This was never about people not liking me or people going online and saying they thought
That's part and parcel of working in the public eye and that's completely fine.
But this was about things that were written and sent to me that took me to some really
And when I think about the fact that what we've done might stop that from happening
to other people down the track and might save lives, it will save lives in fact, makes me
Hi, I'm Jess Rowe and this is the Jess Rowe Big Talk Show, a podcast that skips the small
talk and goes big and deep.
From love to loss and everything in between, I want to show you a different side of people
who seem to have it all together in these raw and honest conversations about the things
I don't know about you, but I really crave connected conversations.
So I'm going to dig deep to give you a new window into the souls of the people we're
curious to get to know and understand.
There might be tears as well as laughter as we celebrate the real life flaws and vulnerabilities
that make us human.
TV and radio star Erin Mullen is well known to many Australians.
She's been the face of rugby league broadcasting for close to a decade and has now made the
switch to breakfast radio as she brings up her young daughter.
I've had a ball sharing a few drinks with Erin over the years.
I also marvel at Erin's work ethic, resilience and ability to get things done.
God, it's great to see you beautiful.
It is so good to see you too in the flesh.
I see you online a lot and I hear you clearly, but to see you in person is so lovely.
You're such a special soul and what I love about you is you're open.
You share so much of yourself with all of us in such a big hearted, generous way.
Have you always been like that?
I probably have privately.
Erin, away from media, I've always been a very open book, a very open with my family.
In a public sense, I guess you get to the stage where you, it's funny because in some
ways I probably should be more guarded now than I ever have been as your profile grows,
as commentary surrounding your life and who you are and what you say and what you do grows.
Potentially I should be more guarded, but I feel like I'm probably less at this stage
and I look at what I do for a living, which is predominantly at the moment, breakfast
radio and you can't do that unless you're really an open book.
You're on air for four hours every morning.
You've got listeners who tune in every morning who start to get to know you and feel like
And if you're not genuine and open, they can tell straight away.
And a lot of your content is what happens in your own life.
This last year and a half has been trying to get the balance between respecting my partner
at the time when I started, Sean, who's a policeman, so a homicide detective.
So by the nature of his job, he has to be very careful and quite private.
I've got a little girl now who I'm very conscious will be reading things when she's older and
will see things that I've said.
But also, if she wants my money to take her on a holiday and pay the mortgage, then she's
got to understand as well that there are parts of her life that I deem appropriate to share
Whilst it sounds like I'm just speaking off the cuff, I'm also very conscious of the things
I choose to share when it brings in other people.
When it's myself, I'm really just an open book.
And you mentioned Sean, who I've been lucky enough to meet over the years, and you've
split up with him.
That must have been, I mean, it's hard anyway, I think, when a relationship breaks down,
even more so when it's public, when you have to share it with the public.
I guess I've never gone through a breakup with a child and that was the hardest part
I mean, it's always hard when you break up with someone and even if you both get to the
stage where you both know it's not working, if you were deeply in love with someone, the
fact that that ended is always really, really sad.
I guess the one thing with Sean and I is that we didn't go to events, we didn't post
each other on Instagram, we were always very private by nature in our relationship.
So from that perspective, I felt because we were so private and never courted media attention
and didn't do things publicly, that in some way we were legitimately allowed to say our
relationship's ended, thanks for all the support, but that's where the story ends.
I don't think we didn't feel like we owed anyone else an explanation and I've never
really given one and I'll never go into details in terms of why it didn't work out.
That's such an immensely private thing.
He's the father of my daughter, he's someone I was very in love with for a long period
of time, someone I was planning on marrying, someone that will be in my life for the rest
of my life because he's my little girl's dad and I'm in a position where I have a voice
and a microphone and a big audience and he doesn't.
So from that perspective as well, I just don't think it would be fair for me to ever go into
The hard part, absolutely, the breakdown of your family.
You grow up and you think that something will be forever and when you have a little girl
and I'll look at my parents, I've just celebrated 50 years, they're amazing, they're still very
much in love and such a beautiful couple and I wanted that for myself, I wanted that for
my daughter and I guess the hard part is that that's not going to be her life and I treasured
having mum and dad there every day and for her that's not going to happen but she now
has two parents who are very happy apart and love her more than life.
