It is a high honour to be elected Prime Minister of Australia.

As nations we should also commit afresh to righting past wrongs. In Australia we began this recently with the first Australians - the oldest continuing culture in human history. On behalf of the Australian Parliament, this year I offered an apology to indigenous Australians for the wrongs they had suffered in the past.

The Apology opened the opportunity for a new relationship based on mutual respect and mutual responsibility between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. Because without mutual respect and mutual responsibility, the truth is we can achieve very little.

People are happiest when they are giving, they are saddest when they are just taking. And that is the core message of community.

Of course I base all my election promises and policies on opinion polls

We have a prime minister, I'm the foreign minister, I'm trying to get on with the job of doing Australia's foreign policy.

Australians are a passionate lot. We are also a very practical lot.