And let me make this very clear - unlike President Obama I will not raise taxes on the middle class. As president I will protect the sanctity of life. I will honor the institution of marriage. And I will guarantee America's first liberty: the freedom of religion.

But Australia faces additional regional and global challenges also crucial to our nation's future - climate change questions of energy and food security the rise of China and the rise of India. And we need a strong system of global and regional relationships and institutions to underpin stability.

Protecting the institution of marriage safeguards I believe the American family.

The question of the family now divides our society so deeply that the opposing sides cannot even agree on a definition of the institution they are arguing about.

There's a schizoid streak within the family anyway so I dare say that I'm affected by that. The majority of the people in my family have been in some kind of mental institution as for my brother he doesn't want to leave. He likes it very much.

We are special because we've been united not by a common race or ethnicity. We're bound together by common values. That family is the most important institution in society. That almighty God is the source of all we have.

I find the family the most mysterious and fascinating institution in the world.

The only rock I know that stays steady the only institution I know that works is the family.

Whoever sets any bounds for the reconstructive power of the religious life over the social relations and institutions of men to that extent denies the faith of the Master.

Often we are quick to find blame with others but yet are unable to give constructive responses. There seems to be a tendency to doubt almost everything. Do we not have faith in our own people's strengths and in our institutions? Can we afford distrust amongst ourselves?