So it's been challenging and I think, what are we, we're maybe eight or nine months down
the track, maybe even less actually, maybe when was it, August last year and I'm still
not used to it and I don't think I'll ever get used to not having her with me every night
I think as a mum I feel like it's my job, it's my life duty is to protect her and be
with her all the time so that's something that I don't think I'll ever get used to and
I will continue to struggle with when I don't have her but I know she's with her dad who
she loves so you didn't even have to make me cry, I'm doing it on my own.
Oh honey, give me your hand but you know what, that's why I marvel at you because you are
so brave and you're true to who you are and for many of us in our lives people are frightened
to do that and by being true to who you are, by deciding what is going to be right for
you and your family, you're setting yourself up to be as happy as you possibly can along
with your darling daughter and Shaun too and I also know even though as you say it is hard
to be apart from your beautiful daughter, the times that I had with my dad separately
and then with my mum separately means I had the most extraordinary relationship with both
of them as individuals as opposed to seeing them in a dysfunctional partnership.
No, you're completely right and I think that was a big thing with even when I, as I said,
I still get very upset when I say goodbye to her but how much harder it would be if
she didn't want to go to her dad or if I wasn't confident when she was with her dad
that she was in a safe, loving, incredible space and I'm so confident of that times a
million so I'm very blessed in that way.
I think it's just your motherly instinct and I think back to even the way, dad was away
a lot with the army and I think mothers tend to be that more nurturing, I'm very, look
I'm a complete softy when it comes to her.
Shaun is lots of fun but if she's being naughty Shaun will tell her whereas I'm incapable
of any form of discipline so I just, look it probably is good for her development to
have a bit of both because now I'm trying to learn how to give her a bit of discipline
and I am pathetically weak.
She will ask for chocolate and I'll say no, you've got dinner in 20 minutes, she'll ask
again I'll say no, then she'll yell at me and I'll say how many pieces, take them all.
That isn't awful, let's reframe it and say that you just have a beautiful big heart.
Yes and I like chocolate too because it means I get a piece as well.
And also it means you get a bit of peace and quiet.
Thank you, yes which I'm a huge advocate for.
And sometimes you've got to do whatever it is that gets you through the hour, the day,
or the night, especially when they're small and dare I say even as they get older it doesn't
I know and it's funny because I used to before I had a child I remember going into hair and
makeup at Channel 9 and saying to beautiful Mundi, Amanda, how are the kids and she'd
kind of look at me with this blank expression and say alive and I'd go god that's a really
low base like wow and now I've got a child and I'm like wow that is you are kicking ass
if you're reaching that, you know, that is not a bare minimum, that is winning, you know.
Of course it's winning.
Survive, just survive.
And whatever it takes, I mean I remember, I mean this probably isn't such a proud mothering
moment of mine but I had to make some phone calls and they were work phone calls and they
were for some pre-recorded interviews and somehow kids sense when you're on the phone
and you need to do something they're suddenly there and I locked myself in my wardrobe and
I threw Smarties out through the doorway to try and keep my girls quiet.
I have done exactly with Smarties, exactly, I literally just was in the cupboard and just
throwing, in fact I just had cheesels, Doritos, the whole thing and they were on the kitchen
floor and I think I'd seen a cockroach there the night before and she's sitting there eating
and I could not have given a tinkers cast, I didn't care.
And she's fine, you see.
I completely, I mean you know fine's a strong word but she's going okay, no she's actually
so incredible and that was for Shaun and I the biggest thing was managing her and making
sure she was okay and it's just been amazing to see.
I think, you know, there's never a perfect age but I look at, she was three when we split
and I kind of think if she'd been a newborn to not have both of you there together would
be so heartbreaking and it's heartbreaking anyway but so heartbreaking if she'd been
a bit older like you were to really understand what was happening and to have more experience
in that family unit.
