Erin Molan reveals moment she knew dad Jim was seriously ill

TV and radio host Erin Molan has revealed how she learned her dad Jim was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer — but they haven’t given up hope.

Erin Molan still remembers the phone call that changed everything.

Her father Jim, Liberal Senator for NSW, and mother Anne were on the line from their Canberra home. A former Army general and not one to openly express his emotions, Jim told Erin he loved her – something he rarely said.

She knew it was bad.

“He said ‘we’ve got some bad news. I’ve got cancer. It’s aggressive, it’s spread and it’s serious’,” a teary 37-year-old told The Saturday Telegraph.

“I am very emotional so I lost it and then he said at the end ‘I’ll put Mum on the phone to explain more, I’m going to go to bed’.

“Then he said ‘love you’ and that’s when I thought ‘Oh God, something must be horribly wrong’.

“I know he loves all of us incredibly, but he doesn’t talk about his feelings … I often joke that at the end of every phone conversation I would say ‘I love you Dad’ and he kind of goes ‘ahem okay, okay goodbye’.

“It’s almost he can’t say it – like a lot of men of that age and that generation.”

Erin Molan with her dad Jim, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Picture: Gary Ramage

That’s changed since the 70-year-old’s diagnosis of aggressive prostate cancer in April, and he now says he loves them more often.

While undergoing chemotherapy, he will have one bad week and two or three good ones before it gets tough again – but as Erin says, as long as they’re given hope, they will fight.

And fight he is.

“He is incredible and he’s responding so well to treatment … Dad is the toughest, strongest fighter I’ve ever encountered in my life, and I’ve met a lot of them in my career,” she said.

“We are going through a really tough time but he’s absolutely kicking cancer’s ass at the moment, and long may it continue.”

Erin’s parents met when they were 17 and 18, and Anne followed her husband’s career around the world with children Erin, Felicity, Mick and Sarah, who fought stage three bowel cancer when she was 28.

Erin went to 16 different schools and lived in Indonesia for many years as a young girl – a place she says gave her family a healthy perspective on life.

Their Mum, she says tearfully, is their rock.

“In the first couple of weeks, she was rendered absolutely inconsolable at times as we all were, never in front of Dad or the little kids though – there were moments where we would all hold each other and just pray to every God we could think of, because we just don’t work without him,” Erin said.

Erin Molan with her daughter Eliza. Picture: Toby Zerna

“As you get older you realise what’s important, and we actually learned that quite young.

“We only had each other to rely on for most of those really formative years growing up, and that forms a really special bond.

“All credit to Mum – Dad is an incredible father and an incredible grandfather, but for a lot of his life, his job came first.

“And he will admit that, and the Army almost requires that of you I think.

“Mum kept our family unit so close and so incredibly strong for all those years. theirs is an amazing relationship to look at – you realise what love is when you look at those two.”

It was her Mum who came with Erin and her three-year-old daughter Eliza to Parliament House last week, to mark the passing of the Online Safety Bill, something else Erin has put up a strong fight for.

“It was such a special moment,” she said.

“It was bittersweet because it would have been incredible to watch Dad, in the Senate, in his rightful place, when that Bill was introduced.

“He’s been a big part in helping me behind the scenes with a lot of contacts and how parliament and legislation works so whilst he is doing so well and we are so grateful, it was bittersweet.”

Dubbed ‘Erin’s Law’ by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the TV and radio personality spoke out about getting death threats while she was pregnant with Eliza – and said things had to change. Not just for her, for all Australians.

“There were people who would write that they hate me and mean things about me and that is part and parcel of what I do – what isn’t part and parcel is death threats, being told to kill myself and being told that my daughter is going to be raped,” she said.

“I look back at different things and winning the Sydney to Hobart was incredible, having Eliza obviously my greatest achievement – but this will be the thing of which I’m most proud when I look back.”

Erin Molan and her family have been supporting her dad Jim since his cancer diagnosis. Picture: Toby Zerna

In bed most nights at 7.30pm with her ‘cheeky but perfect’ Eliza, Erin works seven days a week hosting The Morning Crew with Hughsey and Ed on 2DayFM, as well as reporting for Channel 9, covering Friday Night Footy and hosting the Sunday Footy Show. She also tries to get down to Canberra to help take her Dad to appointments every week or two, lockdowns withstanding.

Like any Mum she’s tired – but grateful.

“I always knew this year was going to be difficult and challenging – I took on a pretty big work schedule well aware of what I was getting myself into,” she said.

“Radio is just incredible – we’re making good, fun radio and we are confident in it, and Channel 9 is amazing.

“So while I work seven days a week, they are all different things and all fun and I still feel like I’m a full-time Mum to Eliza because I pretty much work really early mornings and really late nights and in between I’m with her – so it’s a great balance.

“Will I continue that workload heading into next year? Absolutely not, no way,” she laughed.

“How that will look next year I have no idea yet, but we’ll figure it out.”