I am not being negative, I am simply being factual when I say Kevin Rudd is the best friend the people smugglers have ever had

The climate change argument is absolute crap

I think my wife and my kids are incredibly good to allow me to stay in public life given that they have to cop a whole lot of collateral attention that, being human, they'd rather not get.

I feel a little uncomfortable at being asked the sorts of questions that other Catholics in public life tend not to be asked.

The Australian public are very fair and they are always prepared to give the leader of a major political party a fair go.

I think leadership is knowing what you want to achieve and then purposefully and sensibly taking steps to achieve it, remembering always that you have got to bring people with you if you are seeking to be a successful political leader.

I think there is no doubt that the advent of 24/7 news channels, which are voracious in their demand for constant new content, has accelerated the political process. The rise of social media, in addition to talkback, I think has intensified the political process.