So heartbreaking but I feel like it's almost the perfect age in that she didn't quite understand
what was happening, she felt loved and secured wherever she was and now she has no real memory
of us living together, it's mummy's house, daddy's house, this and that and when you
know Shaun came over for dinner last week and I made bolognese poorly, very cooking
like you my darling is not my strength but I just, she's sitting there and she's so excited
to see us together and she loves it when the two of us are together and you know we give
each other a hug before we go and she loves that but when he's not there she doesn't say
I wish daddy was back here or was living here because she doesn't actually remember that
really so I feel like yeah, not that you'd say to someone well look if you're thinking
of doing a planet for this time but I feel like it was as good a time as any.
And I think it's a credit to both of you of how you're managing it because that's grown up.
And let me tell you I think both of us would be in our rights to not be like that you know,
any relationship there's so many elements of it that are difficult particularly once it ends and
if we didn't have Eliza I'm sure it would be a very different story.
I'm not going to give details but just the first say six weeks were incredibly difficult
and looking at my little girl's face and not understanding why we weren't acting the way we
normally would with each other was so heartbreaking that I just said enough, come have a wine. We sat
down together and had a wine and that was the start of just this incredible position we're in
now which is chatting, hanging out together with our little girl and just being in a position where
we still support each other where we love and adore her and she's the focus of everything but
we can enjoy each other's company and that's so important for me and so important for our little
girl. So it's yeah to be honest I always hoped I'd be like this if things didn't work out and I had
children and you know what you're supposed to do when you just see movies and they talk about
putting the kids first. I didn't genuinely know if I'd be capable of doing that depending on the
circumstances but I'm immensely proud that both of us have been able to do this and she will be
the winner, Eliza will be the winner out of that and so will we. You know it's not pleasant doing
it the other way. This is much better for everyone and it's yeah something I'm really proud of.
You kind of take my breath away sometimes Erin because you wear your hat on your sleeve.
I read a headline about something bad happening and I am a mess. I'm yeah. But that's a good thing
not about being a mess but I think you wear your hat on your sleeve but then you walk the walk in
the sense of you know I think about what you've done with online bullying and the legislation
that you now have in federal parliament thanks to you. I just think is phenomenal. Tell me a
little bit about that and that process. Oh thank you and it's interesting isn't it because I look
at myself and in some ways I am so emotional and I wear my hat on my sleeve but then there's this
other side of me that comes to life not all the time but when I feel strongly enough about
something and I pick my battles well and truly because we don't have time to fight everything
that sometimes surprises me with how tough and how resilient I can be and I have a very healthy
sense of perspective. I understand that there are people in the world doing it really really tough
but I guess what was the catalyst for all of this in the online space was not so much the years of
abuse that I was subjected to and it was horrific but it was getting to the stage where I started to
see that the people were taking their lives that little kids in school were taking their lives and
once I started to realize that actually it hurt me a lot and I'm pretty strong and robust. I'm
battle-hardened in this space and sometimes I felt incapable of dealing with it and I started to
think wow someone's got to do something you know in every other area of our lives there are laws
and there are regulations and so there should be it dictates the way we live our everyday lives we
don't walk down the street and clobber someone because we know there are consequences you know
we don't steal because we know there are consequences few do but most are caught and they pay a price
but in the online space it was just this free-for-all there were no consequences so people
who were that way inclined who were nasty or who wanted to hurt you or who wanted to threaten you
who had basically nothing else to do there were no consequences for their actions so why would they
stop if they derive some kind of sick pleasure out of it they just kept going and I think for me that
the real time that I said enough is enough is looking at Anthony Seibold and what he went
through as the Broncos coach and his story in a nutshell was essentially there were rumors being
published online on different social media sites and all untrue and all untrue horribly hurtful
disgusting brought his family into it his daughter struggled immensely his wife struggled immensely
and he can tell his story of the hurt it caused but I can assure you it was severe and it is
ongoing and I remember looking at that and thinking nobody deserves that nobody and how
the hell can these people do this and there'd be no consequences no price paid no one holding
them to account and I thought if I see one more quote from someone saying just get offline then I
