One of my prized possessions is still the prefect's tie that I got in this school. I keep it with me. It was the first leadership position I ever had.

Our future growth relies on competitiveness and innovation, skills and productivity... and these in turn rely on the education of our people.

Here in Australia we do get impacted by global economic events. But we should have some confidence that our economy has got strong underlying fundamentals.

The global economic outlook remains fragile and uncertain. Global economic imbalances persist and we must address them or risk future instability.

There are some things that can't be measured.

Australians can trust me to get the job done. They can have the confidence that in the heart of the circumstances I will win through in their interests no matter how relentlessly negative the leader of the opposition is.

Including everyone in the economic, wealth-creating life of the nation is today the best way for Labor (Australian Labor Party) to meet its twin goals of raising national prosperity and creating a fair and decent society.