I'm not running away from the fact that I had previously said I did not contemplate a major increase, and that was a fair statement of the Government's state of mind at the time I made that.

I'd like to be seen as an average Australian bloke. I can't think of... I can't think of a nobler description of anybody than to be called an average Australian bloke.

A conservative is someone who does not think he is morally superior to his grandfather.

People who say they're too busy to have lunch have a false impression of their own importance.

They might be a good friend, but they are also a bitter commercial rival. Let's not kid ourselves.. The American wheat industry has done everything it possibly can to criticize the Australian wheat industry in order to take the Iraqi wheat market from us.

It's too much to expect in an academic setting that we should all agree, but it is not too much to expect discipline and unvarying civility.

The 'black armband' view of our history reflects a belief that most Australian history since 1788 has been little more than a disgraceful story of imperialism, exploitation, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. I take a very different view. I believe that the balance sheet of our history is one of heroic achievement and that we have achieved much more as a nation of which we can be proud of than which we should be ashamed.