was going to go absolutely crazy because that to me is such complete bullshit and excuse my language
but we would not tell someone shut down your shop just so no one comes in and steals anymore
I know we would arrest the people who steal put them in jail and it would be a deterrent that
others wouldn't do it we know the laws exist but in the online space we're telling people who
online is not a luxury anymore or something you know that that one percent of us do for fun
you can't live your life without being online Anthony Seabold didn't have social media but his
life was still ruined by what was written on social media so you can even try and argue oh I don't
have Instagram or Facebook it doesn't mean you're not vulnerable to attacks on there that can damage
you and your family immensely we do our banking online we do our emails COVID lockdown kids are
learning online are you three teachers sent me an email saying Erin the first two hours every day
are not spent doing English maths geography it's spent dealing with the fallout of the bullying
online the night before that made me feel sick year three we're not talking about year seven or
year nine year three I think from a parent perspective I thought about my daughter and
I just thought I'm in a position here where I will use every contact I have I will use my dad I will
use everything in my means to try and instigate some change here and I didn't think I'd have a
chance in hell to be honest with you I thought I'd go to a few meetings I'd say a few things
and then it would go away like a lot of other stuff and you know my dad's a politician but
they're not renowned for always following through are they but no this was incredible everyone was
so passionate about it there were a lot of other people who shared their stories and
and we saw change and I talk about being proud of the fact that Sean and I have an amicable
relationship with our daughter and a great relationship but I look at that moment at
Parliament House and I took my daughter along when that law was passed not for publicity not
she didn't appear anywhere but I wanted to be able to tell her when she was old enough to understand
that that mum did something a little bit special and mum I guess the reason I get emotional about
it and obviously I've just told you I get very emotional about a lot of things but
this was never about people not liking me or people going online and saying they thought I
was a flog that's part and parcel of working in the public eye and that's completely fine
but this was about things that were written and sent to me that took me to some really dark places
and when I think about the fact that what we've done might stop that from happening to other people
down the track and might save lives it will save lives in fact makes me very emotional.
It makes me emotional hearing you talk in this way.
Because of what you've done it actually as you say there's a consequence and we can point to that
and say no this is not all right and I have so much to thank you for not only personally well
yes very much personally but also I think on behalf of families right across the country
because it's I think one of the hardest things I find being a parent is we want to protect our
kids we want to help them grow experience the world but we also want to protect them from some
vile predators hideous people I'm so thankful for you and what you've done it does save lives
and it's not just paying lip service you've turned something that has been awful for you
and made it a positive in the sense of it not happening now to more people so for that I will
always love you and just think you're a warrior and another thing you know listening to you talk
there about what you had to be exposed to and you say oh well it's just when you're in the
public eye that's okay but it's not okay and you know you've worked in rugby league for a long time
and what you had to endure was just despicable and it makes me so mad.
It's awful but you just get exposed to so much of it that after a while
it doesn't hurt you in the same way which is good in one aspect because
it's less upsetting but on another level you should never become comfortable with accepting
the kind of things that a lot of people have to accept and I was the first woman to host the
footy show and did that for six or seven years and and look I loved it it was amazing first woman
on continuous call team which was incredible the first woman in rugby league to do a lot of things
and there were some incredible women before me who have done amazing things but I guess I came
along at a time when the networks were ready to give someone an opportunity and and I was the
right person for the job and I believe that very very strongly channel 9 is not a charity we all
know that I wouldn't have been there for as long as I was had I not been really good at my job and
had I not had a fair chunk of the audience and enjoyed what I did but there were sections that
didn't think that I should be there and that's absolutely fair enough no it's not fair enough
Jesse if they if you know not everyone's gonna like you and if people watched me and and didn't
like what I brought or didn't particularly enjoy my humor or didn't didn't enjoy my insights that's
fine what wasn't fine was when it was purely based on the fact that I was a woman or that I hadn't
played rugby league that's when it wasn't fine maybe not if they just thought it to themselves
but when they decided to share it or when they decided to use abuse as a way of communicating
