What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing is that if they get it done commercially it’s going to go up in price and their own power bills when they switch the iron on are going to go up.

The media - and I'm not blaming them - obviously like to seize on the differences between people and, sure, there are some senior members of the government who are in a slightly different philosophical space to mine. But do not underestimate the substantial single-mindedness of this government.

Whether carbon dioxide is quite the environmental villain that some people make it out to be is not yet proven.

I think that the best things that governments can do for productivity is not whack on new taxes and, if we can get institutions like schools and hospitals functioning better, well that's obviously good for the overall productiveness of our society.

The last thing Australia needs right now is instability and uncertainty.

I don't think it's a very Christian thing to come in by the back door rather than the front door.

There will be no overall increase in the tax burden whatsoever.