I spoke in parliament about the Prime Minister’s statement on Closing the Gap.

Prime Minister’s Statement on Closing the Gap, 12 March 2013

It is a pleasure to follow the member for Hasluck in this important debate on closing the gap. He is the only Indigenous member of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which is an indication of one gap that we need to work to close. Were Indigenous Australians to be represented in this place in proportion to the number in the Australian population there would be at least five Indigenous members in parliament and many debates, this one included, would be richer for that. I hope we will see Nova Peris joining the next Senate, but we still will have further to go. It is an indicator of how many of these gaps take too long to close.

I am proud to represent an electorate which is the home of the Ngunnawal people. Often when I am looking for stories of Indigenous Australia I turn to Stories of the Ngunnawal, an excellent book which discusses some of the stories of the Ngunnawal elders. One story by Dorothy Brown Dickson reminds us of how tough it was for some of the Ngunnawal people. Ms Dickson grew up in an Aboriginal reserve in Yass. She refers to how tough life was for the young men. She says:

Continue reading ‘Closing the Gap’ »

I spoke today on a bill to give the ACT Assembly the power to set its own size.

Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment Bill, 12 March 2013

It is a pleasure to rise to speak on the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment Bill 2013 today, the 100th birthday of Canberra. This morning we had a re-enactment out the front of Parliament House of the ceremony of the laying of the foundation stone. I have here the program for that ceremony, which was held on 12 March 1913. Today’s ceremony aimed to shadow that historic ceremony of 1913, when sheep greatly outnumbered the residents of Canberra. The ceremony this morning acknowledged the rich history of Canberra—not only the political heritage but also the social tapestry of the city. I was very pleased today to hear the member for Stirling speak so warmly of the city that I have the honour to represent in the federal parliament.

Walter Burley Griffin said that he was designing a city for a nation of ‘bold democrats’. To borrow a phrase from Seamus Heaney, I have always thought of Canberra as being the kind of place where hope and history rhyme. In the centenary celebrations, Canberra has been given an opportunity to celebrate but also to remember much of our history. Historian David Headon has produced a series of centenary booklets and centenary director Robyn Archer has made sure that history has been interwoven into the celebrations.

Continue reading ‘Canberra’s Centenary, and the Case for a Bigger ACT Assembly’ »

I spoke in parliament today about the importance of good fiscal management.

Matter of Public Importance – Fiscal Policy, 5 February 2013

It is a pleasure to rise today to speak on an important issue of economic management. When we talk about the importance of good budget management it is important to remember one simple fact: if the tax-to-GDP ratio today were the same as it had been under the Howard government then the budget would be strongly in surplus.

Dr Emerson:  By more than $20 billion.

Dr LEIGH:  By more than $20 billion, I am informed by the minister. But if the tax-to-GDP ratio under the Howard government had been what it is today then many of their budgets would have been in deficit. That is a simple fact which those opposite cannot deny. Driving things at the moment are two big factors. First of all, mineral prices have softened, and that has brought down corporate revenue. Second, the Australian dollar remains high. Why does the Australian dollar remain high? Because Europe is underperforming. With Europe underperforming, investors are looking around the world to where they can find AAA-rated government debt. And they are finding it in Australia, one of the few countries that maintains that AAA rating. Despite the fact that minerals prices are coming off, the Australian dollar remains high. So this double-whammy hits revenues, and this is reason revenues for 2012-13 are $20 billion down from what Treasury projected in 2010.

Continue reading ‘Good Fiscal Policy’ »

For the last week in January we had a chat about superannuation, industrial relations and the Coalition’s lack of policy vision.

With the parliamentary year having wrapped up, I thought I’d repost my call for potential interns and fellows. Details here (or below).

Continue reading ‘Internships and Fellowships’ »

I spoke in parliament today about the state of the Australian and global economy (and snuck in a few words of thanks to my staff, interns, volunteers and family).

