Political science — 1
"If we get up tomorrow at daybreak and Australia has been declared a republic tonight by referendum but with no other change — just a change of name — then there is actually no difference." — Governor-General Bill Hayden, comfortable in Yarralumla.
Political science — 2
"A fool and his money are soon elected." — US bumper sticker, reported in the September 17 Sydney Morning Herald.
Push them out of the road
"That's why we're in the [Labor] Party — to make sure we have a fairer, more tolerant society in which the weak might not prosper but they won't be run over either." — Federal health minister Senator Graham Richardson.
Eternity
"We should chase the goal of full employment with all our might and energy. We might never make it, but every percentage point we get closer to it will be to our eternal credit." — Richardson again.
Dilemma
"For a party of change, the Labor Party has always found change particularly difficult." — Who else but Richo?
Worry
"The thing that Australians have to worry about is that the prime minister will misrepresent what [the queen] said to him during their private discussions." — Liberal frontbencher John Howard, fearful that republican plots will hide some pearls of Windsor wisdom.