Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett Now Chairs Landcare Australia

The frontman who once sang about protecting the earth is now leading one of Australia's largest environmental movements, and he says getting your hands dirty might be the best medicine for climate anxiety.

Peter Garrett, the Midnight Oil singer turned environmentalist, just became chair of Landcare Australia. It's a full-circle moment for someone who helped pitch the original idea to Prime Minister Bob Hawke back in 1989.

"When the opportunity came around to close the circle, I took it," Garrett told ABC Adelaide in his second week on the job.

Landcare has grown into a powerhouse since those early days. More than 140,000 volunteers now work across 6,000 community groups nationwide, planting native species, managing weeds, and restoring habitats that help landscapes survive increasingly intense heat and drought.

The organization brings together an unusually diverse coalition. Farmers work alongside conservationists, First Nations groups partner with urban volunteers, and political divisions fade when people gather in the bush at dawn to do restoration work.

Garrett says he's noticed something powerful happening among volunteers. "A lot of people are saying, 'I love coming down and rolling up my sleeves and being with other people,'" he explained. "They say, 'I actually feel my mental health is better.'"

The Ripple Effect

That mental health benefit matters more than ever right now. Between local development pressures and global climate rollbacks, environmental advocates face no shortage of frustration.

But Landcare proves that community action creates real change. Garrett points to the protected areas won through decades of conservation campaigns and the environmental awareness flourishing among young Australians as evidence that persistence pays off.

"Doing something is basically how we get to the next place we want to be, and I see a lot of that happening around the country," he said.

The work has never been more urgent. With increasing heat locked into the climate system, Landcare groups are building the resilience Australia's landscapes need to survive. They're not future-proofing the environment, Garrett admits, but they're giving it a much better fighting chance.

He's taking over from Doug Humann, who led the organization for nine years and called Garrett's appointment exactly what Landcare needs for its next chapter.

Now Garrett wants more Australians to experience that dirt-under-fingernails satisfaction that comes from restoration work, and he's encouraging people to nominate standout volunteers for the 2026 State and Territory Landcare Awards before the July 31 deadline.