As you know, the Australian Labour Party is committed to turning the country into a republic. We've not stipulated a timeline for doing that. We are sensitive to the other priorities we've got as a nation and in the world, but in time the country will head in that direction.

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

The Australian Government's decision to take on the dominant funding role for the entire public hospital system is designed to: end the blame game; eliminate waste; and to shoulder the funding burden of the rapidly rising health costs of the future.

If you accept it to be natural and normal to be gay then it follows it is not right for two folk who love each other to be denied marriage.

There's nothing like having a bit of somebody else in you.

I am deeply committed to the cause of Indigenous Australians, and not just because of the Apology, but the big challenges which lie ahead in closing the gap.

Having a go at kids with a terminal illness is really beyond the pale, absolutely beyond the pale.