You've seen him wearing speedos, kissing babies, driving a mining truck and chatting to his flock.

But who is the real Tony Abbott?

In the grand tradition of Bushisms and The Wit of Whitlam, here are the sayings of Tony Abbott, unvarnished and rich in revelation – the very best and worst of Australia's irrepressible mad monk.

Tony speaks – on honesty: "One man's lie is another man's judgment call."

Poverty: "We just can't stop people from being homeless if that's their choice."

Climate change: "Absolute crap."

Divorce: "Come 2020, I'm confident that ... families won't break up any more often, because old-fashioned notions about making the most of imperfect situations will have made something of a comeback."

Female equality: "I think it would be folly to expect that women will ever dominate or even approach equal representation in a large number of areas simply because their aptitudes, abilities and interests are different for physiological reasons."

Christian teaching: "Jesus knew that there was a place for everything and it is not necessarily everyone's place to come to Australia."

And that's just a taste...