I've been around long enough to not take seriously statements like I am about to be crushed. I'm about how do we seek re-election of the Australian government, how we prevent Tony Abbott from being elected. The bottom line is that it should be all hands to the pump rather than saying other, frankly negative and internally divisive things.

Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals, the society in which they live and the economy in which they work. Most critically, our responsibility in this parliament is how that power is used: whether it is used for the benefit of the few or the many.

In your telephone call, you [Malcolm Turnbull]said that neither you nor the Cabinet would be supporting my nomination. When I asked the reasons for this, you said that neither you nor the Cabinet has the view that I had the qualifications for the position [of UN's secretary-general].

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

We have seen this complete right wing takeover of modern liberalism, and it is an ugly spectacle to behold.

2009 was a tough year, but Australia rose to the challenge of the global financial crisis. It shows what can be done when we all join together and work together, governments of all persuasions state, territory and local; businesses large and small; unions and local communities right across the nation.

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.