CANBERRA, Australia – Australian rock star-turned-lawmaker Peter Garrett said Monday he expected to return to Parliament on Tuesday following a health scare over the weekend.
Garrett – former lead singer for the band Midnight Oil – collapsed Saturday as he waded from the surf at a beach in his southern Sydney electoral district and spent 10 hours in a hospital, undergoing tests that failed to explain his fainting spell.
The 51-year-old, known for his passionate environmentalism, rested at his family’s country home when Parliament resumed Monday for the year’s final two-week session.
Garrett issued a statement saying he intended to return to work Tuesday, and to have more tests in the next few days.
“After losing all my energy and fainting after swimming at Maroubra Beach on Saturday morning, I spent most of the day recovering and having checks conducted at the Prince of Wales Hospital,” he said in a statement on his Web site. “There is no indication from checks so far of any serious health problem.”
Garrett had been expected to make his first parliamentary speech since being elected in October as a lawmaker for the opposition Labor party during the final session of 2004. But his office said Monday there was no chance he would give the 20-minute speech this week.
Peter Garrett’s Web site: www.petergarrett.com.au
