Behind every successful man there's a lot of unsuccessful years.

I am aware that one should always make room for renewal in politics. A democracy is the healthier for the turnover of the depth of talent there is in its community.

Seeing the whales off James Price Point, mothers, babies, bull whales, seeing the count, going up into the thousands of these whales, the assurance that they will be ok with a mega port, mega ships and a huge factory ashore, is now clearly proven wrong.

We must have an expansionary vision, one that captures the imagination and diversity of the whole community, one which benefits a nation which has moved beyond the basics of literacy and numeracy and which wants to develop a learning culture.

There's a presumption that somehow you calculate beforehand whether something is going to be good politically or not. I simply don't.

I have never met a person in whom I did not see myself reflected.

I think I could have been quite difficult to fathom as a youngster, this kid who didn't talk about himself very much.