Blog

For the past thirty years, footy has embraced difficult changes, like an independent commission and a national draft.

They’ve always had their critics but they’ve made the competition stronger than ever before.

Australians have a fair bit of commonsense that winding back the clock is never really the best thing – whether it’s for a footy club or for the country.

This morning, Wayne Swan and I walked to school with Elizabeth and Anthony and their kids, Liam and Lauren.

We had a coffee beforehand – and a chat about some of the things Elizabeth and Anthony have to buy to get their kids ready for school. We could have spent the whole day going through it all.

In the last week, there has been a growing understanding among Australians that our economy really is among the best in the world.

Independent commentators, international ratings agencies, the IMF, OECD, World Bank and the Governor of the Reserve Bank are now all talking about how strong our economy is– perhaps stronger than many realise. 

No country can really claim to be the land of the fair go unless that fair go is extended from the start, in our classrooms and our school playgrounds.

But, as we read on the front page of The Advertiser (21/5/12), too many Australian school students are being denied a fair go because of the gap between rich and poor that has developed in our schools.

Yesterday, the nation lost a hero.

Jim Stynes was a man who inspired fans across the nation playing Australia’s game.

An Irishman, imported from the other side of the world when he was just 18 to play a game foreign to him, he quickly became a master of it winning the Brownlow Medal in 1991.

I send my warmest best wishes to all Australians celebrating the Chinese New Year as we welcome the Year of the Dragon.

The Year of the Dragon is traditionally associated with strength, loyalty and luck – and I hope you and your family enjoy these qualities in abundance.

The strength of Australia is our people, their humility and kindness, their willingness to lend a helping hand to those in need of support. The Gillard Government is recognising the extraordinary contribution made by many Australians in our communities through the People of Australia Ambassador’s Program.

Today in Gatton, Queensland, the Prime Minister attended a commemorative service to mark the anniversary of the floods which devastated the area one year ago.

Today Prime Minister Gillard delivered a speech to the Carbon Expo where she spoke about yesterday's historic passing of the Clean Energy Future Bills by the Parliament.

After two decades of debate about action on climate change, the Gillard Government’s Clean Energy Future legislation passed through Parliament today. For the first time, we will have a law that cuts the carbon pollution which causes climate change.