I've pursued a lifetime in the research on the social determinants of health and more recently been packaging not just my research but global research on this topic in a way that I hope will influence policy.

Saying we can't afford to invest in early child development means we're storing up bigger costs in the future.

Australia is a very healthy country which goes along with the fact that it's very high on the Human Development Index, high wealth, good levels of education. So Australia ranks right up there, second or third on the Human Development Index. And Indigenous Australians, if you treated them as if they were a separate country, would rank probably about 100th or below 100.

If people want me to go round and talk to governments and others then I feel that responsibility which is why I am on the road a good deal of the time and why I'm not slowing down.

The environment can actually affect gene expression.

Empowerment of individuals and communities is absolutely central. Getting the community involved in organising their own destiny has got to be a key part of it.

General improvements in health/decline in mortality do not affect all classes equally. As mortality rates fall, social inequalities commonly widen.