The great curse of modern political life is incrementalism.
The Labor Party is not going to profit from having these proven unsuccessful people around who are frightened of their own shadow and won’t get out of bed in the morning unless they’ve had a focus group report to tell them which side of bed to get out.
I think the rise of China is one of the great events of all economic and human history, and I think this will be overwhelmingly a positive thing for the region and the world.
Nobody wants to have in their CV in the upper echelons of the American economic family that they nationalised major banks.
John Howard turned the prime ministership into something like a state police minister. He’s at the scene of every crime, twice a day on radio, the guy did no thinking.
While frenetic activity, in the end suiting journos; running at the behest of little press secretaries does not pay off.
No choice we can make as a nation lies between our history and our geography. We can hardly change either of them. They are immutable. The only choice we can make as a nation is the choice about our future.
If one takes pride in one’s craft, you won’t let a good thing die. Risking it through not pushing hard enough is not a humility.
I try to use the Australian idiom to its maximum advantage.
I think Australia has to be a country which has the ‘Welcome’ sign out.
You just can’t have a position where some pumped up bunyip potentate dismisses an elected government.
Good economics is good politics.
You know, in the WikiLeaks cables, the Chinese discovered that Kevin Rudd was urging the Americans to keep the military option open against them. This is hardly a friendly gesture.
You see, before I became prime minister, the Australian prime minister only attended ever two meetings in the world: the British Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the South Pacific Forum.
The great changes in civilisation and society have been wrought by deeply held beliefs and passion rather than by a process of rational deduction.
One tires of combat, although I can still throw a punch, you know.
In the end, the key ingredient for public life is imagination. You imagine something better, you try to bring the people with you.
Well, Australians should speak for the national interests of Australia, and whatever role former Australian prime ministers may have, one of the things you do is speak frankly about the country as you see the country’s best interests, you know?
I think the Australian people are very conscientious. During the 1980s and 1990s we proved they will respond conscientiously to necessary reforms. They mightn’t like them but they’ll accept them. But reforms have to be presented in a digestible format.
The United States being in Asia is unambiguously a good thing for the region.
In the end, rational policy is always good.