What they said on Day 18 of the campaign

WHAT THEY SAID ON DAY 18 OF THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN

THE BEST LINES

"I'm just stating the bleeding obvious."

- Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce about the link he drew between a temporary ban on live cattle exports and an increase in asylum-seeker boat arrivals from Indonesia.

"At best, it represents an over-analysis of the subject."

- Former Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa responds.

THE SECOND BEST LINE

"This is so silly."

- Presley Acton, 4, about being photographed with the PM in Rockhampton.

PRIME MINISTER MALCOLM TURNBULL

"That did enormous damage to the cattle industry across Australia, but it was an outrageous affront to Indonesia."

- On Labor's 2011 suspension of the live cattle trade.

LABOR LEADER BILL SHORTEN

"Obviously this is a difficult decision."

- On the decision to back down on restoring the schoolkids bonus.

SALEO! SALEO! SALEO!

"Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael."

- Joyce controls who asks questions of the PM at a joint press conference in Rockhampton.

THE SECOND XI

"Today it's vanished. It's no longer there."

- Treasurer Scott Morrison about the online petition for the schoolkids bonus on the ALP website.

"I'm happy to be leader - that's for sure - and as I've joked around before I've been doing my numbers on Clive, and I was only one vote short. Now I am one vote over."

- Palmer United Party senator Zhenya Wang.

"Forget about black holes, they have sort of gone into the Supernova and come out the other side, spent time and space in their rhetoric in their frenzied attack on the Labor Party."

- Opposition backbencher Nick Champion about the government's attack on Labor spending commitments.

"Do not criticise me for the decisions I have made. This isn't easy, it's hard."

- Outgoing Labor senator Nova Peris through tears.