The passage of time is likely to make high-speed rail more and more desirable, making it critical that politicians of today think ahead to tomorrow.

High-speed rail would revolutionise interstate travel and would also be an economic game-changer for dozens of regional communities along its path.

Our national challenge is to continue to drive sustained economic growth.

There is a separation - a very clear separation - between the judiciary, the legal system, and the political system in this country, and that's why Labor has a problem with the issue of mandatory sentencing as a principle.

The difficulty is, Pell Grants are an attempt to do the right thing, and that is to give the low-income student an opportunity to access higher education, and that's a good thing. And welfare was an attempt to help those most in need. The difficulty is, often times a program is so successful that it grows and grows and grows and grows.

Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make it happen.

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding.

People think I have the benefit of a public school education. I have this suave and debonair label, but really, I'm as common as muck.