Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The world will not wait for us.
Institutions do live on their history.
I have a deep love for the Chinese people.
I had ministers who were just outstandingly good.
I had a very close relationship with [Brian] Mulroney.
By 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty.
I find a fence a very uncomfortable place to squat my bottom.
Do you know why I have credibility? Because I don't exude morality.
The things which are most important don't always scream the loudest.
The things which are most important don’t always scream the loudest.
From that first wage case in 1958, I had, pretty much, rock star status.
I believe [ Rajiv Gandhi] had a real sense that he would be assassinated.
[ Rajiv Gandhi] was such an infinitely more attractive leader than his mother.
We are building together a nation in which there are no second-class Australians.
I really had very little to do with Pierre Trudeau. He was off the scene very soon.
I can't speak with authority about Emeka Anyaoku. I just didn't know him that well.
I had no time for Indira Gandhi. She was too much in the Russian camp for my liking.
I respected [Margaret Thatcher] enormously. She had great integrity in that respect.
I believe the Australian people have an affection for the Queen, and so they should have.
We will not allow to become a political issue in this country the question of Asianisation.
I could never afford to be in a position where I could do something stupid, so I gave up drinking.
We had a very good relationship. Very good. I liked [Sonny Ramphal]. I thought he was a genuine man.
George Bush Junior [George W Bush] was a religious fanatic, and Tony Blair wasn't far behind in a way.
Poor quality of representatives... is not a purely Australian phenomenon - it's a worldwide phenomenon.
Bill Heseltine had been at university with me, at the University of Western Australia. I knew him well.
[John Howard] led the Government. They had the numbers, and just basically automatically went along with the Americans.
Geoffrey [Howe] and I were mates, and he disagreed with [ Margaret Thatcher] position. So, we cooperated surreptitiously.
As far as we're concerned, there was no sporting organisation [that] should have anything to do with the sport in South Africa.
She [ Elizabeth II] is, you know, "Do-what-you're-told, Lady". But in the Commonwealth, she is much more than just a figurehead.
I don't know who described Mahathir [bin Mohamad] as a pillar of the Commonwealth, but they don't know what they're talking about.
Brian Mulroney, myself, [and] Rajiv Gandhi; I think that was the real core [of the Commonwealth ]. That was the engine room, I reckon.
I think it is just stupid economics for a government to approach economic management from a strand of thinking regarding unions as enemies.
The level of journalism in this country is just so pathetically poor, and I've, in a sense, gone over the top of them, which they don't like.
Unless and until something concrete is done about addressing the Israeli-Palestinian issue you won't get a real start on the war against terrorism.
They've been irrelevant to me, the print media, because my link does not depend upon the menial minds of the scribblers in Canberra or anywhere else.
If elected, Bill Shorten and his team would hit the ground running, implementing Labor's plans and setting the nation up for a stronger economic future.
I hated [Robert Mugabe]. He's one of the worst human beings I've ever met. He treated black and white with equal contempt. He was a horrible human being.
[ Elizabeth II] has immersed herself, in the sense [that] she can speak intelligently about any and all members of the Commonwealth and she has played a role.
Australia can no longer afford to go down the path of confrontation and fragmentation which has embittered and disfigured so many aspects of the national life.
If you've got good chemistry at the top, it's an enormous help. It's easy to have good chemistry with some, not so easy with others. With [Robert Mugabe], for example.
One of the features of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings was [that] she [ Elizabeth II] would have a meeting with each of them. You'd have an allotted time.
My experience is that the Australian people rarely get it wrong - they will vote for a united party that is able to look after their interests and the national interest.
When I was Prime Minister, it's right - we had a close relationship - but that did not prevent me, when I believed the United States position was wrong, arguing against them.
I went along with it, and wanted to appoint a significant figure in Malcolm Fraser. I didn't have high hopes that they'd be able to do anything, but something was worth a try.
My point was that the war was intrinsically wrong, and as a result of our participation we haven't improved Australia's security but created a greater danger at home and abroad.
It had things that it could do and which I thought were worthwhile: one would be South Africa, of course. And, as I said, I assumed a leadership role within the Commonwealth on that.
If the Australian Government were to associate itself with the United States attack on Iraq, which was not sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council, then we'd put this country at risk.
I felt completely ready to become prime minister. I came to office better equipped, in terms of knowledge of economics and of the Australian economy, than anyone before me, or since, I would say.
None of us can be sure of how long we will live. Because this is so, I think you should try not to think too much about dying but think about all the nice things that make life so precious to us all.
There is no doubt that this government and this country are benefiting from the reforms that we brought in the 1980s, and that couldn't have been done without the co-operation of the trade union movement.