Top 72 Quotes & Sayings by Julia Gillard

Middle-income countries need to attend to the education of their poorest people to build their economies and ensure long-term stability.

Investing in better-quality education outcomes - especially in maths and science - more than pays for itself.

Here in Australia we do get impacted by global economic events. But we should have some confidence that our economy has got strong underlying fundamentals.

The global economic outlook remains fragile and uncertain. Global economic imbalances persist and we must address them or risk future instability.

As more girls get basic schooling, larger numbers will move up the educational ladder - some to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. That's important because workplaces around the world, especially in many developing and emerging-market countries, are becoming more automated, favouring workers with technical skills.

Developing countries need to commit additional resources and have the political will to improve education.

For a profession that holds dear both the ability to vivisect politicians in prose and the expectation that these carved-up subjects will not complain, the media is horribly thin-skinned and vengeance-seeking when on the receiving end of criticism.

We know that literate people are more likely than others to participate in their societies' democratic institutions and that the risk of war drops as more of a country's citizens receive a secondary education.

If G20 leaders are serious about sustainable growth and job creation and want to stem migration flows and promote long-term stability, education is an essential investment.

I have travelled enough internationally to know and accept the reality that, overwhelmingly, people are well disposed to Australia but in truth know very little about it. In particular, people know hardly anything about Australian politics.

America has always understood this principle of the economy - that everyone can benefit when everyone competes.

Being beyond politics, I am able to examine the role of the media without worrying about the indignant harrumphing that emanates from many journalists and commentators when you do so.

If you believe, as I do, that merit is equally distributed between the sexes, then any result that isn't around half and half should be troubling.

I first felt the addictive power of 'Game of Thrones' when I was prime minister, living in a world where power was also pursued relentlessly, albeit far less colourfully. Certainly, the characters of my world were nowhere near as good looking or exotically dressed.

'Game of Thrones' has never much concerned itself with shining a torch on the powerless. Their hunger and suffering in a land ravaged by war is of little concern to the story's most powerful characters, whose antics bring so much pain to the people.

Education equals economic growth.

There is a reason the world always looks to America.

A literate, skilled workforce is essential for low-income countries to attract investment and fill jobs with local rather than imported labour.

As prime minister, I was conscious of walking in Whitlam's footsteps as our government set about creating a companion to Medicare, the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Whether or not you welcome it, moving house requires you to make choices about the past as you move into the future. What of all of your bits of stuff is truly valued? What should be left behind?

We encourage China to engage as a good global citizen and we are clear-eyed about where differences do lie.

I know reform is never easy. But I know reform is right.

One thing 'Game of Thrones' has taught us all is to guard against too much emotional investment.

Education's net economic benefits are greater than many other investments.

I know people are looking at what's happening in Washington and then they also look at events in Europe, in Greece and Portugal and other places and worry about that.

Afghanistan must never again be a safe haven for terrorism.

Economic growth driven by large-scale infrastructure investments without equitable provision of education will leave hundreds of millions of people behind, exacerbating inequality, disillusion, and instability.

Educating the world's poorest girls can only be done with the firm commitment of many stakeholders - both domestic and international - to plan, fund, and build strong, sustainable, and equitable education systems.

When I governed, the overwhelming mindset of the media was to dismiss out of hand any suggestion that anything happening to me was in any way related to gender.

In fragile and conflict-affected states, education can insulate children from chaos and insecurity and better prepare them to bring about future stability.

I want you to know what I have told Australia's Parliament in Canberra - what I told General Petraeus in Kabul - what I told President Obama in the Oval Office this week. Australia will stand firm with our ally the United States.

Through hard work and education, we can deliver a strong economy and opportunity for all.

Those of you who have spent time with Australians know that we are not given to overstatement. By nature we are laconic speakers and by conviction we are realistic thinkers.

Getting more girls a good education requires an approach that harnesses the collective efforts of developing nations, donor nations, multilateral organizations, NGOs, private-sector institutions.

The genius of 'Game of Thrones' is that in this rich imagining of a world redolent of the medieval, the rules of a Middle Ages morality play have been so thoroughly discarded.

My guiding principle is that prosperity can be shared. We can create wealth together. The global economy is not a zero-sum game.

Our future growth relies on competitiveness and innovation, skills and productivity... and these in turn rely on the education of our people.

My earliest political memory is of attending, in 1975, a tub-thumping campaign rally with my father in Adelaide.

Any sort of political correctness needs to be swept out of the way

We are constantly being told that we've never been wealthier. And many of us are. On average we all are. But that's just the problem.. no one is average.

Climate change is real and it is caused to a significant extent by human activity.

I'm on the record as saying things like I think it's important for people to understand their Bible stories, not because I'm an advocate of religion - clearly, I'm not - but once again, what comes from the Bible has formed such an important part of our culture.

There's not a sense that the person who is waiting on the table is somehow a lesser person that the person who is eating in the restaurant.

So in many ways for me, having lived through what I've lived through, and endured what I've endured, I've got more confidence that I can do the next bit - and there's something sustaining about that.

If you complain, you’re ‘playing the victim’; if you don’t complain, you are a victim.

One of my prized possessions is still the prefect's tie that I got in this school. I keep it with me. It was the first leadership position I ever had.

At the end of the day government is about teamwork and partnership and we will be proving that by working together.

In Australia, average temperatures have risen almost one degree since 1910, and each decade since the 1940s has been warmer than the one before. That warming is real. Its consequences are real. And it will change our lives in real and practical ways.

All my life I've believed that men and women have equal capacities and talents...consequently there should be equality in life's chances.

In politics there's never a magic wand.

In my view, the ideal prime minister is patient, hard-working, compassionate and has a clear vision, driven by the fair go.

The caricature of my own face always makes me laugh.

The death of Malcolm Fraser underwrites a great loss to Australia... I always thought Malcolm would be around a lot longer. I must say, I wished he had been.

Try harder every day to be better than the day before.

He will always know as we know now that in the heat of battle he did not fail when mateship and duty called.

Australians can trust me to get the job done. They can have the confidence that in the heart of the circumstances I will win through in their interests no matter how relentlessly negative the leader of the opposition is.

There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.

If we change the way the electricity sector operates, we can bring down our levels of carbon pollution, and continue the crucial task of tackling climate change. Putting a price on carbon would do this.

There are some things that can't be measured.

In the quest for comparative advantage, investment will flow towards those countries that can offer more output for fewer emissions. Inaction will cost jobs. Action will support jobs.