that and what struck me so early on when I started on the footy show was that the criticism wasn't
about what I'd said or the way that I delivered it as a broadcaster or that I'd gotten something
wrong when I spoke about a particular injury or a team it was always that I was a girl I didn't know
what I was talking about I'd never played rugby league and you know I'd look around that newsroom
and look around channel 9 and look at Simon Boda who's been a police reporter for so so long and
one of the best in the country he's never been a policeman nor has he been in jail I look at the
court reporters most I think none of them have been in jail or ever been incarcerated or ever
been through a trial yet they were fully qualified to cover their rounds you know you can be an
expert in something having not done it yourself and I never pretended to be a legend of the game
I never was I always knew exactly what my role was and my role was to host and to get the best
out of the blokes sitting on either side of me and now in the past few years the women the incredible
women like Alana Ferguson, Rowan Sims, former players who now commentate and host and do amazing
things that was my role I was never there to say well back in 1972 when I scored that try you know
I never tried to be anything that I wasn't and I can hand on heart from the day that I started
at channel 9 in rugby league like me or or or not like me I didn't want to say loathe because I
thought of people loathing me it's like oh god I'm sure some of them do in fact I know some of them
do but like me or loathe me I was always exactly who I am I never tried or pretended to be anything
else and you know I had an absolute ball I had a great time there were really tough moments and
there were elements that that I'm happy to have moved on from absolutely but by and large I got
given amazing opportunities and you know did something that I look back on and I'm immensely
proud of and also you worked very hard absolutely I wish I was more talented Jess and me you know
then I wouldn't have had to have worked as hard as I did but you are talented and the thing is
no one is good at something by not working at it you don't just suddenly arrive and then it all
falls into place you said yes to pretty much every opportunity you threw yourself into situations
and you went for it I absolutely did and from day dot the second I got my first job in tv and
I was 21 years old and I'd gone to an audition and I was awful but I'd annoyed the bloke for
essentially six months and finally I think it was either take out a police order or give me a job
and he basically said if I give you a two-minute segment on the food show will you leave me the
hell alone and that's how I got my first start and that was my first also I guess um real experience
of just annoying the crap out of someone until they gave me an opportunity and I utilised that
as time went on but you're right from that moment I fell in love with the art of telling stories of
communicating of writing and as you know when you start regionally you're doing everything yourself
basically and it's a great space to learn in and to hone your craft and I absolutely loved it and
the one thing I always was certain of whether my my look was right or my writing wasn't developed
and my voice needed work and all of though you know they all needed work and all needed to be
developed as I went through I always was certain that no one else would ever have worked harder
than me and I still to this day I do sky news now twice a week and I sit there and I've written
six pages of handwritten notes for the four minutes that I might be on air I probably won't
use one of them but I know that if I stop doing what got me there then I'm not going to stay there
for that long so before a footy show I'd write 10 pages of notes and fatty had come and sit next
to me and kind of look over and and go oh for god you know god and and it's true and he was a legend
so he could he could do do what he liked tell his stories he'd done that show for 30 or 40 years
for me for me to be the best that I could be and to be confident and comfortable and to do my job
really well I had to know that I'd ticked every single box and I'd worked my ass off prior to
every single show and as I said I wouldn't use 95% of it but the one time I needed something that
I hadn't prepared for then that would be something that would be given a lot of attention and would
be because I'm a girl and I hadn't played so I've always had this mentality of always just working
my ass off prior to anything and doing all the notes and everything much more so than I'd ever
need just because I knew I'd be more relaxed and off the cuff on air if I'd done the work
and I think that's a good lesson for everyone really that often people think oh you just land
a job and it's all easy and it all just comes naturally but it doesn't and everything takes
work if you want to get to a certain place I think in your life doesn't it even as even if
you're immensely talented you look at footballers and some of the the saddest stories are those who
had so much talent but for whatever reason and not not always because they were lazy sometimes
because they were lazy but sometimes there are other issues but didn't reach their full potential
in most cases if you're willing to put in the work then you can almost do anything and what a
wonderful thing that is imagine looking at anything in the world and thinking if I'm willing to put
in the work and do what it takes and you don't have to be rich you don't have to have privilege
