I spent a long time in politics in Australia—I was twenty-seven years in the National Parliament. And lots of kids over the years have come to me and said, ‘Look, I'm interested in politics, I want to start in politics. What do I do?' My first question to them is, ‘What do you believe? If you go into politics simply for a career, instead of doing it as part of your expression of your system of belief, you'll become a dangerous person.'
Kim Beazley is the Australian ambassador to the United States. A longtime politician and diplomat, he served for twenty-seven years in the Australian House of Representatives.
Previously, he was leader of the Australian Labor Party and leader of the opposition. He was a minister under Australian Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, and served as deputy prime minister to Keating in 1995-96.
After he retired from the Australian parliament, he was appointed chancellor of the Australian National University. Beazley assumed his current post as ambassador in 2010.