Alexander Downer
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer, ACis a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history. He was also the Leader of the Opposition for eight months from 1994 to 1995. Until early February 2014, Downer was the United Nations Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus...
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth9 September 1951
Alexander Downer quotes about
reflection people house
If people are concerned about my house and where I live again it's much more of a reflection on them than it is on me.
hate kissing approach
I hate to spoil my own prospects, but I really don't respect the kiss-and-tell approach to public life at all, not at all.
thinking records matter
I think prime ministers, I actually think Cabinet ministers should be subject to intense scrutiny, I think that's in the public interest, even if some of the allegations made aren't right and so on, and they have to correct the record, it doesn't matter.
ministers prime yeah
Yeah, well I'm not aspiring to be the Prime Minister.
strong thinking government
I think any good government will target on the finishing date, that is, the polling day and make sure that their strategy is strong and in place to get them successfully re-elected.
writing goodness historian
Well goodness knows, goodness knows what historians will write.
real commitment rights
The protection of human rights to promote the dignity of the individual is too important a matter for symbolic gestures alone. It is only through the pursuit of practical and effective efforts to promote human rights that we show our real commitment to the welfare of individuals and society.
prepared reasonable resume talks time within
They have indicated they are prepared to resume talks and before too long, within a reasonable time frame,
good hearing north nuclear obviously process sort sure talks
They have had a good hearing of their representation on obviously resuming the six-party talks and making sure some sort of process is put in place for nuclear disarmament in North Korea,
confront earth evil people wicked
that there are some people on earth who are so wicked and so evil that nothing can be done but to confront them.
commitment continued disposal early leadership plans strong
There will be a need for continued commitment and strong leadership by all parties, especially in the early implementation of plans for the disposal of weapons,
amount enormous gone interested media specific turn
I think in turn the media has become very interested in this specific case, and has gone into an enormous amount of detail.
arms control including issues measures missile nuclear prevent raise regional security
I will raise bilateral issues and regional security concerns, including measures to prevent nuclear and missile proliferation and other arms control objectives,
overnight reports
Reports that I've had in now overnight are, I must admit, pretty bad,