Bob Hawke

“The greatest stain upon this great Australian nation's character, without any question, is the great gaps that exist between our Aboriginal brothers and sisters in terms of their health, the...”

“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 u...”

“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.”

“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 have a deep love for the Chinese people.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Is there some reason why the quality of people going into the parliament is not as high? I don't know the complete answer, but I think - in fact, I'm sure - that part of it is the increasing...”

“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 ri...”

“I believed in the goodness of the Australian people; I believed they did not want to be attacking each other, and from those thoughts, I got the idea of Reconciliation in the campaign slogan...”

“I think it is just stupid economics for a government to approach economic management from a strand of thinking regarding unions as enemies.”