Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Tony Abbott
84 quotes
“I think it would be folly to expect that women will ever dominate or even approach equal representation in a large number of areas simply because their aptitudes, abilities and interests are different for physiological reasons.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: SRC (Students Representative Council) student paper, Sydney University, 1979.
“I want to record my deep conviction that our Australian story should fill our hearts with pride and our eyes with tears. It is a story of the dispossessed and the outcast, redeemed through the innate goodness of humanity—a society challenged by nature, tested by war, enlarged by other cultures and blessed by such peace, prosperity and tolerance that we are now the envy of the earth.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First speech of Tony Abbott to Australian Parliament, 1994.
“I stand for active government, not big government. I stand for government which gets off people's backs, not government which opts out of the future because it cannot face hard decisions. I stand for government which backs Australia's families with real policies and not just platitudes.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First speech of Tony Abbott to Australian Parliament, 1994.
“Governments which live in fear of tomorrow's headline are incapable of any change.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First speech of Tony Abbott to Australian Parliament, 1994.
“Australians rightly object to higher taxes because they observe that most government spending disappears down a bottomless well. Government often seems like an evening out—it costs a fortune and in the morning there is little to show for all the expense. But it is my hunch that people would be less hostile to paying tax if they were more confident they were investing in lasting assets...”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First speech of Tony Abbott to Australian Parliament, 1994.
“If we’re honest, most of us would accept that a bad boss is a little bit like a bad father or a bad husband. Not withstanding all his or her faults, you find that he tends to do more good than harm. He might be a bad boss but at least he’s employing someone while he is in fact a boss.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Tony Abbott under fire" on abc.net.au, July 22, 2002.
“[Abortion is] the easy way out.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Abortion rate a tragedy, says Abbott" on www.theage.com.au, March 17, 2004.
“... an objectively grave matter has been reduced to a question of the mother’s convenience.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Abortion rate a tragedy, says Abbott" on www.theage.com.au, March 17, 2004.
“I want to make it clear I do not judge or condemn any woman who has had an abortion. There would not be anyone under 50 in this country who has not come up close and personal against this issue. I accept that resolutions made in church often wilt under the hot breath of passion - I think I know that as well as any person in this chamber - but every abortion is a tragedy and up to 100,000 abortions a year is this generation's legacy of unutterable shame.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Abortion a Badge of Liberation Says Abbott" on www.theage.com.au, Feb 16, 2006.
“I won't be rushing out to get my daughters vaccinated [for cervical cancer], maybe that's because I'm a cruel, callow, callous, heartless bastard but, look, I won't be”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "I could be seen as 'cruel' on Gardasil: Abbott", Australian, November 9, 2006.
“Cardinal Pell is one of the greatest churchmen that Australia has seen. I am a very imperfect Catholic. Why shouldn't I go and seek counsel? Why shouldn't I go and trespass on the time occasionally of someone like Cardinal Pell? If you spent more time with Cardinal Pell, your life might be more interesting.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Elaborating on a meeting with Cardinal Pell during an interview on Lateline on September 30, 2004. Quoted in https://www.crikey.com.au/2004/10/01/the-two-tonys-and-george-pell "The Two Tonys and George Pell", Crikey, Oc…
“Let's be upfront about this. I know Bernie is very sick, but just because a person is sick doesn't necessarily mean that he is pure of heart in all things”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Describing terminally-ill asbestos disease campaigner Bernie Banton Quoted in http://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/abbott-adamant-over-banton-stunt/2007/10/31/1193618926085.html "Abbott Adamant Over Ban…
“That's bullshit. You're being deliberately unpleasant. I suppose you can't help yourself, can you?”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To then Shadow minister for Health Nicola Roxon after a debate before the Nation Press Gallery, subsequently quoted in http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/abbotts-day-from-hell/2007/10/31/1193618926551.html "Abbotts Day…
“I am, as you know, hugely unconvinced by the so-called settled science on climate change... and I think that the economics of an ETS are a bit dodgy... [but] whatever second thoughts people like me might be having, I don't think it's a good look for the Opposition to be browner than Howard going into the (2010) election.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "ABC 7.30 Report", July 22, 2009.