Review of the Reserve Bank of Australia Annual Report, 29 November 2012

The review of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s annual report is an opportunity to reflect on the strength of the Australian economy and on some of the potential threats to that ongoing strength. If you had told any economic policy maker two decades ago that, three years after the biggest downturn since the Great Depression, the Australian unemployment rate would have a ’5′ in front of it, inflation would be in the middle of the target band and growth would be at around the long-term average, they would say that you were dreaming. But that has been the stand-out performance of the Australian economy over recent years.

Continue reading ‘The Australian Economy – Strengths and Risks’ »

I spoke in parliament today about outgoing Productivity Commission chairman Gary Banks.

Gary Banks, 26 November 2012

Canberra economist Gary Banks AO is stepping down after 14 years of service to the Productivity Commission. He was the Productivity Commission’s inaugural chairman and he was the executive commissioner of its predecessor, the Industry Commission.

The Productivity Commission and its predecessor bodies have done important work for major Labor reforms, whether that was tariff reform in the 1970s or competition reform in the 1990s. During Mr Banks’ term as chairman, the Productivity Commission has brought down important work on aged care policy, the National Disability Insurance Scheme and on carbon pricing. The Productivity Commission has also done critically important work on school reform and on reporting Indigenous disadvantage.

Continue reading ‘Gary Banks’ »

My terrific chief of staff (aka office manager) Louise Crossman has just been offered a job as women’s adviser to Julie Collins, Minister for Community Services, Indigenous Employment and Economic Development, and Status of Women. Louise has run my office wonderfully well over recent years, and many in the Canberra community will have had the opportunity to get to know her at community forums and other events.

I’m very sorry to see her moving on, but am also pleased that in past years, I’ve seen staff happily move into jobs with Ministers Combet, Garrett and Collins. No job is forever, and having the chance to work with a team bright and energetic people is one of the things I really enjoy about this job. Over the coming years, Louise is certain to make her mark on Australian politics.

Accordingly, I’m now looking for a new Louise. You can think of the job as a hybrid of ‘chief of staff’ (managing people) and office manager (managing paperwork). Successful applicant will need to be politically attuned, good at teamwork, and enjoy community development. Sense of humour a plus.

The official job ad is below.

OFFICE MANAGER

Applications are invited for the above position based in Canberra.

The duties of the positions include: managing a team of five full-time and part-time staff (plus volunteers), community engagement, liaising with government departments, preparing and coordinating correspondence, organising events and meetings.

Applicants should possess the following skills and experience:

• Experience in managing a medium-sized team in a high-pressure environment
• Passionate about community engagement
• Hard working and enthusiastic about addressing local issues
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Understanding of local media

Extensive understanding of government and parliamentary processes

A commencing salary between $67 956 and $76 548 will be paid, plus allowances up to $25 060, depending on skills and experience.

A probationary period of 3 months will apply.

Applications attaching a CV plus at least two referees should be forwarded to andrew.leigh.mp@aph.gov.au

Applications close on 21 November 2012. For further information please contact Louise Crossman, acting office manager, on 02 6247 4396.

Today Zed Seselja and Tony Abbott showed they don’t understand how much public service cuts hurt Canberra. My media statement with my ACT Federal colleagues is below.

Senator the Hon Kate Lundy

Senator for the Australian Capital Territory

Gai Brodtmann MP

Member for Canberra

Andrew Leigh MP

Member for Fraser

MEDIA STATEMENT

PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS

In an article in today’s Canberra Times, Tony Abbott said “I accept that Canberra did it tough for a year or so, but … Canberra did very well under the Howard Government.”

This demonstrates that Mr Abbott doesn’t understand the pain inflicted on Canberra by the Howard Government’s savage public sector cuts.

Continue reading ‘Running away from public servants’ »

I spoke in parliament today about good economic management and the importance of Oppositions – ACT and Federal – producing properly costed policies.

