SAUL ESLAKE

Economist

SAUL ESLAKE

‘Welcome to my website …
I’m an independent economist, consultant, speaker,
and Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Tasmania’

Leading economist Saul Eslake strikes gold with his adopted family


News, Profile | 26th September 2017

Anne Mather | Hobart Mercury | 26th September 2017

Saul Eslake, with his wife Linda Arenella and two children Caroline Eslake, 15, and Jonathan Eslake, 10,
says rhetoric about “gold standard” families can be offensive. Picture: Richard Jupe

HE may be best known as a numbers man, but Saul Eslake has some ideas about family too.

As an adopted child, and the father of adopted children, Mr Eslake knows more than most about forming families through adoption.

He knows that families come in many shapes and sizes, and he knows that some of the rhetoric stemming from the marriage-equality debate about purportedly “gold standard” families can be offensive.

“I don’t like the assertion, commonly made, that the most desirable thing for children is to be brought up by biological parents,” Mr Eslake said.

As a case in point, Mr Eslake is talking publicly for the first time about his own biological mother — a woman who has been jailed twice for fraud and conceived Saul after a one-night stand with a trainee pilot.

The woman, who lives in the UK and wants nothing to do with her Tasmanian biological son, has six children from three different fathers.

Mr Eslake has spoken with his English half-siblings, and all five of them agree his adoption was a stroke of good fortune.

“None of the other five children has a single nice thing to say about her parenting skills,” Mr Eslake said.

“Of the six of us, I was the luckiest because she had nothing to do with my upbringing.”

Mr Eslake’s own two children were adopted from Chinese orphanages, and he and his wife Linda believe they are giving the pair a better upbringing in Tasmania.

The leading Australian economist is speaking after comments by Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz, who has campaigned about what he believes is the family of “best practice” as part of his No campaign in the same-sex marriage debate.

Senator Abetz told the ABC earlier this month: “The gold standard model for the raising of children is to be with biological parents, providing that security if at all possible, together with the diversity of a male and female role model.”

In an address to the Young Liberals in 2014, he said: “The gold standard for the nurturing of children is a married man and woman with their biological children.”

Mr Eslake said: “Senator Abetz’s particular reference to being brought up by one’s biological parents as the ‘gold’ option, I found distasteful.

“When I read or hear people say that my own upbringing or the one that Linda and I are trying to give to our children is somehow inferior, I object to that.

“I am not criticising anyone who wants to vote ‘no’ in the referendum.

“But I don’t think they should make the suggestion that there is something inferior about families who differ from their notion of ‘best practice’, such as mine, in order to advance their positions.”

For the record, Mr Eslake said he had already voted “yes” in the same-sex marriage postal survey.

In response to Mr Eslake, Senator Abetz said he commended whose who provided support to orphaned children.

“While there are many examples, including adoptive parents, step parents and single parents, who do a wonderful job, it’s important that we nevertheless promote the undisputed best practice model recognising there are others that fall outside that,” Senator Abetz said.

“I have always commended those who provide love and support for children who were denied the opportunity of growing up with their biological parents. This does not derogate from the ideal.”

Mr Eslake speaks highly of his adoptive parents, a couple originally from Sydney who adopted four children while living in England and later settled in Tasmania.

Saul went to school at Smithton and then Hobart before gaining a first-class honours degree in economics from the University of Tasmania.

“For anyone to say my upbringing was second rate or something less than ‘gold’, I find hurtful and insulting — and I can understand why other families feel the same,” Mr Eslake said.

He said he had always considered his Tasmanian parents to be his “real” parents, but decided to do some research into his biological parents about seven years ago.

Despite his mother’s difficult story, Mr Eslake says his biological father, who died 20 years ago, was “by all accounts a very decent chap”.

Mr Eslake and his wife Linda Arenella, who is originally from New York, are now bringing up two children in Hobart — Jonathan, 10, and Caroline, 15.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

Speaking Engagement | Boardroom Advisory | Commissioned Report | Expert Witness



Saul Eslake spoke to Zurich Australia executives and staff at their ‘Accelerate’ conference in Sydney on 9th May 2024, covering short- and longer-term trends in major ‘advanced’ economies, China, India and Australia, with a bit of geo-politics thrown in.



“You are the best economic thinker in the country hands down”

Sheryle Bagwell, recently retired Senior Business Correspondent (and sometime Executive Producer),
ABC Radio National Breakfast


“Just want to congratulate you Saul on the unbelievably good set of slides you just presented, possibly the best I have ever seen. You have set the bar very high.”

Dr Joe Flood, Adjunct Fellow, RMIT University, Pandemicia


“Thank you very much for your excellent presentation for the Economic Society today. It is always a great pleasure to hear your eloquent, up-to-date and comprehensive talks.”

Andrew Trembath, economist, Victorian and Australian Government agencies


Request Speaking Engagement

VIDEO

Most Recent Multimedia


TESTIMONIALS

What Others Say


Australian Minister for Housing, the Hon. Clare O'Neill MP on ABC Q&A, September 2024

“We are lucky as a State to have an economist of your calibre willing to readily make yourself available to give us a clea r perception of where we are at and the direction we need to go for a better future”
Diplomatic Representative, August 2024

“You are one of the best at what you do in the world”
Gail Fosler, Chief Economist, The Conference Board, New York, December 2002

“I have never known an economist to have such a knowledge of world economic facts and to be able to bring to bear so much information in answering a question without notice”
Charles Goode, Chairman, ANZ Bank, July 2009

“Saul Eslake is … a highly regarded independent economist with the highest degree of integrity"
John Durie, Columnist, The Australian, July 2009

“… one of the few people in this world who can have so many oranges up in the air at the same time but still manage to catch them"
Andrew Clark, journalist, Australian Financial Review, November 2008

Read more


WHAT'S NEW

Most Recent Articles, Talks and Presentations


‘Tasmanian Money Matters’ – Tasmania’s Economy and Public Finances
Economic Policies, Tasmania
3rd October 2024


Challenges and Opportunities for Australian Agriculture
Commodities, The Australian Economy
1st October 2024


Negative Gearing
Economic Policies, Housing, News, Recent Media Interview, Taxation
26th September 2024


Will Anthony Albanese succeed where Bill Shorten failed in making changes to the taxation treatment of property investment?
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Housing, Taxation
26th September 2024


‘Super for housing’ is a souped-up first home owners grants scheme – and it won’t help any more than first home owners grants have
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Housing
24th September 2024


‘Super for Housing’ – a Thoroughly Bad Idea
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Housing, The Australian Economy, Topics
19th September 2024


A ‘path back to surplus’ for the Tasmanian Budget? Not really
Tasmania
17th September 2024


What’s happening in the economy – nationally and in Tasmania
Economic Policies, Tasmania, The Australian Economy
13th September 2024


Tasmania’s State Budget 2024 – 2025 with Leon Compton
News, Recent Media Interview, Tasmania
13th September 2024


Tasmania’s 2024-25 State Budget – an Assessment
Economic Policies, Tasmania
12th September 2024


Solutions to Australia’s Housing Crisis
Australian Society and Politics, Housing, News, Recent Media Interview
11th September 2024


Tasmania’s State Finances – presentation to the Local Government Association of Tasmania’s Annual Conference
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Tasmania
4th September 2024


All about inflation
Economic Policies, News, Recent Media Interview, The Australian Economy
31st August 2024


LINKS

Useful Links


Below is a list of links I’ve found useful under the following broad topics

Read more