“If you want to put a price on carbon, why not just do it with a simple tax?”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Originally stated in an interview with Sky News and Subsequently quoted in " on smh.com.au, July 15, 2009
“The argument is absolute crap. However, the politics of this are tough for us. Eighty per cent of people believe climate change is a real and present danger.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks quoted by Craig Wilson, editor of the Pyrenees Advocate, quoted in "Town of Beaufort changed Tony Abbott's view on climate change" in the Australian, December 12, 2009. [no recording was made, and accounts diffe…
“I think there does need to be give and take on both sides, and this idea that sex is kind of a woman’s right to absolutely withhold, just as the idea that sex is a man’s right to demand I think they are both they both need to be moderated, so to speak.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Panel discussion "Religion, Sex and Politics" on abc.com.au, March 19, 2009.
“When you are challenging the young, they can come back at you with language of tremendous power and they are no respecters of sacred cows, you know, the young. There's nothing politically correct about the average young Australian when it comes to use of language.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in News.com.au, "Abbott OK being a 'lame, gay, churchy loser'" in news.com.au from all angles, August 28 2009.
“I guess in the end I'm a bit like Bill Clinton on this matter, who said that he thought [abortion] should be safe, legal and rare. And I underline 'rare'.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Stated in interview: "The Contender". 60 Minutes. ninemsn.com.au. 5 March 2010.
“I certainly have always said that the whole issue here was to try to ensure that we empowered women…[and] gave women in a very difficult position all the support they needed to make what was for them the best possible choice”.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in So, what are your plans for abortion Mr Abbott?, smh.com.au, June 14, 2013
“John Howard found a problem and created a solution. Kevin Rudd found a solution and has now created a problem”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lateline Interview, ABC TV, 27 Oct 2009, discussing the Labor Party's asylum seeker policies.
“Jesus knew that there was a place for everything and it’s not necessarily everyone’s place to come to Australia.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Panel discussion, "Tony Abbott on Q and A" on abc.net.au, April 5, 2010.
“These people aren’t so much seeking asylum, they’re seeking permanent residency. If they were happy with temporary protection visas, then they might be able to argue better that they were asylum seekers”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Leigh Sales "Tony Abbott blames carbon tax for 'uncertainty'" 7.30 Report, August 22, 2012.
“All of the boats in question were in the Indonesian search and rescue zone and I want the fullest possible cooperation between Indonesia and Australia in places where Indonesia has, if you like, the legal responsibility under the law of the sea, but Australia has more practical capacity to help.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Indonesia is a country for which I have a great deal of respect and personal affection based on my own time in Indonesia. I want nothing, but the best for Indonesia, and I certainly want, Leigh, I certainly want the boats stopped and that is overwhelmingly in the interests of both our countries.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'll be accountable to the Australian public at the next election - they expect us to stop the boats and that's what we are doing.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Tony Abbott compares stopping asylum-seeker boats to war", News.com.au, January 10, 2014
“It seems that, notwithstanding the dramatic increases in manmade CO2 emissions over the last decade, the world's warming has stopped.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "2009 Australia's second warmest year ever, according to Bureau of Meteorology figures" in the Herald Sun, January 5, 2010.
“What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing is that if they get it done commercially it’s going to go up in price and their own power bills when they switch the iron on are going to go up.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald, "Abbott accused of being 'incredibly old-fashioned' as he lets off steam", February 9, 2010.
“I think I would say to my daughters if they were to ask me this question... it [their virginity] is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it to someone lightly, that's what I would say.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "The Monk might make sense", The Age, January 28, 2010.
“We are all influenced by a value system that we hold, but in the end, every decision that a politician makes is, or at least should, in our society be based on the normal sorts of considerations. It's got to be publicly justifiable; not only justifiable in accordance with a private view; a private belief.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abbott on Four Corners, ABC TV, March 2010.
“I probably feel a bit threatened, as so many people do... look, it is a fact of life and I try to treat people as people, and not put them in pigeonholes.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Liz Hayes for 60 Minutes, when asked how he felt about homosexuality, quoted in Quoted in The Daily Telegraph, 8 Mar, 2010.
