Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Life wasn't meant to be easy.
I want to catch Mr Whitlam with his pants down.
People die because they find living too painful.
He (Gorton) is not fit to hold the great office of Prime Minister.
There are no quick fixes to Indigenous poverty and social disaster.
Maoris now own over half the commercial fishing industry in New Zealand.
Yet there are thousands of Indigenous people searching for family members.
We are lagging far behind comparable countries in overcoming the disadvantages Indigenous people face.
What we do not know, we often fear. What we do not understand, we fear. And what we fear becomes a threat.
Socialism is not a way of life. It is an unworkable formula which would apply to robots but not to men and women.
There should be a global commitment to try and get rid of UNHCR refugee camps and long-term people in those camps.
Solutions will not be found while Indigenous people are treated as victims for whom someone else must find solutions.
I think the climate is too important to say we are going to wait until all our economic woes are over before we act effectively.
Reconciliation requires changes of heart and spirit, as well as social and economic change. It requires symbolic as well as practical action.
I didn't like the way Andrew Peacock was not supported in 1984. He'd done well in that election; he deserved to continue. But by the end of '85, he was out.
Politicians today are not highly regarded... there seem to be people young and old and in the middle saying that they have never heard such wretched debates.
We are seeing healing among the stolen generations, and initiatives which are enabling Indigenous people to make their distinctive contribution to our national life.
Although our capacities to advance our interests are limited, we should be active and constructive in pursuit of a peaceful and favourable international environment.
The great task of statesmanship is to apply past lessons to new situations, to draw correct analogies to understand and act upon present forces, to recognise the need for change.
It is ironic in today's world, but the core values, the protection of the law which we had thought to be universally accepted, has been seriously breached by the war on terrorism.
Sorry Day falls on the eve of Reconciliation Week, giving us the chance to ask whether we are making progress in the wider challenge of reconciling Indigenous and other Australians.
Why turn away from that talent? What is it in today's parties that is virtually saying, 'Well, if you're a George Williams or Garr Barwick, you may not get pre-selection?' I'd like to reverse that.
Genocide involves the attempt to achieve the disappearance of a group by whatever means. It does not have to be violent, it could be a combination of policies that would lead to a certain group dying out.
If we want a cohesive society, if we want people that are prepared to respect others who are different in our society, I think a number of the race-related issues have been handled in ways which I really abhor.
If we had, we would have realised sooner that Indigenous organisations are sometimes not the appropriate channel for programmes to help the stolen generations, because many of them play little part in Indigenous associations.
In the last twelve years, we have come some distance towards reconciliation and the breaking down of disadvantage. Let us take encouragement from what has been achieved and set our minds and hearts to end the remaining roadblocks.
I wasn't a party apparatchik. I think too many of today's people in both parties come forward, university, 'What party will I join? Oh, yes, I know somebody here. I might get a job working for this member or for that shadow minister or minister.'
Three years ago the Government announced the creation of Reconciliation Place, and said that it would include a memorial to those removed from their families. However, they refused to include any of those who were removed in the design of their own memorial.
Last year the National Sorry Day Committee consulted with stolen generations people in every State and Territory, and concluded that programmes set up in response to the Bringing Them Home Report are reaching only a small fraction of those they are intended to help.
Over 120 Aboriginal communities run their own health services - some have been doing so for 30 years. They struggle with difficult medical problems. They also try to deal with counselling, stolen generations issues, family relationships, violence, suicide prevention.
Health economists have estimated that an injection of $250 million per year in Indigenous clinical care, and $50 million in preventative care, is required to provide services at the same level as for any other group with the health conditions of Indigenous Australians.
Development requires modification and transformation of the environment... the planet's capacity to support its people us being irreversibly reduced by the destruction and degradation of the biosphere and the need to understand the problem and take corrective action is becoming urgent.
Even Australians who take a very, very hard line about asylum seekers - and unfortunately there are more than I would like to think - are probably a bit uncomfortable with the kind of treatment that has been meted out to children in detention by the Australian Government, in their name.
We could try and establish a world in which the great and the powerful adhere to that international law which they require ordinary mortals to adhere to. In other words, there is one international law, and even America and even Russia and China and Japan must adhere to it, and Australia must adhere to it.
At the moment people get on boats because they flee terror at home and believe the many years' long wait in UNHCR camps is not a valid option, especially if they have children in their care. After the Vietnam War, Australia took a larger humanitarian intake than at any other period in our history. The Australian community accepted that. They were told why we needed to do it, and why it was the only ethical decent policy that a wealthy advanced country should adopt.
Most asylum seekers do get permanent visas, so the earlier they receive the appropriate help, the faster they will become part of the community. They'll get jobs and start paying taxes too. They will see Australia as a nation with a sense of care and concern. That's so important for a cohesive society. It helps build a sense of belonging. And in terms of common decency, it's what should be happening... For God's sake, this is Australia, people should be treated with decency and humanity.