Matter of Public Importance, 10 October 2012

It is a pleasure to rise to speak in a debate on the strength of the Australian economy and the right policy settings. Any discussion about where the Australian economy is headed needs to recognise that we are in the midst of one of the biggest terms of trade shocks in Australia’s history. In the history of the Australian economy, when a terms of trade shock has come along—whether it was in the 1930s, 1950s or the 1970s—it has blown the place up. Yet, despite a massive increase in the terms of trade—a massive increase in the ratio of export prices to import prices—the Australian economy, this time, has remained strong. Unemployment has stayed at 5-point-something and inflation has stayed low.

Continue reading ‘Calling Coalition Costings: Come to Canberra’ »

I spoke in parliament today about the late war hero and public servant, Sir Richard Kingsland.

Sir Richard Kingsland, 13 September 2012

Sir Richard Kingsland passed away at Calvary John James Hospital after a short illness on Monday, the 27th. Like many of my constituents, his was a life of public service. His wartime service was marked by the bravery and ingenuity he displayed in the 1940 retrieval of Field Marshal Viscount Gort VC from a Moroccan hotel. It is a tale of derring-do that befits 007, perhaps with a hint of the Pink Panther.

Continue reading ‘Richard Kingsland’ »

I spoke today about Indigenous jobs in the public service.

Indigenous Public Service Jobs, 22 August 2012

As a member representing an electorate with a large number of public servants, I rise to speak about the employment of Indigenous Australians in the Australian Public Service. The government has set a target to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in the APS from 2.2 per cent in 2010 to 2.7 per cent by 2015. We are working through COAG to make sure similar goals are met in the states and territories. Disturbingly, the State of the Service Report 2010-11 noted a decrease in Indigenous employees from 3,383 to 3,236 in that financial year—a four per cent drop. That was the first fall in the number of Indigenous public servants since 2008.

Continue reading ‘Indigenous Jobs in the Public Service’ »

It was disappointing yet unsurprising to see the Liberals talking about job cuts in Canberra again today. My Federal Labor colleagues and I put out the below media statement about this.

MEDIA STATEMENT
22 August 2012

Gai Brodtmann MP
Federal Member for Canberra

Andrew Leigh MP
Federal Member for Fraser

Senator Kate Lundy
Senator for the Australian Capital Territory

PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS

In an article in today’s Australian Financial Review, Shadow Finance Minister Andrew Robb revealed Coalition plans to “outsource” key programs to state bureaucracies.

The Coalition announced 12,000 local job cuts at the last election. Since then, we’ve seen that number rise to 20,000 job cuts.
Continue reading ‘More talk of Canberra job cuts from the Coalition’ »

I moved a private member’s motion in the House of Representatives today on United Nations Public Service Day.

United Nations Public Service Day
25 June 2012

To move—That this House:
(1) recognises that:
(a) 23 June is the United Nations Public Service Day;
(b) democracy and successful governance are built on the foundation of a competent, career-based public service; and
(c) the day recognises the key values of teamwork, innovation and responsiveness to the public; and
(2) commends the Australian Public Service on continuing to be an international model of best-practice public service and providing outstanding services to the Australian community.

The United Nations General Assembly designated 23 June as United Nations Public Service Day. In the words of the UN, it is a day to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community. Public servants make an enormous contribution to the Australian community, and as a member for a seat based in the ACT I have the privilege of representing, meeting and working with a large number of public servants. Public servants form a significant portion of my community. In my electorate of Fraser we also benefit from a continual influx of people moving here to take up opportunities to serve the Australian public. We see this passion for community translated into a great benefit locally, the ACT having higher than average rates of volunteering and participation in sports and recreation—two indicators in which we top the nation.

Continue reading ‘United Nations Public Service Day’ »

My Chronicle column this week is about the late Nicole Osuch-Helsham.

A Life That is a Lesson for All of Us, The Chronicle, 5 June 2012

During the 2010 election campaign, one of the suburbs I doorknocked was Harrison. Before going door-to-door, I sent out a letter letting residents know I’d be in the area, and inviting people to contact me if they had any issues.

