I try to treat people as people and not put them in pigeonholes.

A midnight knock on the door followed by execution is no way a leader should be treated.

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

We are a very like-minded group, the senior members of this government. The outliers are not very far away from the mainstream.

You cannot win an election without a fight

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.

Now, I know that there are some Aboriginal people who aren’t happy with Australia Day. For them it remains Invasion Day. I think a better view is the view of Noel Pearson, who has said that Aboriginal people have much to celebrate in this country’s British Heritage.