Bill Gates lets his defences down on ABC BILL Gates hasn't mowed his lawn for a long time, washes the dishes every night and doesn't plan to freeze or clone himself as a way to cheat death. In an informative session on the ABC's Q&A program, the world's richest man and most generous philanthropist gave the rest of us mere mortals a glimpse into what makes him tick. His major focus is ridding the world of polio and he says he's down to just three countries and 300 cases and gives himself a good chance of eradicating the disease. Mr Gates was in Australia for a mere 14 hours but in that time managed to squeeze an extra $80 million out of Prime Minister Julia Gillard for his polio crusade as well as meet Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. "He couldn't have been nicer but I didn't ask him to write a cheque or anything," the Microsoft founder said of Mr Abbott. He was asked about the ethics of investing in corporations, such as oil companies, whose work may have an impact on the environment. "These oil companies aren't out to make children sick," Mr Gates said. I don't endorse every action of those we have invested in - we are not the court of justice. But he did point out that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation did not invest in tobacco or weapons companies. On the tricky question of tax minimisation, Mr Gates said he had contributed $6 billion in tax to the US government. He said if governments want companies to pay more tax then they should change the taxation laws. "It's not incumbent on those companies to take shareholder money and pay huge amounts that aren't required," he said. On the home front, Mr Gates said he hasn't mowed the lawn for ages, although he is pulled in to wash the dishes. "There are some rituals worth maintaining," he said. And although he doesn't want to cheat death by cloning himself or using cryogenics, he does want to live a long life. "Life is great but you have to make room for people who come after you," he said. I won't try to cheat death but will delay it for as long as possible. Mr Gates said the next big focus for the immunisation organisation his charity founded would be the cervical cancer vaccine, pioneered by Australian scientist Ian Frazer. Professor Frazer was in the Q&A audience to ask if it was "morally correct" to launch programs supplying the vaccine in countries that could not continue to make it available without external support. Are we doing things wrong? Prof Frazer asked. Mr Gates said in the case of the human papillomavirus, new manufacturers would bring the price down and his GAVI Alliance was working to make the vaccine available at less than $5 a dose.