Jenny Shipley Quotes

Peace is a fragile thing. It takes courage to secure it. It takes wisdom to maintain it.

Every second, every day, every year, we fail to address demand for reproductive health and family planning services. Lives are lost, and girls' opportunities to thrive and contribute to their country's development shrink. These are real people.

The Open Skies issue is something that's ongoing and we understand that there are issues in Australia that need to be sorted out. It's something that I think over time there's an opportunity for us and we'll work on that in a progressive way.

I am not a supporter of the rhetoric of, 'Dear, dear, the toys have got lead paint.' If I had a manufacturer in China that allowed that to happen, I'd fire them instantly.

I hear so many people talking about what's wrong, whether it's climate change or whatever, but so few say, 'Well, look, we've got this problem, so let's find the solution. Let's find a scientist, let's find politicians who are prepared to shape the future, or try and keep up with it.'

The Pacific had great hope that when the former President Mitered decided to halt nuclear testing, we had put behind us the issue of nuclear states testing their weapons in our Pacific region.

People often think that people like me don't have ordinary lives. I have the greatest pleasure, and in fact, the greatest success in my career is having been a mother.

Chinese people as consumers, while they've always valued food and beverage for the health food qualities, they are also now wanting it in terms of other values: 'Does this speak about my position in society? Am I now middle-class, and does this matter to me?'

I'm not sure that it matters as much to women as to our male colleagues to have the public adulation and be on the public mind.

Men are shameless in selling their story. Women are often reserved. So we do need to encourage women to know their story and then tell it strategically as to how they can add value.

I was brought up in a family of leaders, and I think leadership is a life sentence. I like changing things that will shape the future.

The government's position was that we have frigates that have got a useful life until 2006. There is no necessity for us to make final decisions until 2002.

The serious problems facing the world today will never be solved until women are able to use their full potential on behalf of themselves, their families, and their global and local communities, as the World Bank and others have discovered.

The world has been gradually reducing its nuclear arsenals. Testing must stop so that progress on the destruction of nuclear weapons may begin.

The decision by France to resume nuclear testing in the South Pacific has destroyed this hope and raised a storm of protest at home, in the South Pacific and thankfully around the world.

Equality and development will not be achieved however if peace is not understood from women's' point of view.

On many occasions New Zealand has spoken about the need to ensure that women's concerns are fully integrated into all aspects of the United Nations' activities and structures, not marginalised in one part of the Secretariat.

I can't for the life of me see that by being permissive you actually assist anyone.

I do remember when I first went into politics, one of my competitors asked me, 'Well, Jenny Shipley, who's looking after your children?' I don't think many of my male colleagues have faced a similar question.

In New Zealand, men and women would not take a party seriously if it did not have a good gender - and increasingly racial - mix. It's not about being politically correct; it's just who we are.

The first day you're a leader is the beginning of the end of your political career.

It is important to remember that the Pacific Ocean covers a quarter of the world's surface and that each Pacific country has its own cultural, historical and ethnic identity.

Shaping the future is what drives me. Since I left politics, I'm very much interested in emerging markets.