What do you think?
Rate this book
The Boy from Baradine
From the bush of Baradine to the corridors of Canberra, this is Craig Emerson’s story of triumph over adversity.
In the mid-1960s, in the small town of Baradine in north-western New South Wales, the Emerson family was in continual crisis. The mother suffered from deep depression, and the father was exhausted by their constant fights. The two sons — Craig and Lance — were traumatised by their mother’s mental struggles and inexplicable outbursts of violence against them.
Yet both parents worked hard for meagre wages to give Craig a good education, and he vindicated their sacrifice. After gaining a PhD in economics, he was invited to join Bob Hawke’s staff to help design and implement the Labor government’s economic and environmental program. Craig became like a son to the prime minister; he and Bob worked hard, but also relished time out for betting, joking, and singing.
During Craig’s own roller-coaster journey as a politician, factional power-brokers exiled him to the backbench, but his perseverance and abilities earned him the honour of becoming Australia’s minister for trade and higher education.
The Boy from Baradine is an unusually honest ex-politician’s memoir. It is a deeply human tale of trauma and triumph, of fear and fun, which will inspire young people to succeed even from the most unlikely of personal circumstances.
In the mid-1960s, in the small town of Baradine in north-western New South Wales, the Emerson family was in continual crisis. The mother suffered from deep depression, and the father was exhausted by their constant fights. The two sons — Craig and Lance — were traumatised by their mother’s mental struggles and inexplicable outbursts of violence against them.
Yet both parents worked hard for meagre wages to give Craig a good education, and he vindicated their sacrifice. After gaining a PhD in economics, he was invited to join Bob Hawke’s staff to help design and implement the Labor government’s economic and environmental program. Craig became like a son to the prime minister; he and Bob worked hard, but also relished time out for betting, joking, and singing.
During Craig’s own roller-coaster journey as a politician, factional power-brokers exiled him to the backbench, but his perseverance and abilities earned him the honour of becoming Australia’s minister for trade and higher education.
The Boy from Baradine is an unusually honest ex-politician’s memoir. It is a deeply human tale of trauma and triumph, of fear and fun, which will inspire young people to succeed even from the most unlikely of personal circumstances.
347 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2018
2 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 23, 2018
This is an insiders look at the political scene in Australia from the Labor side. Several things emerged from this book for me. One is that Craig Emerson is a nice bloke, a very dedicated worker with his efforts directed towards improving the lot of the Australian people. However I was also left uncomfortable at the bubble in which our politicians live, removed from mainstream Australia, their lack of experience of the real world, their pathological hatred of the other side of politics, the continuous backstabbing and changing alliances and the constant push for advancement, regardless of the cost. Ministerial appointment is sought above all else, together with the perks that come with it and they certainly live in the lap of luxury when they make an overseas trip. But despite these reservations I enjoyed the book and the look behind the scenes.
June 9, 2018
I enjoy Australian political biographies. This is one of the best I’ve read. A scorchingly honest, well written, hope filled autobiography. I highly recommend this.
June 14, 2018
I don’t mind a political bio every now and again, and Craig Emerson’s reflections on his journey from obscurity to the national stage make for interesting reading. A very positive review in The Australian (paywalled) was the catalyst for my purchase, but the book probably would have lingered longer on the shelf if not for Emerson’s appearance on the program at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival. I finished reading this engaging memoir just in time for Emerson’s session with Sally Warhaft and Don Watson, but the book was barely mentioned in a wide-ranging discussion on the theme of ‘Australia Adrift’. I took six pages of notes but I’ll confine myself to sharing just one example…
In response to Sally Warhaft’s opening salvo:
Craig Emerson talked about how aspects of Australia are great, but the stats show that we’re not the happiest. A social indicator that concerns him greatly is the number of homeless people he sees on the streets and how this seems to be normalised now. Every time we walk past a homeless person, he says, a little part of society dies, and he thinks that we are potentially heading in a sad, callous direction. He described himself as a neo-liberalist, who believes in using national prosperity to reach out to vulnerable people, but he thinks that now people just want money for its own sake and that there are many very rich people who simply do not care. Acceptance of Trump and his values and behaviour is becoming normalised, but he believes that we as a people should push back to values that we had twenty years ago.
