In my view, the ideal prime minister is patient, hard-working, compassionate and has a clear vision, driven by the fair go.
I’m angry and I understand why Australians paying mortgages are angry.
Any sort of political correctness needs to be swept out of the way.
In Australia, average temperatures have risen almost one degree since 1910, and each decade since the 1940s has been warmer than the one before. That warming is real. Its consequences are real. And it will change our lives in real and practical ways.
I know people are looking at whats happening in Washington and then they also look at events in Europe, in Greece and Portugal and other places and worry about that.
Here in Australia we do get impacted by global economic events. But we should have some confidence that our economy has got strong underlying fundamentals.
One of my prized possessions is still the prefect’s tie that I got in this school. I keep it with me. It was the first leadership position I ever had.
We encourage China to engage as a good global citizen and we are clear-eyed about where differences do lie.
Those of you who have spent time with Australians know that we are not given to overstatement. By nature we are laconic speakers and by conviction we are realistic thinkers.
There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.
There are some things that can’t be measured.
The Prime Minister seems now to be basing his re-election campaign on this plot line. He is saying to the Australian people, look out, the baddies behind you – hiss, boo and whatever you do, don’t vote Labor. This political parody of pantomime is looking and sounding desperate.
The first film I remember seeing was Bambi. It has stayed with me because it was so sad.
There’s not a sense that the person who is waiting on the table is somehow a lesser person that the person who is eating in the restaurant.
The caricature of my own face always makes me laugh.
The great thing about music is that whatever you’re into, you see new possibilities.
I was not going to stand before the nation as prime minister and cry for myself. I was not going to let anyone conclude that a woman could not take it. I was not going to give any bastard the satisfaction. I was going to be resilient one more time.
Long gone were the days when, for an individual, a second-class education was a ticket to a secure, full-time menial job. In the 21st-century economy, with its new technology, many of those jobs had been destroyed. That second-class education was more likely to precede a marginalised life with no continuing work.
Indigenous children, children from the poorest of homes, can succeed to the highest of standards if we, the adults, are prepared to do everything necessary to get them a great education.
Nurture your sense of self, who you are in your own eyes, not as seen through the eyes of others.
I found Chancellor Merkel’s frankness admirable. When I met with her at this G20 meeting, with deep cynicism she described how for photos Germans no longer said ‘cheese’. Instead they would grit their teeth and say ‘Greeeece’.