Our job as a government is to start with the great underpinnings of our current economic growth - particularly defence and mining - and build on these.

We will also have a more rigorous approach to professional development and managing unsatisfactory performance.

I believe that investing in our children's development from the earliest age is the single most important contribution we can make to the health and wellbeing of our citizens, their capacity and the future prosperity of our state.

There is an opportunity for us to renew ourselves. There's an opportunity for us to leave the past behind and present something different for the future.

I do not know much about politics, but I am trying to do the best I can with this administration until the time shall come for me to turn it over to somebody else.

I've never been a Clinton fan. He's had some accomplishments, and he's very skilled at politics, but, you know, he's had some successes and a very good economy. And the question is how much or how little of that does he deserve credit for.

You balance the budget by restraining the growth of government and encouraging the growth of the private sector.

The government should set a goal for a clean environment but not mandate how that goal should be implemented.