‘I’m so glad he ignored me’: Alan Kohler on the advice son Chris didn’t take
By Melissa Fyfe
Despite working for rival TV networks, finance editors Alan Kohler, 72, and his son Chris, 35, refuse to think of themselves as competitors. As Chris says of his “goofball” mentor dad, you just can’t compete with the best.
Alan and Chris Kohler. “When I was quite young, Dad told me that economics is really just mass psychology,” says Chris.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Chris: Calamity sometimes follows Dad around. He’s fallen off motorbikes and once dropped a car in a lake. He has long-running injuries from jumping off the roof as a kid and is missing a finger. He’s had a million jobs: steel-pipe salesman, taxi driver, he built a boat in Perth, and worked at a roadhouse in Tennant Creek. I want him to write a book because he doesn’t just tell you things. In 1974, he was in Cyclone Tracy, but you’ve got to ask him about it. If I’d been in Cyclone Tracy, every time it was windy I’d say, “You think this is wind? No! Our house ended up in the backyard, mate!” It’s why we love him so much: he’s a softly spoken goofball.
My sisters, Phoebe and Alice, were born 20 months apart, then I came along four years later, so Dad was a pretty relaxed parent. With driving lessons, he was often looking out the window, on the phone to his [ABC Inside Business] producers, being like, “Oh, yeah, that’s a half-decent story.”
Alan Kohler with a young Chris (left) and Chris with his son Johnny.Credit: Courtesy of Alan Kohler
He’d throw the cricket ball at me for hours in the backyard, but it never mattered whether I was hitting it well; it was just time together. When I was a teenager, I really got into [heavy metal band] Linkin Park and he did, too. We went to a show and there was Alan Kohler, bouncing around, moshing with me. Sometimes he’d come down the street in his car with the windows down, blaring Linkin Park, which was pretty weird. He’s all over the place with his musical tastes: he cries every time he hears Aretha Franklin sing Nessun Dorma.
‘He casts a pretty big shadow, but I’ve never seen myself in actual competition with him. That would be ridiculous: he’s the best one.’
Chris Kohler
When I was quite young, Dad told me that economics is really just mass psychology. He said it was about how millions of people are doing the same sorts of things at the same time, and trying to work out why they’re doing it. It was so interesting to me. But Dad thought financial journalism would be a hard slog.
When I was 24, I worked at The Australian as a markets reporter. Dad was an outside contributor and came to teach us TV presenting. We went into a proper TV studio with all the cameras pointed at us.
He asked me about market volume and I froze. I said, “I don’t know,” which is a huge no-no in TV. I felt like the son of a footy player kicking it out on the full in his first game. But Dad took me for lunch and made me laugh about it. Dad doesn’t take much seriously; it’s one of the best things about him.
Alan, Chris and Chris’ son Johnny.Credit: Courtesy of Alan Kohler
He casts a pretty big shadow, but I’ve never seen myself in actual competition with him. That would be ridiculous: he’s the best one. I aspire to have his ability to cut straight to the core of something. But he’s got 42 years on me. Maybe I’ll get there one day.
The closest he comes to irritating me is his fearlessness in asking people things. It makes him a good interviewer, but I’ll be sitting next to him at a party and he’ll say to a property developer, “You guys are haemorrhaging money, aren’t you?” Or he’ll ask people why they were sacked. I know he can’t help it. But it does knock people off balance. And then they tell him.
Alan and Chris Kohler: “Chris had a good childhood, the sort I would’ve liked.”Credit: Courtesy of Alan Kohler
Alan: We had two girls and thought we were going to have another girl. Then I saw the scrotum and thought: “Oh, my god, what is that?” The obstetrician had a little hobby of determining a child’s adult height by measuring their thigh as newborns. He said Chris was going to be six foot two [189 centimetres]. And he was right. It was quite fantastic to have a boy. I saw a future stretching ahead full of cricket and football.
Chris had a good childhood, the sort I would’ve liked. My own father hated sport; he took me fishing and hunting, and I don’t like killing animals. Chris and I needed something to bond over, so encouraging sport was my choice. He was a good cricketer. I learnt a bit about him the first time he went out leg before wicket. He was devastated and came off in tears. I thought then he maybe wasn’t cut out for cricket; it’s a tough game, especially if you’re a batsman.
‘I tried to talk him out of journalism ... I’m so glad he ignored me.’
Alan Kohler
I have a parenting approach called “the invisible hand”. You can’t be with the kids all the time, particularly when they become teenagers. But you can be in their heads. You can achieve that if they respect you and accept your values. I think it’s also important to trust them because it builds confidence. When I was teaching Chris how to drive, it was like, “You’re driving; off you go.” He’s always been enormously conscientious and never lacked confidence.
Originally, I tried to talk him out of journalism. I could see the profession was in decline because of the internet and more layoffs would come. I’m so glad he ignored me. When he wanted to go into finance journalism, I thought: “Oh, poor bastard”; I’d seen other young people with quite famous parents who’ve struggled. But I didn’t need to worry. His first job in journalism was with me on the Business Spectator. We did the family business section and it brought us together.
We’re definitely not competing: I’d be surprised if anybody watches both ABC News and Nine News. In terms of [finance] information, he definitely used to get more from me than I got from him. Now it’s roughly even.
He’s better at some things, like his [satirical] Instagram videos. I’d never have thought of it and don’t know that I could’ve done it. I have comedic talent, too, but it’s much drier. What a wonderful thing it is to be passed by a child. I hope I was as good a husband and father as he is. I don’t think I was; I worked probably a bit too hard. He works hard, but seems better engaged. I love that he’s both quite firm with [three-year-old son] Johnny, but loving as well. He’s got it right.
We’ve never had a fight, not even raised our voices. We talk every day and he’s my best friend. If I designed the perfect son, it’d be him. I don’t know what I did to deserve that, you know? It must be his mother.
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