Most of the people who are coming to Australia by boat have passed through several countries on the way, and if they simply wanted asylum they could have claimed that in any of the countries through which they'd passed.

I am extremely unwilling that we should take upon ourselves to exercise a jurisdiction which the law does not vest in us.

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

I was a very senior minister in the Howard government and I sat around this particular table [in the prime ministerial office] in many discussions. The difference between being a senior minister and the prime minister is that ultimately the buck does stop with the prime minister and in the end the prime minister has to make those critical judgement calls and that's the big difference.

We are about getting things done. We are not about the blame game. We are not about making excuses.

The Liberal Party has dealt with the spill motion and now this matter is behind us, we think that when you elect a government, when you elect a prime minister, you deserve to keep that government and that prime minister until you have a chance to change your mind.

Aboriginal people have much to celebrate in this country's British heritage