I decided few years ago to leave the bar to pursue a career in politics because I wanted to make a contribution in Parliament.

The political bug first bit me was Malcolm Fraser's resignation from the Gorton Government.

There always are a basket of issues in any federal election campaign, but in this part of Australia [Capricornia] I can assure you having as you know a fairly frequent visitor to Rockhampton, that the issue of jobs and employment and where the jobs of the future are coming from, is the biggest single issue on people's minds.

I was President of the Queensland Young Liberals in 1981.

The tyranny of distance is such an important element of policy and the allocation of resources.

There wasn't a lot of music in the home when I was growing up. We didn't have a piano or anything like that but my grandmother, had been a well-known piano teacher.

If you were a person in Rockhampton who is wondering where your next job was coming from, and you had the prospect of one of Australia's largest ever coal projects with a very, very long life span being developed and reviving the regional economy. And you saw the Greens in particular doing their little best to stop it happening.