‘Sowing the seeds of hatred’: Aussie rocker Peter Garrett slammed after taunting billionaire Gina Rinehart at Perth Festival

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

‘Sowing the seeds of hatred’: Aussie rocker Peter Garrett slammed after taunting billionaire Gina Rinehart at Perth Festival

Aussie music legend and former politician Peter Garrett has come under fire after encouraging festivalgoers to “pretend they’re dancing on Gina Rinehart’s grave”.

The former Midnight Oil frontman took to the stage at Perth Festival with his other band The Alter Egos on Friday night.

The 71-year-old told the audience to “pretend they’re dancing on Gina Rinehart’s grave” in a major dig at the billionaire mining magnate, while also slamming Woodside and US President Donald Trump, Perth Now reported.

Camera IconPeter Garrett told festivalgoers to pretend they were dancing on the grave of billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinheart. NewsWire/Dean Sewell Credit: News Corp Australia

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

WA Premier Roger Cook slammed Garret’s comments, and said the singer should have known “that sort of language is completely inappropriate”.

“The arts are also there to challenge us and perhaps Peter Garrett thought that he was challenging the people of WA when he made his inappropriate comments,” Mr Cook said.

“He wasn’t, quite frankly — he was being disrespectful and sowing the sort of seeds of hatred that we do see around the place, so he’s got to stop.”

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

A Perth Festival spokesperson appeared to take no issue with the comments, and said artistic expression was personal, adding “views shared by artists are their own”.

“Perth Festival recognises that people will have many different perspectives, experiences and opinions that reflect the complexity and rich diversity of our community,” the spokesperson said.

Garrett is known for taking strong political stances, with his former band Midnight Oil shooting to stardom with political hits like Beds Are Burning and Blue Sky Mine.

The rocker even moved into politics himself, becoming the Labor Member for Kingsford in 2004 before adding Minister for Environment and Arts and Minister for School Education and Youth to his portfolio.

NewsWire has contacted Mr Garrett and Ms Rinehart for comment.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Sowing #seeds #hatred #Aussie #rocker #Peter #Garrett #slammed #taunting #billionaire #Gina #Rinehart #Perth #Festival

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up