It is a very heavy responsibility [to be a prime-minister] to make, but someone has to make it for our country and I am thrilled and honoured to have that opportunity and that responsibility.

I see myself as a social conservative, but I think that there are lots of social institutions that produce beneficial reforms, like public hospitals, for instance, and schools.

We've got to get the system right. That's why we've got this root-and-branch reform under way.

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

Every prime minister has a whole series of networks, and there are official formal networks and there are unofficial informal networks. I'm lucky in that I have good official formal networks, starting with my own office, the leadership group, the cabinet and the party room.

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

We shouldn't be willy-nilly creating potential human life just to satisfy the urges of the scientific community.