I'm a politician. I'm not going to get into a whole range of scientific argument with scientists.

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.

The the relationship between the prime minister and the monarch is very much a personal one and when it comes to the constitution of the Order of Australia, which is headed by the monarch, this is governed by letters patent, which are a matter between the prime minister and the monarch.

We will be a consultative, collegial government. No surprises, no excuses. That's what you'll get under the Coalition.

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.

I understand that government should live within its means, value the money it holds in trust from you the taxpayer, avoid waste and, above all else, observe the first maxim of good government: namely, do no avoidable harm.

Well, I'm not saying that an emissions tax is ever going to be good policy.