you don't have to have contacts if you're willing to work your ass off and keep your eye on that
prize then almost always you can achieve it which is an incredible thing in our part of the world
anyway not every country is as lucky as we are. And you've achieved that one thing that I found
interesting was you applied did you do six university courses and then you dropped out
six times? Of all of them and Jess it was always after Hex cut off much to my mother's complete
displeasure in the early days and it wasn't on purpose but I think it would always be right on
the day that you know the day after that because I think you had to be maybe enrolled for four weeks
or something and then you got charged Hex for that semester for that unit and I would always
wait so I've basically paid for a degree and I have one unit to my name which was one that I
did via correspondence years later a political unit so yes six times I dropped out and this is
a funny thing that prior to getting that first job at Channel Vision the little pay tv station
I was a complete opposite to what I am now and I tell parents this all the time I don't you know
encourage their children to drop out of uni six times but I do say to a lot of parents I talk to
who say I've got an 18 year old who just has no direction doesn't know what she wants to do
drops out of uni quits her job etc etc I reckon I would have had three times as many jobs that
I quit after a week I remember getting a job at an ice skating rink and they wanted me to mop
I remember just getting the mop and and saying to the guy oh sure I've just got to go to the
car and get my nose spray so I still had sinusitis back then I had it back then and never going back
I was so I had no commitment I was lazy I had no desire to do anything other than hang out with
my mates shop have fun you know just be silly but it was when I got the job that I wanted and the
thing I found I was so passionate about is when my entire perspective just changed 180 degrees
and I then became this person who was so driven so dedicated so committed the complete opposite
of what I was and that happened by literally finding the thing that I loved and prior to that
I was totally the opposite so it's funny once you find what it is that fills you cup and makes you
happy and what it is that you derive joy from and then you discover you can actually earn a career
out of that a very poor one for the first 10 to 15 years to be honest but enough to get by
Bob's your uncle you're flying and sometimes that might take people till they're 40 sometimes they
might find it at 14 but I just think young people you know you can afford to have a lot of moments
where you might feel like you're letting people down or letting yourself down but that's all part
and parcel and once you find that thing that you love and that brings you joy life will be amazing
how did you know that what you found was what was going to bring you joy I think the first
time I sat in that studio and did the audition is when I knew that it was what I wanted to do
I wasn't good at it I was awful I was so nervous I was horrendous but I knew it was what I wanted
to do and I just loved telling stories and I loved debating and communicating and writing was a
was probably the first thing I fell in love with and I was lucky enough to get a job
writing in the governor general's speech writing department and that was a couple of years I worked
there and probably one of the greatest experiences I've had in a professional capacity just to be
part of an environment and an institution that is so revered and respected and to somewhat
contribute to that was amazing so yeah I just I just I loved it you've got so many different
skills I mean I didn't know that you worked as a speechwriter and and also you know there's
speculation that you might go into politics is that what is next for you oh it's a great question
it certainly wasn't for now and it was incredibly flattering to be asked and to have conversations
and look he's spoken about this publicly so I don't feel like I'm saying anything that's
not already out there but you know to have the prime minister want you to run is really really
flattering and I'm someone who's loved politics my whole life who was in Indonesia in 98 when
that Sahara regime fell and you you watched a country decide that democracy was the way forward
and you watched them fight and you watched them give up their lives to dress up to university
shootings and I fell in love with with politics and democracy and freedom and and all the things
that that we enjoy here and often take for granted so incredibly flattering but something that
happened to me probably when I had Eliza but probably more so when Sean and I separated was
this absolute clarity and I feel like a wanker using the word clarity because I'm not overly
is it spiritual or in that way don't downplay that no you're right no you're right and I
shouldn't because I just had this moment of the number one priority for me and the thing that
fills my cup and makes me the happiest is being a mum to my little girl and I thought now more than
ever given our family unit you know no longer exists in the way that it was before it now exists
in a very different way but I thought my number one priority here is to be with my little girl
and to be the best mother I can be and that doesn't mean not working and not deriving joy
professionally because for me without work I almost feel like I don't have an identity without that
