We never expected
"Not even judges can be expected to be indifferent to financial considerations." — Justice Murray Gleeson, chief justice of NSW, complaining that pension regulations encourage judges to retire too early.
Danger: attention
"An argument that the project is the destruction of huge tracts of one of the world's last untouched wilderness areas, showing disregard for and destruction of indigenous Australians' traditional tribal grounds, cultural and sacred sites, could be an attention-winning argument." — A confidential strategy document for the WA government, which is considering plans to dam wilderness river gorges in the Kimberley.
Scary
"I don't want to be a pilot when I grow up. It's a bit scary." — Five-year-old Emily Pickersgill, after being allowed to operate the controls of a British Airways Boeing 757 flight.
Pudding
"We never close the door on any option ... and if someone can come up with a magic pudding answer to this, then I am more than happy to listen." — NSW Labour council secretary Peter Sams, hinting at "compromise" on privatisation of the state electricity industry.
Market rules OK
"Of course I know where the cigarettes are going. But is that my problem?" — Swiss cigarette trader Michael Haenggi, acknowledging that he sells large quantities of cigarettes to people smuggling them into Spain.
Market rules OK — 2
"Those of us in narrow specialties do a necessary job; but so do undertakers and garbage collectors, and they do not cost nearly as much." — Nicholas Cowdery, QC, NSW director of public prosecutions, on lawyers.
Prestigious opportunity
"It was an opportunity purely to gain some market value from an association with such a prestigious organisation." — Queensland University of Technology Associate Professor Peter Best, on his proposal to an accounting firm that it pay $20,000 a year for the right to nominate staff to an adjunct professorship at QUT.