Early surf trips: “We used to go away for holidays [to] Terrigal etc on the Central Coast... I used to go up with friends to Seal Rocks... and you know, just all those little spots in between.” [Like Catherine Hill Bay?]

The Labor Party: “In the election of ‘69 my mother was a Labor supporter and she’d been approached to helpout, handing out policy cards, and I went along to help her and I thought the policy was pretty good, on Vietnam, on multi-nationals, on women and Aboriginies etc.”

Membership? “No, I’m not a member of any political party.”

What he’d do as PM: “The first thing I’d do is take the sales tax off resin or whatever it is that makes surfboards so expensive. [LAUGH] That ought to keep our audience happy.” His political education: “I got thrown out of the Honours school of politics – too frivolous – not too radical really but just wanting to do things my own way.”

Being a hero to Tracks readers: “I don’t see myself as any kind of hero figure. The idea of a hero as a personal figure is not something that appeals.”

Popular music: “99.9% of music that’s made is rubbish.” Talking freely: “I’m here to do an interview for Tracks and you can ask me whatever questions you want and you’ll get the straightest answer of all times.”

His message: “Let’s not allow ourselves to be controlled by older people who have a vested interest at stake and who have different value systems than we have.”