The memoir shows that Emerson himself knows what it means to be vulnerable. In the 1960s when he and his brother Lance were boys, his family in the small town of Baradine in north-western NSW was in a state of chaos. It wasn’t just his mother who suffered from deep depression, but also his father, worn out from their constant warfare, and the boys were traumatised by her irrational rages, her violence against them and her attempts at suicide.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/06/14/t...
In response to Sally Warhaft’s opening salvo:
"Australia is close to greatness, so close to falling apart. Sketch the state of the nation…"
Craig Emerson talked about how aspects of Australia are great, but the stats show that we’re not the happiest. A social indicator that concerns him greatly is the number of homeless people he sees on the streets and how this seems to be normalised now. Every time we walk past a homeless person, he says, a little part of society dies, and he thinks that we are potentially heading in a sad, callous direction. He described himself as a neo-liberalist, who believes in using national prosperity to reach out to vulnerable people, but he thinks that now people just want money for its own sake and that there are many very rich people who simply do not care. Acceptance of Trump and his values and behaviour is becoming normalised, but he believes that we as a people should push back to values that we had twenty years ago.
The memoir shows that Emerson himself knows what it means to be vulnerable. In the 1960s when he and his brother Lance were boys, his family in the small town of Baradine in north-western NSW was in a state of chaos. It wasn’t just his mother who suffered from deep depression, but also his father, worn out from their constant warfare, and the boys were traumatised by her irrational rages, her violence against them and her attempts at suicide.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/06/14/t...
Read
May 9, 2018A shockingly personal, honest, and compelling reflection on an extraordinary Australian life. Containing brilliant insights from the early Hawke reforms to the end of Rudd, this is a most revealing Australian political autobiography, from one of Australia’s wisest and most thoughtful public-policy economists.
Ross Garnaut
As a politician, Craig Emerson demonstrated rare emotion for a person in such a hard-nosed game: genuinely heartfelt passion for fairness and justice, and a visceral empathy and compassion for others. As a colleague, I valued Craig's humanity as well as his intellect and command of economics.
In his book, we discover the origins of these qualities: from the graphic retelling of childhood experiences in a troubled household in outback New South Wales, to the corridors of Parliament House in the service of prime minister Bob Hawke, and onto the international stage as Australia's trade minister.
Greg Combet
This gritty, compassionate account takes us to the epicentre of the big environmental conflicts of the day: Antarctica, Tasmania’s forests and Kakadu. A must read.
Peter Garrett
This is a refreshingly frank – and at times gut-wrenching – account of an unlikely political life, driven by Craig’s own experiences and his ambition to try to create a better world. If only there were more politicians with the guts to be so honest.
Geogg Kitney
One of the most detailed and illuminating books about the exercise of power in Canberra that I have so far had the pleasure of reading. Emerson has produced a highly engaging, compassionate and empathetic account of his sometimes stellar, sometimes dispiriting career, and of the political world that he inhabited for so long.
Ross Fitzgerald, Weekend Australian
This memoir is an exciting, honest and sometimes raw tale of public life, lived with enthusiasm, dedication and a take-no-prisoners attitude.
Courier Mail
It is a deeply human tale of trauma and triumph, of fear and fine, of character overcoming adversity. It will also inspire young people that it is possible to succeed from the most unlikely of personal circumstances.
Coonabarabran Times
Ross Garnaut
As a politician, Craig Emerson demonstrated rare emotion for a person in such a hard-nosed game: genuinely heartfelt passion for fairness and justice, and a visceral empathy and compassion for others. As a colleague, I valued Craig's humanity as well as his intellect and command of economics.
In his book, we discover the origins of these qualities: from the graphic retelling of childhood experiences in a troubled household in outback New South Wales, to the corridors of Parliament House in the service of prime minister Bob Hawke, and onto the international stage as Australia's trade minister.
Greg Combet
This gritty, compassionate account takes us to the epicentre of the big environmental conflicts of the day: Antarctica, Tasmania’s forests and Kakadu. A must read.
Peter Garrett
This is a refreshingly frank – and at times gut-wrenching – account of an unlikely political life, driven by Craig’s own experiences and his ambition to try to create a better world. If only there were more politicians with the guts to be so honest.
