They have put their faith in me as leader and I have let them down.

I did tell a joke along those lines. It was completely inappropriate.

I restate my absolute and unreserved apology.

It was the week Bob Carr resigned. I had a few drinks and let off some steam, and in doing so acted foolishly.

[One party to the conversation recalled:] Someone fired out, 'What about Bob, what's he going to do? ... Well, he can ship his mail-order bride back on the boat.

My biggest critic and my biggest fan.

Well, he can send the mail-order bride back now.

He can ship his mail order bride back to where she came from, for all I care.

The Labor Party had a decision between a bloke that everyone knew but didn't like … and a bloke that nobody seems to know at all.