and not in a sad way in that I'm nothing without my job but in a way that I love it and I'm
passionate about it and it drives me and it gives me and you're good at it and you know what I am
I am really good at it and and that's not comfortable for me to say because I'm so
self-deprecating and my mother hates my self-deprecation she thinks I should do
it so much less and she's probably right she is right I'm gonna be your mum here and say
you're far too young to be my mother but as women yeah it's it can be uncomfortable to wear that to
actually go you know what I'm good at this and when someone tells me or when I tell myself I'm
gonna own that and and you know what men by nature and I don't want to gender stereotype here because
not all of them but men by nature will tell you they're good when they're not whereas women who
are brilliant at something more often than not will not accept that or own that so you're right
I'm very good at what I do and I love it but my priority is my little girl and my gracious fear
in life apart from her not being healthy and happy is me looking back in five years and thinking
there was a period of time there where she didn't come first and to live with that regret I feel
mother guilt every day I think everyone does but if I consciously make a decision
that I might regret later to the thought of living with that or thinking I missed out on
the most beautiful precious years of her life because I was more concerned with this this or this
I'd never forgive myself so for me to go into politics now that needs to be not a priority
over her because it never will be but that needed to that needed more of me than I was ever willing
to give and to be honest the jobs I have now are amazing because I feel like I work when she sleeps
I still feel like I'm a full-time mom you know I've got girlfriends who work nine to five drop
their beautiful bubbles at preschool at seven pick them up at six p.m five days a week you know I get
home at ten and I do two nights a week and she's with her dad those two nights a week and other
than that I feel like I'm as well as as a professional in in a couple of different spaces
I feel like I'm a full-time mom which is the most important job to me and and the Prime Minister
understood that and was really was actually incredible he tried a few times he's persistent
I'll give him that he's very persistent but I was very grateful that he understood my decision
and I have absolutely no regrets in that regard down the track maybe but I also look at some of
the uh some of some of the things that they go through and think my god you could not pay me
enough to ever go into that space because I feel like I can help and make change outside of politics
which I've shown that I can do oh you absolutely can and as you say it might be something down the
track but before we go I do have to ask you about dating what is that like are you dating again
look I am a little bit yes and it's it's really different actually dating with a child is very
different to how it was before yes I am it's funny I'm more protective of it than I thought
I would be and there will be a time I guess when something is kind of serious enough that it will
become public just by nature of probably a paparazzi shot or something like that but yeah I love love
yes and I I don't need anyone and I don't need love in the form of a partner I've got the best
parents in the world the best family the best little girl in the world but I love the good
parts of a relationship and having that person that's your person and that loves you and supports
you and Sean was that person for a long time and Daniel my ex before Sean was that person for five
or six years and all wonderful incredible people who aren't my person anymore but I'd love to find
my next person that hopefully will be that person for the next 20 30 years and if not just you know
just a pash should be nice I mean whatever especially a good
just a good solid passes there's not much better apart from wine well whoever that is will be a
very lucky person because you are such a special soul Erin and I love you to bits and thank you
for being you because you make such a difference and I hope you realize that oh that's really
special and coming from someone like you who has made such a difference what I love so much about
you in a similar way to me with some of these really tough experiences you use them as a way
to help other people and your books and your openness and your ability to be so raw saves
so many lives and I hope you know the difference that you make as well because I look up to you as
someone who's just so incredible I love Pete I love you I love your girls and I'm so blessed
to have you guys in my life so thank you for having me oh and thank you for being amazing
see now you make me cry
well I'm still wiping away my tears there was a lot of hand holding through that chat
can't you hear through Erin's beautiful voice just her resilience her generosity
and she's smart she works so hard I mean I could talk on and on about how much I love
this incredible young woman you of course though can hear more from Erin if you're in Sydney
you can hear her on the Today FM breakfast show and for everyone else search for Huzy,
Ed and Erin on the listener app the Jess Robe big talk show was presented by me Jess Robe
executive producer Nick McClure audio producer Nikki Sitch supervising producer Sam Kavanagh
until next time remember to live big life is just too crazy and glorious
to waste time on the stuff that doesn't matter listener