“Australians have made a lot of mistakes, we have treated Aboriginal people very badly, and we have our share of racists and bigots. But a lot of the agenda of the cultural Left in this country is basically that the past has been a disgrace, that we’ve achieved very little, we’ve become the most materialistic country in the world and that we’re mean-spirited. We’re pretty awful people and we should be ashamed of ourselves and start all over again. Well, I don’t hold that view, and the overwhelming majority of Australians don’t hold that view, and they reject it.”John Howard 2006 interview with Time
“I accept that in a free society you have to justify reductions in people's liberties. I accept that, bearing in mind my starting point is that the most important human right is the right to life…”John Howard Terrorism Summit (Friday, 5 August 2005)
“In the end, young people are at risk of being disinherited from their community if that community lacks the courage and confidence to teach its history.”John Howard Australia Day Address, 25 January 2006
“I think when people talk about civil liberties, they sometimes forget that action taken to protect the citizen against physical violence and physical attack is a blow in favour and not a blow against civil liberties.”John Howard Terrorism Summit (Friday, 5 August 2005)