10 quotes from Tony Abbott, who has just been appointed as a trade envoy by our Government.

This man is now representing our country around the world. Out of all the talent on offer - he is the best our Government could come up with.

On women: "What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing is that if they get it done commercially it's going to go up in price and their own power bills when they switch the iron on are going to go up."

Making holocaust references in response to job losses: "Under members opposite defence jobs in this country declined by 10 per cent. There was a holocaust of jobs in defence industries under members opposite."

On climate change: “It’s climate change policy that’s doing harm. Climate change itself is probably doing good; or at least, more good than harm.”

He told daughters that their virginity is “the greatest gift you can give someone”.

Asked if he felt threatened by gay people: “I probably feel a bit threatened, as so many people do. There is no doubt that [homosexuality] challenges, if you like, orthodox notions of the right order of things.”

Persuading colleagues to vote against equal marriage: “If you’re worried about religious freedom and freedom of speech, vote no. And if you don’t like political correctness, vote no because voting no will help to stop political correctness in its tracks.”

On same-sex parents: “it is not homophobic to maintain that, ideally, children should have both a mother and a father”.

On indigenous communities “What we can’t do is endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices, if those lifestyle choices are not conducive to the kind of full participation in Australian society that everyone should have.”

On refugees: "I mean… you get a million angry military-age males swarming into a single country in a year. They are not there to be grateful, they are there with a grievance."

On Islamophobia: "All too often in officialdom's ranks there is this notion that Islamophobia is almost as big a problem as Islamist terrorism. Well, Islamophobia hasn’t killed anyone."