Geogg Kitney
One of the most detailed and illuminating books about the exercise of power in Canberra that I have so far had the pleasure of reading. Emerson has produced a highly engaging, compassionate and empathetic account of his sometimes stellar, sometimes dispiriting career, and of the political world that he inhabited for so long.
Ross Fitzgerald, Weekend Australian
This memoir is an exciting, honest and sometimes raw tale of public life, lived with enthusiasm, dedication and a take-no-prisoners attitude.
Courier Mail
It is a deeply human tale of trauma and triumph, of fear and fine, of character overcoming adversity. It will also inspire young people that it is possible to succeed from the most unlikely of personal circumstances.
Coonabarabran Times
Read
May 25, 2018One of the most detailed and illuminating books about the exercise of power in Canberra that I have so far had the pleasure of reading. Emerson has produced a highly engaging, compassionate and empathetic account of his sometimes stellar, sometimes dispiriting career, and of the political world that he inhabited for so long.
Ross Fitzgerald, Weekend Australian
A shockingly personal, honest, and compelling reflection on an extraordinary Australian life. Containing brilliant insights from the early Hawke reforms to the end of Rudd, this is a most revealing Australian political autobiography, from one of Australia’s wisest and most thoughtful public-policy economists.
Ross Garnaut
As a politician, Craig Emerson demonstrated rare emotion for a person in such a hard-nosed game: genuinely heartfelt passion for fairness and justice, and a visceral empathy and compassion for others. As a colleague, I valued Craig's humanity as well as his intellect and command of economics. In his book, we discover the origins of these qualities: from the graphic retelling of childhood experiences in a troubled household in outback New South Wales, to the corridors of Parliament House in the service of prime minister Bob Hawke, and onto the international stage as Australia's trade minister.
Greg Combet
This gritty, compassionate account takes us to the epicentre of the big environmental conflicts of the day: Antarctica, Tasmania’s forests and Kakadu. A must read.
Peter Garrett
This is a refreshingly frank — and at times gut-wrenching — account of an unlikely political life, driven by Craig’s own experiences and his ambition to try to create a better world. If only there were more politicians with the guts to be so honest.
Geoff Kitney
This memoir is an exciting, honest and sometimes raw tale of public life, lived with enthusiasm, dedication and a take-no-prisoners attitude.
Courier Mail
It is a deeply human tale of trauma and triumph, of fear and fine, of character overcoming adversity. It will also inspire young people that it is possible to succeed from the most unlikely of personal circumstances.
Coonabarabran Times
Ross Fitzgerald, Weekend Australian
A shockingly personal, honest, and compelling reflection on an extraordinary Australian life. Containing brilliant insights from the early Hawke reforms to the end of Rudd, this is a most revealing Australian political autobiography, from one of Australia’s wisest and most thoughtful public-policy economists.
Ross Garnaut
As a politician, Craig Emerson demonstrated rare emotion for a person in such a hard-nosed game: genuinely heartfelt passion for fairness and justice, and a visceral empathy and compassion for others. As a colleague, I valued Craig's humanity as well as his intellect and command of economics. In his book, we discover the origins of these qualities: from the graphic retelling of childhood experiences in a troubled household in outback New South Wales, to the corridors of Parliament House in the service of prime minister Bob Hawke, and onto the international stage as Australia's trade minister.
Greg Combet
This gritty, compassionate account takes us to the epicentre of the big environmental conflicts of the day: Antarctica, Tasmania’s forests and Kakadu. A must read.
Peter Garrett
This is a refreshingly frank — and at times gut-wrenching — account of an unlikely political life, driven by Craig’s own experiences and his ambition to try to create a better world. If only there were more politicians with the guts to be so honest.
Geoff Kitney
This memoir is an exciting, honest and sometimes raw tale of public life, lived with enthusiasm, dedication and a take-no-prisoners attitude.
Courier Mail
It is a deeply human tale of trauma and triumph, of fear and fine, of character overcoming adversity. It will also inspire young people that it is possible to succeed from the most unlikely of personal circumstances.
Coonabarabran Times
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews