TRANSCRIPT – 2CC WITH MARK PARTON
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
17 May 2013TOPICS: The Budget.
Continue reading ‘Post Budget Reply chat with Mark Parton – Transcript & Audio’ »
The Real Budget Reply
Tony Abbott likes to claim that he supports honesty in politics. But if he was coming clean with the Australian people, what would he say in his budget reply? Here’s one possibility.
Tony Abbott, the Honest Budget Reply
Last year, I had a bit of fun with my budget reply. We didn’t have much policy, so I reworded my speech to the Young Liberals’ national convention, and delivered it in parliament. But at the end, I said the thing that really mattered in politics was to be honest. That got me thinking – maybe I should really be honest. So this year, I’m glad to deliver my first ever honest reply to the Government’s budget.
The uncomfortable truth is that the Australian economy is doing well – really well. We’ve grown 13% since 2007 – while Europe’s economy has shrunk and over half all advanced economies haven’t recovered lost output over this period. I was wrong when I said WorkChoices ‘was good for wages, it was good for jobs, and it was good for workers’, because productivity growth is higher now than it was under WorkChoices. The share market is up about 10% just since January. The level of expected business investment has never been higher.
Continue reading ‘What Would an Honest Budget Reply Look Like?’ »
I spoke on the Matter of Public Importance debate today about the strong Australian economy, and the choices that Mr Abbott faces with his budget reply.
Matter of Public Importance – Australian Budget, 15 May 2013
Dr LEIGH (Fraser—Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) (16:12): It is my pleasure to rise on this matter of public importance to speak about the strength of the Australian economy and the important choices that this budget makes. The Australian economy is performing strongly by international standards. As previous speakers have noted, we have grown 13 per cent since 2007. It is a period when the United States has only grown a couple of per cent and when all of Europe has actually shrunk. The European economy is smaller now than it was then. Australia’s economy has moved up the rankings from being the 15th largest to the 12th largest in the world. We have seen faster productivity growth over recent years than we saw under Work Choices, giving the lie to the notion that all that stands between Australia and stellar productivity performance is cutting back workers’ entitlements. We have seen the sharemarket up. In fact the sharemarket is up more than 10 per cent just this year.
MEDIA RELEASE
Liberals must use Budget Reply to be upfront about cuts hurting Canberra
ACT Senator Kate Lundy, Member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann and Member for Fraser Andrew Leigh are calling on Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey to be upfront about any planned cuts on Canberra in the Opposition’s formal budget reply on Thursday.
Continue reading ‘Liberals must use Budget Reply to be upfront about cuts hurting Canberra’ »
MEDIA RELEASE
ANU to receive $3 million endowment to establish Tax Studies Institute
Dr Andrew Leigh, Federal Member for Fraser and former professor at the Australian National University has welcomed the establishment of the Tax Studies Institute (TSI) at the ANU.
Continue reading ‘ANU to receive $3 million endowment to establish Tax Studies Institute’ »
TRANSCRIPT – POST BUDGET REMARKS – DOORS
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
15 May 2013
TOPICS: The Budget
I spoke this morning with Mark Parton about the federal budget, and the clear choice it presents for this year’s election: between Labor’s nation-building reforms in health, schools and DisabilityCare, and the Coalition’s threatened cuts. Here’s a podcast.
TRANSCRIPT – 2CC BREAKFAST WITH MARK PARTON
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
15 May 2013TOPICS: The Budget.
TRANSCRIPT – BREAKING POLITICS WITH TIM LESTER
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
14 May 2013TOPICS: The Budget.
Continue reading ‘Breaking Politics with Tim Lester – Transcript’ »
MEDIA RELEASE – 14 MAY
Federal Budget will mean a stronger, smarter and fairer Canberra
Initiatives outlined in Wayne Swan’s sixth Budget will mean a stronger, smarter and fairer Canberra.
Continue reading ‘Federal Budget will mean a stronger, smarter and fairer Canberra’ »
On Sky’s “The Nation” program with David Speers, Andrew Leigh MP joined an “all economist” panel with respected commentator Jessica Irvine, Liberal MP Paul Fletcher and former Liberal leader John Hewson. We discussed the strength of the Australian economy, the hit on budget revenues, Labor’s DisabilityCare reforms and the Coalition’s regressive parental leave scheme & “WorkChoices lite” policy.
I spoke yesterday at a Canberra ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea. It was an special honour to meet navy veteran Gordon Johnstone, who served as a telegrapher in the Battle of the Coral Sea (picture by Peter McDermott).
Speech to the Australian-American Association Canberra Division Battle of the Coral Commemorative Service
9 May 2013
CanberraAndrew Leigh
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister[Acknowledgements omitted]
The Battle of the Coral Sea was a unique battle in history.
It was the first time aircraft carriers engaged one another, never sighting their enemies.
It remains the largest naval battle in to have taken place off Australia’s coast.
We stand here in front of the Australian-American memorial. It is not the most modest piece of architecture in Canberra.
A recent trip to Perth prompted some thoughts on Coalition costings, starting with what’s happened in Western Australia.
Of Cuts and Cons
The Barnett Liberals were elected promising to deliver a $4.8 billion swag of ambitious infrastructure projects: the Metro Area Express Light Rail, the Perth Airport line and the Perth to Darwin highway. But their promises are a sham.
Scrutinise the costing details and you find the most brazen of creative accounting cons: the projects rely on an ‘assumption’ that the Commonwealth would fork out $3 billion.
Where did they get this number? Certainly not from the Commonwealth. They just made it up. You can promise whatever you like when there’s imaginary money to pay for it.
This was just one of the Liberals’ tricks uncovered by WA Treasury, who red-flagged the contribution assumption as a ‘substantial risk’ to the Liberals’ budget integrity.
Let’s be clear. The issue is not the merit of the programs. The issue is Mr Barnett blatantly misleading the community about what he can deliver.
Perhaps Mr Barnett might claim that his costings were premised on swinging a mate’s rates deal if Mr Abbott is elected on 14 September. Not likely. Tony Abbott has admitted that the Liberals ‘have no history of funding urban rail and I think it’s important that we stick to our knitting’. (Conversely, Federal Labor have put more into urban public transport than every previous government since Federation – combined.)
TRANSCRIPT – SHOWDOWN WITH PETER VAN ONSELEN
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
7 May 2013TOPICS: Carbon pricing, revenue write downs, cut in interest rates, Liberal Party conscience vote for equal marriage, the federal Budget
Continue reading ‘Showdown with Peter van Onselen – Transcript’ »
I spoke on Breaking Politics with Tim Lester and Senator Fiona Nash this morning about the upcoming budget, government revenue, the Coalition’s internal disagreements on their paid parental leave scheme, and sports betting promotion.
http://media.theage.com.au/news/national-times/a-plague-on-both-parties-4251555.html
TRANSCRIPT – BREAKING POLITICS WITH TIM LESTER
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
7 May 2013TOPICS: The budget, government revenue, paid parental leave, sports betting.
TRANSCRIPT – ABC702 WITH RICHARD GLOVER
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
6 May 2013TOPICS Inequality, Australian egalitarianism
Continue reading ‘ABC 702 with Richard Glover – Transcript’ »
My Chronicle column this week focuses on some terrific Canberra community activists.
Strong Fibre in Canberra Fabric, The Chronicle, 7 May 2012
One of Canberra’s great features is the strength of our civic fabric. And it’s no more apparent than among young Canberrans who are giving back to our community.
Recently, I held a breakfast roundtable for a group of these ‘social entrepreneurs’, to discuss the opportunities and challenges they’re facing. Let me tell you about some of them.
TRANSCRIPT – 2CC with Mark Parton
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
6 May 2013TOPICS: Inequality, Australian egalitarianism, Liberal Party advertising
I chatted with Kieran Gilbert and Senator Mitch Fifield about the Coalition’s divided stance on Paid Parental Leave, and about my research on inequality in Australia.
Continue reading ‘Sky AM Agenda Video and Transcript – 6th May 2013’ »
The SMH, Age, Canberra Times and West Australian today have reports of my updated top income inequality data. If you’re curious, here’s a link to the raw figures (warning: large Excel file), and here’s a link to the methodology paper.
I’ve also done a couple of interviews today about it:
On March 6 I visited the University of Canberra for the Inaugural NATSEM Lecture. I spoke on the topic of ‘Estimating Top Wealth Shares in Australia over the Past Century’.
I launched Paul Frijters and Gigi Foster’s new book last night, titled Economic Theory of Greed, Love, Groups and Networks.
Speech launching Economic Theory of Greed, Love, Groups and Networks by Paul Frijters (with Gigi Foster)
Andrew Leigh
Federal Member for FraserAustralian National University
2 May 2013If you want a quick way to assess a piece of academic writing, try starting at the end. A skim through the reference list can tell you a great deal:
- Is it long, or so short you get the impression the author thinks they’re the only one to have considered the problem?
- Does the author’s own name dominate the reference list, or is there a sense that other people have sensible things to say too?
- Are the references all by people from the author’s country, or are they international?
- Are the references all in the same discipline, or are other disciplines cited too?
- How old are the references? (Frighteningly, the typical reference in an economics article is just five years old)
So, what does starting at the back tell you about Paul and Gigi’s book? They’re extensive, global and interdisciplinary – like the authors themselves. You’ll see references to Fox’s Behaviour of Wolves, Dogs and Related Canids; to a Sherlock Holmes novel; to Bourquin’s ‘The Zulu Military Organisation and the Challenge of 1879’; to Dr Seuss; and to Besse’s 1910 classic Hermits.
Continue reading ‘The Economics of Greed, Love, Groups and Networks’ »
On ABC666, I spoke with presenter Ross Solly and Liberal Senator Gary Humphries this morning about how DisabilityCare Australia will help change lives, and the importance of ensuring it has a stable funding base. Here’s a podcast.
TRANSCRIPT – ABC666 WITH ROSS SOLLY
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
2nd May 2013TOPICS: DisabilityCare Australia, Medicare Levy
On 27 March 2013, I spoke at the Australia Institute’s “Politics in the Pub” about strengthening community life, drawing on some of the ideas in my 2010 book Disconnected. In case you missed it, here’s a video of the event.
On the Forum last night, I spoke with Richard Glover, Joe Hockey and Hugh MacKay about my favourite Australian food, teaching the ANZAC tradition in our school curriculum and the latest revenue projections coming out of Treasury.
On Sky AM Agenda, I spoke with host Kieran Gilbert and Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham about the drop in federal government revenue, and the challenges this poses for policy costings on both sides of politics.
TRANSCRIPT – SKY AM AGENDA
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
30 April 2013TOPICS: New revenue and budget forecasts, Coalition plans for cuts, the challenging fiscal environment.
Continue reading ‘Sky AM Agenda Video and Transcript – 30 April 2013’ »
TRANSCRIPT – 2CC MORNINGS WITH MARK PARTON
Andrew Leigh MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Member for Fraser
30 April 2013TOPICS: Budget Deficit, falls in revenue, the Budget, Australian economy
Mark Parton: … So much talk around town over the big announcement from Julia Gillard. We knew it was coming because so much of it had been leaked: that there’s this $12 billion black hole in revenue and obviously all these new things are going to be considered when it comes to the Budget which is delivered in a couple of weeks. Who do you blame for it? You know, it looks as though again that Treasury has Continue reading ‘2CC Breakfast with Mark Parton (Transcript and Audio)’ »
On ABC24′s Capital Hill program, I spoke with host Lyndal Curtis and Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella about the challenging budget circumstances Australia faces, with federal revenues having fallen from 24% to 22% of GDP.
Recently, I spoke with Media Watch’s Jonathan Holmes about social media and politics. A podcast and (mostly correct) transcript of the interview are available on the ABC website.
My op-ed in the AFR looks at the Coalition’s climate change dilemma – do they meet their pledge to reduce emissions by 5% by 2020, or do they spend the paltry underestimate that they say their climate policy will cost?
Abbott’s no-go carbon plan, Australian Financial Review, 22 April 2013
Over the past few weeks we have seen the Coalition dip their toes in the water of policy debate. Amidst running around the nation shouting ‘no’, Tony Abbott has revealed that the Coalition’s plan for superannuation includes taxing 3.6 million of Australia’s lowest-paid workers to the tune of $4 billion. We have seen them outline their tin-can-and-string broadband strategy. We have learned that families and small businesses will be expected to cough up to $5000 to connect to a service Labor will provide for free.
This is the most information we have heard about the Coalition’s vision for the future of Australia, and while it may not be pretty, it is a marked improvement from their three-year tradition of providing no alternative at all.
It seems strange then, in light of their cautious new ventures into actual policy discussions, that Tony Abbott has remained almost silent on the one issue he has pegged the bulk of his negative rhetoric: climate change.
Continue reading ‘Coalition Climate Change Policy = Hot Air’ »
I launched Stuart Cunningham’s new book Hidden Innovation tonight.
Launching Stuart Cunningham, Hidden Innovation: Policy, Industry and the Creative Sector
Paperchain Books, Manuka
9 April 2013According to one study cited in Stuart Cunningham’s book, there are two opposing groups of people: ‘political junkies’ (PJs) and Big Brother fans (BBs). PJs think that it ‘beggars belief’ that anyone could think Big Brother was useful. BBs say that politicians are unapproachable and out of touch.
So as an MP who used to quite enjoy watching Big Brother, I found myself torn. Am I a BB or a PJ? A PJ in BBs? Or a BB in PJs?
The reference to Big Brother is just one of a myriad of cultural touchstones in this fascinating book. Stuart Cunningham’s book romps through Survivor and Go Back to Where you Came From, Korean bloggers and Fat Cow Motel, Australian iTunes game Fruit Ninja and Nigeria’s ‘Nollywood’.