By Tory Maguire
Daily Telegraph

THE plaudits for Steve Bracks’ “courageous” decision to put family before state have been predictably fulsome.
Conveniently ignoring that it may in fact be too late for Bracks to begin fathering his 20-year-old son Nick, the now-ex Victorian premier is being held up as a somewhat handsome embodiment of the modern man.


At the same time, Morris Iemma wants to be home by six to bath his kids, and Jackie Kelly has revealed her decision to quit her Federal seat of Lindsay at the next election was inspired by her nearly killing her kids in a car accident - four years ago .

How terribly 2007.

The mere suggestion that work may sometimes have to come before family has become such a taboo, it’s not worth the judgmental looks of shock and disbelief to express it in polite company.

And there’s a lot to be said for not expecting children to rear themselves while their parents are out conquering the world.

But the danger in all of this is that this crop of politicians under the age of 55 are setting up expectations the rest of us can’t possibly be expected to meet.

Who but those in possession of a generous parliamentary pension can afford to drop out of the workforce in the prime of their lives at the first hint of trouble with their kids, as Mr Bracks and Ms Kelly have done?

While Mr Iemma’s speeding home for bathtime and a round of Golden Books, are his staff also afforded such luxury or are they still in the office making it possible for the Premier to indulge his work/life balance?

Politicians having to struggle to raise their families, just like the rest of us, is not new.

There are countless examples of political children going off the rails at one time or another, but you didn’t see Bob Hawke quitting over his daughter’s heroin addiction or John Howard throwing in the towel when his son was done for DUI.

No doubt both men put an extraordinary effort into dealing with their children’s issues, but they didn’t give up their jobs to do it - and the fact they were facing the same challenges as a lot of Australian parents lent an authenticity to their political pitch.

Politicians work hard but so do the people who vote for them.

Who’s going to step in and pick up the pieces when it all gets too much for us?

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