“Well, there is no doubt that (homosexuality) challenges, if you like, orthodox notions of the right order of things, but as I also said on the program, it happens, it's a fact of life and we have to treat people as we find them.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Leigh Sales interview; on Lateline, ABC TV, 8 Mar 2010.
“(The pollie pedal charity fundraiser is) an opportunity to stop at lots of little towns along the way where people probably never see or don't very often see a federal member of Parliament.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Explaining his Pollie Pedal fundraiser for Indigenous Health, quoted on abc.net.au on 7 Apr 2010.
“I have often said that Australia's foreign policy should have a Jakarta rather than a Geneva focus...”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported on ABC Radio's AM program, 3 Jul 2012.
“It's not goodies versus baddies, it's baddies versus baddies and that's why it's very important that we don't make a very difficult situation worse”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Describing the civil conflict in Syria, quoted in "Tony Abbott seeks to explain baddies versus baddies comment on situation in Syria" ABC News, September 2, 2013.
“WorkChoices is dead, it's buried, it's cremated.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in ABC News "WorkChoices haunt Abbott" on abc.net.au, July 19, 2010.
“There may not be a great job for [aboriginal people] but whatever there is, they just have to do it... And if it's picking up rubbish around the community, it just has to be done.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in the Australian, "Aboriginal people must get jobs, says Opposition leader Tony Abbott" June 30, 2010.
“I know politicians are going to be judged on everything they say but sometimes in the heat of discussion you go a little bit further than you would if it was an absolutely calm, considered, prepared, scripted remark. The statements that need to be taken absolutely as gospel truth are those carefully prepared scripted remarks.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Don't believe everything I say - Tony Abbott" on news.com.au, May 18, 2010.
“Victory is within our ready grasp...We are in reach of a famous victory”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abbott's 'famous victory' remark … was it gospel or not?" in The Age, June 23, 2010.
“The poor will always be with us.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abbott quotes from the Gospel of Matthew, in response to a question on homelessness, "Bible bashing the homeless, Abbott style "in response to whether a government under his direction would continue with the Rudd govern…
“While I think men and women are equal, they are also different and I think it's inevitable and I don't think it's a bad thing at all that we always have, say, more women doing things like physiotherapy and an enormous number of women simply doing housework”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Rudd hands PM a crucial lifeline" by : Laurie Oakes in the Herald Sun, August 6, 2010.
“It's pretty obvious that, well, sometimes shit happens, doesn't it?”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a private exchange with field commanders in Afghanistan confirming the death of Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney had not resulted from a lack of support. Quoted in the The Australian, "Private Chat turns Into A War-Z…
“My commitment to the forgotten families of Australia is to ease your cost-of-living pressure. Stopping wasteful and unnecessary spending will keep your interest rates down.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Budget in reply Speech to Australian Parliament, 12 May 2011, quoted on abc.net.au, 12 May 2011.
“Well, that was one boat that did get stopped, wasn't it?”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the "Costa Concordia disaster", which claimed the lives of 33 people. Quoted in "Abbott under fire for Italian shipwreck joke" ABC News, January 20, 2012.
“The Jesuits had helped to instil in me this thought that our calling in life was to be, to use the phrase: 'a man for others'.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Annabel Crabb, Kitchen Cabinet, ABC Television 4 September 2013.
“No cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Clarifying his election commitments in an interview with Anton Enus on SBS News and subsequently quoted in "Then and now: the Abbott government's broken promises" Sydney Morning Herald, September 6, 2013.
“Fire is a part of the Australian experience.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "UN official 'talking through her hat' on bushfires and climate change, says Tony Abbott" in the Sydney Morning Herald, October 23, 2013.
“No one, however smart, however well educated, however experienced, is the suppository of all wisdom.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Liberal Party Campaign launch, 12/08/2013 ("Tony Abbott declares 'no one can be a suppository of all wisdom'").
“As you watch her story tonight, I know you will see the friend I know - a person of strength, intellect, capacity and truly remarkable courage.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abbott introduces transgender friend Cate McGregor on Australian Story, ABC TV, 24 Feb 2014.
“We are Liberals who believe in smaller government, lower taxes, greater freedom.”
Tony Abbott (born 1957) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Fact file: What Tony Abbott promised on tax" ABC News, ( 23 Jul 2014)