At the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) 1988 Awards ceremony, Midnight Oil won "Best Cover Art" for "Diesel and Dust". The album cover was designed by photographer Ken Duncan (b.1954, Mildura, VIC) and visual artist Wart (also known as Jen Waterhouse) (b.1958, Geelong, VIC). It also won "Best Single" and "Best Song" for "Beds Are Burning". A fracas developed between Gary Morris, their manager who was accepting awards for Midnight Oil, and former "Countdown" compere Ian Meldrum who was presenting: Meldrum objected to Morris making political commentary from the podium.