Great minds
"Gareth used to say that, and he was dead right." — Foreign minister Alexander Downer, on his predecessor Gareth Evans' frequent claim that there was no point in "haranguing" the Indonesian government over human rights abuses in East Timor and West Papua.
Problem non-solving
"I think there is a problem in the whole of society, not just the legal profession." — NSW Law Society president Norman Lyall, explaining why lawyers don't need to take any special measures against sexual harassment and discrimination.
35% by 2002
"At this stage, there is no chance of a woman winning in Blaxland." — An ALP source, quoted in the April 27 Sydney Morning Herald, on the party's preselection of a replacement for Paul Keating.
Troublemaker
"The National Trust believes that the Heritage Council should not, in effect, give away part of our heritage to help a mortgagee who may have made a poor investment decision." — Barry O'Keefe, president of the National Trust, on reports that the Heritage Council would recommend allowing St George Bank to build a 12-storey building on a heritage site it has purchased, the Swifts in Darling Point, Sydney.
Accountants with attitude
"The two studies indicate that unethical thinking may be widespread ... [This] suggests that students come to the tertiary environment with antisocial attitudes to ethical behaviour already well in place." — The authors of two surveys on the ethical standards of accountancy students, quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald, April 23.
What will they think of next?
"Peace plan to limit fighting" — Headline in the Sydney Morning Herald, April 23.