One of the hardest things about being alive is being with other people.
Here in Australia we do get impacted by global economic events. But we should have some confidence that our economy has got strong underlying fundamentals.
Any sort of political correctness needs to be swept out of the way
We see community organizations as major service providers and economic drivers rather than as recipients or distributors of charity, and coordinators of volunteers. Today they constitute what's referred to as 'the social economy'.
The global economic outlook remains fragile and uncertain. Global economic imbalances persist and we must address them or risk future instability.
Over the Christmas period, I spent time with both Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, and you listen to stories and tales of how hard it can be when it's really hard, and I think we easily all talk ourselves into the proposition that it's never been as hard as this. Well it's been hard in the past. It's been really hard. So you keep doing it and, the more you do it, the more you gain strength and confidence that you can do it.
We encourage China to engage as a good global citizen and we are clear-eyed about where differences do lie.
The story of my grandmother is that of a French woman from the provinces who through her perseverance and thirst for knowledge worked her way up to become the head of a school. She belonged to a generation that didn't travel much. But she believed in Europe and she wanted Europe. And she read a lot - she knew mythology, literature and the classics very well. She passed that on to me, along with the conviction that you can earn your own position in society.
I mean, when I think about it, what's more important? Clothes - or the miracle of new life?
Hypocrite: The man who murdered his parents, and then pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan.
Laughter is the representative of Tragedy, when Tragedy is away.