Top of his head
"I can't tell you specifically ... Off the top of my head, I can't tell you ... I don't have that knowledge." — WA Premier Richard Court at the Easton Royal Commission, trying to avoid answering questions without saying, "I can't remember".
Dribbling drivel
"I've got a lot of plans swimming around in my mind and I think I will sort of dribble them out." — Opposition leader John Howard on his plans for campaigning.
Gone so far
"You'd almost need a microscope to tell the difference between the parliamentary Labor Party and the parliamentary Liberal Party because the Labor Party has gone so far to the right, into territory that not Menzies, and not John Gorton and not even Malcolm Fraser would have dreamt of venturing." — Clyde Cameron, former minister in the Whitlam Labor government.
Gone
"They are not going. They have gone. They have taken a walk." — A federal Labor government adviser, summarising a study which found the ALP has lost its traditional blue-collar support.
Free market lessons
"The speakers talked about ... how to get money in and out of [China] without it disappearing and how to deal with bare-faced bribery." — A participant describing a closed-door session of the Australia China Forum '95.
Nick of time
If you want to know the difference between conservatives and social democrats: British PM John Major is opposing a bill to pardon 305 imperial soldiers executed, mostly after unfair courts martial, in World War I; Labour leader Tony Blair supports it.
No reprieve
"If the idea is Badgerys Creek will somehow lead to a reduction in movements at Kingsford Smith Airport, I don't believe that will be the case." — James Kimpton, chairperson of the Australian Air Transport Association, with bad news for Sydney residents affected by noise from KSA's third runway.