND VOCALISING)

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

ALL:
♪ We carry in our hearts
The true country

♪ And that cannot be stolen

♪ We follow in the steps
Of our ancestry

♪ And that cannot be broken

♪ We carry in our hearts
The true country

GARY: And we are
sort of coming up
into you know 1988.

We have just come
out of the 1970s

with the referendum
for giving Aboriginals
the right to vote

and so you have got this sort
of book ending kind of period

where the Oils emerge

and out of that came
this kind of music dynamic

between the whole western desert
and top end.

STEPHANIE: I think it gave
a bigger perspective

to what the band was doing.

Experiencing what so many people

in Australia will never
experience first-hand.

ROB: That song opened up
a whole new way

of approaching our sound,

and we gradually started
to write songs with space.

Started to see the band
in a different light.

(THE DEAD HEART
CONTINUES PLAYING)

(BAND VOCALISING)

MICHAEL: I can still remember
a night at the Zenith in France.

They started
Beds Are Burning,

which has got
a very distinctive beginning.

The French audience
just took over Beds Are Burning

and sang the whole song.
The band stopped singing.

But it was word perfect.
It was clear.

The clarity was perfect,

and you couldn't help
but be moved.

I can still remember
the feeling.

I get a little bit tingly now
thinking about it.

Just the memories of them
jumping up and down

singing the words
about Australia

written by Australians.

It was a proud moment.

JIM: Well,
when the band finished it
was a bit of a shock.

It was a struggle in some ways
to adjust to the real world

because I think being
in the band it is like,

a bit like adolescence
or childhood.

When the band ends,
that is when you
actually have to grow up.

Because people are telling
you where to go

and they are giving you
the passports

and they are giving you
the food, the hotel,

but after that ends

you have to kind of figure
it out for yourself,

and, um, you know,
I have actually enjoyed...

I enjoyed the band,
but I enjoyed
not having the band, too.

PETER: For me at least
there was a sense

that we would go
round in circles

if at least I didn't break out
and do something else,

and I think everybody
had thought about it
at one point or another,

but I was the one that went.

(PLAYING GUITAR RIFF)

ROB: I understood
the need for breaks,

because I think
that was actually
why we survived

for all that time
was we did take breaks
from each other.

So why not take a longer break.

You know,
why do we have to call, quit,
the whole thing quits.

So I didn't get it.

Because I, um,

I didn't feel
that the band was ready

to say goodbye to anyone.

Including each other.

(PLAYING TIN LEGS & TIN MINES)

♪ I'm gonna wait
For the moment to come

♪ I'm gonna wait
Till we all stop from running

♪ Boxed in like candles
Polar bear pride

♪ Turning to terror
As the script is read out

♪ Unwilling actors

♪ Accomplished protractors
Will shout

♪ I'm gonna wait
Till we reach for the sky

♪ Tin legs and tin mines
Anyone’s cry

♪ Cry in the hope
That there'll be tomorrow

♪ Waiting around
There must be a sound

♪ Time to start thinking
And working it out

♪ Come with me now

♪ Try with me now
When I'm laughing

♪ All right

♪ Oh, yeah

♪ Make sure you share

♪ Who's running the world today?

♪ Right now
Yes, I'm alive

♪ You all know

♪ Who's running the world today?

♪ And I'm gonna wait
Till they knock on my door

♪ I'm gonna wait
Till they dig up

♪ The floorboards

♪ Poland in Disneyland
Wet dream control

♪ Super computer
The new contraband

♪ I'm gonna wait
And I must make a stand

♪ Come with me now

♪ Try with me now one more time

♪ All right

♪ Oh, yeah

♪ Your brazen echelon

♪ Who's running the world today?

♪ Is he ever gonna start

♪ Making a wave?

♪ There's enough time

ALL:
♪ Who's running
The world today?

♪ Hey, hey

(VOCALISING)

ALL: ♪ Who's running
The world today? ♪

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

(AUDIENCE
CLAPPING RHYTHMICALLY)

(PLAYING BEDS ARE BURNING)

AUDIENCE:
♪ How can we dance
When our earth is turning?

♪ How do we sleep
While our beds are burning?

♪ How can we dance
When our earth is turning?

♪ How do we sleep
While our beds are burning?

♪ The time has come
To say fair’s fair

♪ To pay the rent now
To pay our share

♪ The time has come
A fact’s a fact

♪ It belongs to them
We’re going to give it back

♪ How can we dance
When our earth is turning?

♪ How do we sleep
While our beds are burning? ♪

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

PETER: Thanks
very much everybody.

It is time for us
to say good night.

Be good to one another
and take it easy
on the way home.

We will see you
in some disguise

in 1985.