I'd say about Malcolm Fraser, as he said about himself, is that he was always, from the day he entered Parliament in 1955 until the day he died today, was a Liberal.

I think the cultural programming on the ABC is one of the glories of the ABC.

There have been 44 constitutional referenda in Australia and only eight have succeeded.

I'm reading Barnaby Rudge, one of the less well-known Dickens novels. I've been a life-long lover of Charles Dickens ever since I think A Tale of Two Cities was the first Dickens novel I read.

I think it's very, very important that people outside the capital cities, not just Sydney and Melbourne but also Brisbane Perth Adelaide and so on, have the greatest access to the best cultural experiences they can in both the performing arts and the visual arts.

I think it's important to have a blend just as we need to have by the way a mix of different opera companies and different arts companies.

I was interested in politics since the age of 14.