Yes, I don't think I shall ever become Prime Minister. Hard as that is to swallow, I tell you one person who is very happy always to see me say that, and that's my wife.
Alexander DownerSo this is all part of a free society. People are entitled to hold whatever view they want, and the media can report things how they wish.
Alexander DownerMy father had the same name as me but he was known as Alec. He was a member of the House of Representatives.
Alexander DownerI hate to spoil my own prospects, but I really don't respect the kiss-and-tell approach to public life at all, not at all.
Alexander DownerI'm not terribly focused on whether I even could ever become the Leader of the Liberal Party or the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in the future.
Alexander DownerWell people often ask me how I felt growing up with a father who was a politician and who was often away. But when I'm asked that question I often reflect on my inability really to be able to answer it in any relative sense because I never grew up with a father doing anything else. So I just have no idea what it would be like otherwise.
Alexander Downer