The French Government has bestowed the Order of Arts and Letters to Peter Garrett. The award recognises Minister Garrett’s contribution to arts and culture through music, and as Minister for the Arts.

Minister Garrett is the first Australian Minister to be awarded this Order.

He joins a small group of other Australians who have been honoured by the French Government in this way, including Robyn Archer, Alan R. Dodge, Doug Hall, Kylie Minogue, Leo Schofield, David Stratton and Andrea Stretton.

Peter Garrett’s advocacy and work with Midnight Oil has defined a special era of Australian contemporary music. Hey, its nice to have an Arts Minister whose experiences as an artist are, we hope, assisting him to do his job as the Federal Minister for the Arts. Established in 1957, L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres recognises a person's significant contribution to arts and literature or to the propagation of these fields.

Minister Garrett went to Paris to accept the Order on his return from the International Whaling Commission in Portugal.