Under the bed
“I understand the old Comm trick of staggering 20 people among 800 to cause a distraction.” -- NSW Premier Bob Carr, on being booed and heckled at the ALP state conference when he advocated privatisation of the electricity industry.
Boo!
“If nobody is afraid of me, I'm meaningless.” -- Lee Kuan Yew, former prime minister of Singapore.
Anyone can be a millionaire, briefly
“I saw grown men cry. They were millionaires one week and they were bankrupt the next.” -- A Banker's Trust economist on the slump in the Thai currency and stock market.
Introduce slavery?
“What more in 18 months can a government be expected to have done?” -- Prime Menzies John Howard, responding to business complaints that he hasn't done enough for it yet.
Non-core claim
“My government has done more for the environment than any post-World War II government in Australia.” -- Prime Menzies John Howard.
Clarification
“That's true. No-one has done more to chop it down, dig it up, bulldoze it and pollute it.” -- Greens Senator Bob Brown, on the PM's claim.
Suspicion confirmed
“There are no exciting and interesting people in NSW politics. We have a constitutional bar against that.” -- NSW Premier Bob Carr.
Career move
“Since Mr Morris resigned [as John Howard's chief adviser, over the Travelgate scandal], he has been inundated with offers from media companies, banks and others seeking his political skills and access.” -- Sydney Morning Herald, October 11.
Whose lawyer?
“Legal advice.” -- The Murdoch-owned Adelaide Advertiser's explanation of why it didn't run a story politically damaging to Premier John Olsen during the last week of the SA election campaign. Other papers, including Murdoch's Australian, carried the story prominently.
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