Kevin Rudd

"Labor has a universal position of opposition to the death penalty both at home and abroad... It is not possible in our view to be selective in the application of this policy."

"... no diplomatic intervention will ever be made by any government that I lead in support of any individual terrorist's life. We have only indicated in the past, and will maintain a policy in the future, of intervening diplomatically in support of Australian nationals who face capital sentences abroad."

"John Howard's credibility on the entire Iraq war has been torpedoed by John Howard's own intelligence agency."

"Everyone's entitled to their point of view but that's seriously a weird one."

"[But] we should not be kowtowing to anybody when it comes to freedom in this country."

"If he has any self-respect he would resign over this matter, the negligence is so gross."

"This goes to demonstrate the fact that John Howard established this inquiry in order to bring about his own absolution, not to bring about any form of accountability."

"We have seen this complete right wing takeover of modern liberalism, and it is an ugly spectacle to behold."

"When you analyse it carefully, it is about a family’s ability to stay together and have time together. We all know, with our fractured lives in this place, how difficult it becomes when we as human beings cannot spend time with one another. However, the problem is that these industrial relations laws now set that disease in place right across the nation in every workplace, in every part of the country. What I fear most of all is the ultimate impact of this on the fabric of Australian family life."

"Labor’s message then is this: we believe in a strong economy; we believe also in a fair go for all, not just for some."

"I say to those opposite: we intend to prevail in this battle of ideas, on the ground, right through to the next election. We intend to prevail."

"Compassion is not a dirty word. Compassion is not a sign of weakness. In my view, compassion in politics and in public policy is in fact a hallmark of great strength. It is a hallmark of a society which has about it a decency which speaks for itself."

"When it comes to labour market reform, here's the difference between us and John Howard: John Howard regards labour as just like any other economic commodity. We actually see labour as made up of human beings. These are human beings with an intrinsic dignity. When they go to the workplace, they're not just like a lump of wood or a piece of coal, these are human beings, and they should be treated properly as people with intrinsic rights."

"The major challenges of climate change, the major challenge of the economy and manufacturing, the major challenges in education, and how do we turbo-charge our national education system to create the knowledge base for the future of the Australian economy. These are the sorts of areas that you're going to see detailed policy plans from us in the weeks and months ahead..."

"My name is Kevin, I'm from Queensland, and I'm here to help."

"That means temporary borrowings. People have to understand that because there's going to be the usual political shit storm, sorry, political storm."

"It is unlikely that you'll have anything emerge from MEF (Major Economies Forum) by way of detailed programmatic specificity."

"I actually believe in a big Australia - I make no apology for that. I actually think it's good news that our population is growing."

"There's nothing like having a bit of somebody else in you."

"Since ideology matters for Xi Jinping, Rudd’s book [On Xi Jinping] matters for those who want to understand him. The alternative is reading daily Xi’s quite boring prose."