The problem with the Australian practice of abortion is that an objectively grave matter has been reduced to a question of the mother’s convenience.

Abortion is the easy way out. It’s hardly surprising that people should choose the most convenient exit from awkward situations.

I think all senior politicians tend to be rather more subtle then the commentators would have it. It is a natural tendency for human beings to try to classify. We all have this classification urge - so and so is such and such, that person is in that camp - but look, most sophisticated people defy stereotype.

We've got to maintain freedom of navigation of the seas and in the air.

There is one fundamental message that we want to go out from this place to every nook and cranny of our country: There should be no new tax collection without an election.

So, my friends, in a week or so the Governor-General will swear in a new government.

No senior politician can expect to have work-life balance. I'm afraid there are some jobs for which work-life balance inevitably goes out the window. If you want work-life balance you just have to accept that you can't be a senior member of a government, or for that matter a senior member of an opposition.