Welcome to The Emerson Hour, a podcast in which I ask my father to explain politics to me. My name is Thomas Emerson and my father is the Hon Dr Craig Emerson — former Member of Parliament, Australian Minister for Trade and senior advisor to Prime Minister Bob Hawke. In this episode, we discuss why we should care about politics; what motives, traits and qualifications are shared by people who run for parliament; and how to become a politician.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Why are we doing this podcast?

04:30 Why should we care about politics?

08:45 The pandemic & apathy toward politics

11:15 Why you should vote

15:25 What motivates people to join politics?

16:32 Why self-confidence is key for prospective politicians

20:00 Do all politicians want to become Prime Minister?

21:12 Political manoeuvring

26:16 Why Malcolm Turnbull lost the Prime Ministership

28:30 What qualifications are most common among politicians?

29:42 The problem with career politicians

33:15 Political gaffes

34:45 Unique pre-politics occupations

37:50 How does someone become a politician?

44:27 How Craig got elected

47:25 How does preselection work?

50:04 What is an electorate?

52:05 Campaigning for election

53:05 Losing your party’s support & Ivan Milat

55:52 What happens if you lose?

57:35 What happens if you win?

1:01:01 Day one as a Member of Parliament

LINKS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxFcHTNprJVcGkIupzP3ALw

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-emerson-hour/id1619743298

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ANAFMjEebq9pS4wO4oj61

RSS Feed: http://emersonhour.squarespace.com/podcast?format=rss

Follow Craig on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrCraigEmerson

Follow Tom on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thomashughemerson