Tony Abbott

Most of the people who are coming to Australia by boat have passed through several countries on the way, and if they simply wanted asylum they could have claimed that in any of the countries through which they'd passed.

To move past fear is a cliche.

The smart way to improve broadband is not to junk the existing network but to make the most of it. It's to let a competitive market deliver the speeds that people need at an affordable price with government improving infrastructure in the areas where market competition won't deliver it.

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

I think that people should come to Australia through the front door, not through the back door. If people want a migration outcome, they should go through the migration channels.

Once people come to Australia, they join the team.

I think anything which improves services is in principle a good thing.

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 Australian public are very fair and they are always prepared to give the leader of a major political party a fair go.

Now if you are condemned to life on welfare, I'm not so sure that being in a bigger welfare village is that much better than being in a smaller welfare village.

We just can't stop people from being homeless if that's their choice.

My mum and mad were both very generous, encouraging parents.