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.

I'm focused on doing the job the treasurer should do.I don't respond to gossip.

I think leadership is knowing what you want to achieve and then purposefully and sensibly taking steps to achieve it, remembering always that you have got to bring people with you if you are seeking to be a successful political leader.

The choice made by families not to immunize their children is not supported by public policy or medical research nor should such action be supported by taxpayers in the form of child care payments.

Oppositions are not there to get legislation through. Oppositions are there to hold the government to account.

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

I think that political marriages are subject to more strain than most precisely because of the nature of politics.