Our cultural diversity has most certainly shaped our national character.

Australia has an increasingly multicultural society.

Advances in science and medical research and public health policies have meant that life expectancy for Australians is one of the highest in the world.

Today it has been estimated that the average 70 year old has four chronic conditions and consumes an average of 35 PBS scripts per year for those conditions.

When the Australian Government looked at how to meet the challenges, and the opportunities, presented by our ageing population, it saw that an all-encompassing approach was a prerequisite.

At the last census it indicated that about 22 per cent of Australians were born overseas.

The strongest initiative that government can take to ensure Australia is prepared for population ageing, is to maintain a strong economy, and a secure nation.

Prevention is one of the few known ways to reduce demand for health and aged care services.

We know we are entering a period of transformation in aged care.

Dementia is not exclusively a problem of the developed world.

Greater public recognition will also be critical in encouraging prevention and early intervention, and more generally in building public support to meet the challenges of dementia.

Australia is already a world leader in dementia research, treatment and care.

Community care is a fundamental, an essential, an enduring part of our aged care system.

Synergy and serendipity often play a big part in medical and scientific advances.

We preserve the status quo, preserve existing systems.

We know that so many of the conditions and diseases that we associate with ageing can often be prevented or in fact their onset delayed if we just took preventative steps earlier in our lives.

We are increasingly recognising and accepting, respecting and celebrating, our cultural diversity.

Our cultural diversity has most certainly shaped our national character.

We are already seeing older people wanting greater choice in how, when and where they receive care.

Ageing means a loss of a number of skills over time.

And I believe that the best buy in public health today must be a combination of regular physical exercise and a healthy diet.

It is a fact that governments tend to put in place policies and strategies in response to current scenarios.

The Australian economy is resilient, but business and consumer confidence is fragile.

The Gillard government must give up its addiction to wasteful spending borrowing and taxing.

The message from the United States and Europe is that governments must live within their means.

There are genuine concerns about the status of children to be sent to Malaysia and also there are genuine concerns about the human rights record in Malaysia.

Well they're very, very genuine concerns at present as to the status of the 800 people who are to be sent by Australia to Malaysia. There's concern about the status of asylum seekers in Malaysia generally, but there's concern about the status of the 800 to be sent.

In this watering-place I acted an heroic character, badly studied; and being a novice on such a stage, I forgot my part before a pair of lovely blue eyes.

I do like to embed a fictional character firmly in an occupation.

But even with a character like Cary who is relatively outlandish, at the end of the movie he's in a place where I wouldn't have expected him to be - taking on the responsibility of a woman who is pregnant and who used to be his best friend's wife.

Always, your work is the same: You have to tell a story, you have to make a character. It doesn't matter if there are thousands of dollars, millions behind it, or if there is nothing.

Each of us is meant to have a character all our own, to be what no other can exactly be, and do what no other can exactly do.

I liked Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, and that is the kind of character that I would like to have played. That would have been more in tune with who I really was.

It's the difficulty we had with Mr. Bean, actually, when it went from TV to film. You certainly discover that you need to explain more about a character.

In a lot of ways, the make-up was the character.

The more we study the Indian's character the more we appreciate the marked distinction between the civilized being and the real savage.

So many people have said that to me, that what they really like about Alex is what she brings out in Marissa, and what this situation brings out in her, a hint of happiness and another side to her character.

I've been on the show for six years and I don't even know what her history is. I sort of make things up in my mind, but I think it's hard for an audience to follow and invest in a character when they don't have the details.

It is not true that drink changes a man's character. It may reveal it more clearly.

Because I killed a guy in real life, and because my character kills a guy onstage, they said I could never do anything this great again. I resented that.

Well, I go to the theater today, and its curtain - there is no curtain in this play; the lights go down and go up - and we start. And I live this character for two hours. There are only two of us in the play. And It's a complete experience.

I just kind of understood it, and I threw my love for others and love for life into the character, and was having a blast. I loved playing Dharma. I loved it!

I think if you play a character that is fearless, then it's boring. I think that's what was so incredible about Harrison Ford, is that he always seemed like he was never going to survive it, he's always scared, and yet he always does survive it somehow.

If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself - your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers.

Every character I play has to be the hero of his own story, the way we're all heroes of our own lives.

To be a character who feels a deep emotion, one must go into the memory's vault and mix in a sad memory from one's own life.

Character is power; it makes friends, draws patronage and support and opens the way to wealth, honor and happiness.

You have to understand the tone of the movie, because if it's supposed to be funny, it can be funny violent like the Home Alone stuff, but you have to really understand the tone of what you're doing and make the action work for that and for the character.

In Shakespearean tragedy the main source of the convulsion which produces suffering and death is never good: good contributes to this convulsion only from its tragic implication with its opposite in one and the same character.