Peter Garrett has become the latest politician to pick at the scab of politics past, labelling Kevin Rudd a "megalomaniac" and saying the former Prime Minister put the safety of Australia in jeopardy in a lengthy interview with Channel 7's Sunday Night program.
The 25-minute interview, promoted as his first tell-all since leaving office, covered Garrett's career as frontman of Midnight Oil, his activism, family life, eventual transition into politics, and his "sorrow" of having four people die as part of the "pink batts" insulation scheme. 
The interview has aired just in time for the release of his biography Big Blue Sky on Wednesday.
In an extract from the memoir, read out by interviewer Melissa Doyle, Garrett wrote supporting Kevin Rudd was "certainly the biggest" mistake he made in his political career.
He didn't back down from that position in the interview.
"I've been particularly strong in this book about leadership and Rudd's leadership and I think it needed to be said," Garrett said.
"I'm critical of him, that's true, very critical, but I think for good reason."
Another of his criticisms is that Mr Rudd jeopardised the safety of Australia.
"It's a big call, but I stand by it," Garrett said. He added Mr Rudd treated people with "an enormous amount of contempt" and made "the business of the country almost ungovernable".
When pushed on what danger he feared Mr Rudd posed, Garrett said the former PM was "unpredictable" and he didn't know what he "could or would do".
"I mean even with [John] Howard you know where he stood," he said.
"I'm not a great fan of John Howard's, and he wouldn't be a great fan of mine, but that aspect of his Prime Ministership I sort of understand and respond to."
However, not all the claims in the memoir were elaborated on.
One passage, which details an envelope full of cash Garrett says he received, was refuted on air. The claim begins with a statement that a "pro-pokies push" was led by current or former "Labor office-bearers".
"The clubs were generous donors to candidates," the passage continues.
"In fact, a ClubsNSW representative had given me an envelope full of cash at an early meet-the-candidates event for NSW MPs. When I realised what it was, I gave it back."
When Doyle brought up the allegation, he stepped back from the claim, saying it was a cheque in the envelope, not cash, and he didn't believe it was a bribe.
"I've never said it was and I'm not saying I'm under any pressure," Garrett said. 
"I think the important thing is to correct the record."
Garrett also delved into his past, talking about his mother's tragic death in a house fire that he managed to escape from.
"We were quite close, so it was a big period of grief and sorrow," an emotional Garrett said, on the verge of tears.
"Ultimately I realised she left me with a great passion for life."
His mother's tragic death meant he felt for the families of men who died installing insulation, the program said.
"The fact that we had the death of four young kids in the insulation scheme that the government established to deal with the Global Financial Crisis, that was a lowlight in lots of ways," he said.
"The obvious one was feeling sorrow and the hardness of parents losing someone in a government scheme which I was responsible for."
To wrap up the illuminating interview, he categorically ruled out a return to politics and switched back to musician mode when asked if Midnight Oil would consider getting back together.
He conceded "if the stars lined up" it could be possible.