Extravagant witch
"Any other development would simply constitute an unjustified witch-hunt by the federal Labor government." — Federal National Party leader Tim Fisher, welcoming a decision by the director of public prosecutions not to file criminal charges against former National leader Charles Blunt, who spent $270,000 of government money posting political material during the 1990 elections.
And tells whoppers
"I don't really think he's jinxed. Phillip is just a big man with a big personality." — Anne Smiles, wife of Phillip Smiles, NSW's accident-prone assistant treasurer, who wrote a letter describing the Eastern Creek raceway as a black hole, then denied having done so in parliament.
Skeletons elsewhere
"When they dug into my closet they did not find skeletons, they found shoes." — Imelda Marcos, widow of late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, commenting on reports that she will be allowed to retrieve her personal effects from the Malacanang museum if she can prove ownership of the items, which include more than 1200 pairs of shoes and 6000 pieces of designer clothing.
High-tech
"Sad to say, the chief protagonist when cores are being removed from reactors remains the sailor with a sledgehammer." — A Soviet naval reserve officer commenting on a 1985 nuclear accident in Vladivostok.
Pot to kettle
Congress is "a privileged class of rulers who stand above the law". — United States President George Bush following a survey showing that only one in five US citizens think they are better off since Bush took office.
Old world facts
"President Bush has the worst record of economic growth and job creation of any president since Herbert Hoover [1929-33] ... 2.1 million Americans have become unemployed." — US Democrat Senator George Mitchell.
Impartial
"There is no evidence before me that the juror in question has declared any bias about the allegations made in this case against the accused." — Judge Hellman in the Joh Bjelke-Petersen perjury trial, refusing to dismiss the jury after the revelation that the jury foreman was a member of the Queensland National Party and the Friends of Joh organisation.