My dad was a prize fighter in his youth. My boxing skills are very limited. I did train for most of my youth but couldn't really see the point of getting punched in the head. I'm a lover, not a fighter, but I do enjoy the sport in its purest form. As a child, my heroes were my dad and Muhammad Ali.

In the 1970s, we got a Labor government that put more emphasis on trade with Asia; the Vietnam war ended, and refugees were coming in. We were more part of Asia than America and the rest of the world. There was the proximity, for a start - all these countries and cultures just north of us. It just made sense that that's what we were part of.

We still had all our problems growing up as a struggling immigrant family, but Australia was like a breath of fresh air, literally. Playing on grass, having good schools - trees. I didn't even know trees where I'd come from. So from the day I got here, I've loved Australia.

You see politicians talking about negative gearing or tax on your second home - most people I knew growing up couldn't afford the rent, let alone buying a house, or a second house.

You must get an education. You must go to school, and you must learn to protect yourself. And you must learn to protect yourself with the pen, and not the gun.

The idea that education will lead to a lessening of bigotry is just factually incorrect.

I have said it on several occasions, several times from this podium, that providing a quality education for our children is high on my priority list. I will not stop now.

When I was in high school, I started learning English as my second foreign language, but my level of English at that time was very average.