Nicole Osuch-Helsham phoned me up to say that after I’d finished doorknocking, her daughter Paige would like to interview me about politics. Nicole promised to provide coffee and cake.

When I arrived after an afternoon of doorknocking, a delicious cake had just come out of the oven, and 8 year-old Paige had a battery of questions. They were deeper questions than most professional journalists had been asking on the campaign trail: things like ‘So why are you in the Labor Party rather than the Liberal Party?’. (The following week, Paige also interviewed Liberal candidate James Milligan.)

After the interview was over, I told Nicole how impressed I was with Paige, but was also curious as to why she had invited me to pop by. It was then that Nicole told me that she had been diagnosed with secondary cancer – ‘not the Kylie Minogue kind of breast cancer, but the Jane McGrath kind’. The cancer had come back, and Nicole knew that she wouldn’t be around to share the teenage years with Paige and her younger sister Sierra. So she had quit her job, and was ‘packing all the parenting she could’ into the time remaining.

Continue reading ‘Family, Friends and Fate’ »

In parliament today, I moved a motion on the importance of a strong public service. The motion and speech are below.

A Strong Public Service
Private Member’s Motion
21 May 2012

To move—That this House:

(1) recognises the important role played by the Australian Public Service in upholding and promoting our democracy and its key role in ensuring stable government;

(2) commends the Australian Public Service on continuing to be one of the most efficient and effective public services in the world; and

(3) condemns plans by the Opposition to make 12,000 public servants redundant.

Continue reading ‘A Strong Public Service’ »

On Sky AM Agenda today, I spoke with presenter Kieran Gilbert and my regular counterpart Kelly O’Dwyer about public service jobs, the value of foreign aid, and the importance of the presumption of innocence in our legal system.

Parliament this afternoon chose to debate a Matter of Public Importance that I’d proposed.

My MPI was ‘The urgent need for market-based reforms and for strict and transparent budgeting’. Here’s my speech.

Matter of Public Importance – ‘The urgent need for market-based reforms and for strict and transparent budgeting’
13 March 2012

Today’s matter of public importance is on the need for market based reforms and the need for strict and transparent budgeting. I want to start by talking about market based mechanisms in dealing with environmental challenges. This used to be a pretty controversial area, and in fact the first person to raise it was none other than George HW Bush, who suggested that we might deal with environmental challenges by putting a price on the externality. He faced objections, but the objections at that time came from the Left. It was those on the progressive side of politics who took some time to come around.

Continue reading ‘Market-based reforms and transparent budgeting’ »

I have an opinion piece in today’s Canberra Times on eHealth.

eHealth Means All Are More Informed, Canberra Times, 12 March 2012

Recently, octogenarian Pat Douglass was the first patient in the ACT and southern New South Wales to sign up for an eHealth record, at Calvary Hospital. Calvary is one of 12 national projects that are pre-testing elements of the personally controlled electronic health record system.

Continue reading ‘eHealth’ »

I’ve put forward a private members’ motion in parliament this week on the importance of public services jobs, and am hoping it’ll be debated in the coming weeks.

Public Service

That this House:

(1) recognises the important role played by the Australian Public Service in upholding and promoting our democracy and its key role in ensuring stable government;

(2) commends the Australian Public Service on continuing to be one of the most efficient and effective public services in the world; and

(3) condemns plans by the Opposition to make 12,000 public servants redundant.

Moved: Andrew Leigh. Seconded: Gai Brodtmann

I spoke in parliament today about Joe Hockey’s extraordinary attacks on public servants.

Continue reading ‘A Strong Public Service’ »

The Regional Development Australia committee for the ACT is looking for community volunteers.

Continue reading ‘ACT Regional Development Committee’ »

Along with Gai Brodtmann and Kate Lundy, I’ve put out a statement today regarding a claim in the Canberra Times that the efficiency dividend will cost jobs. See also a piece that I wrote for the Canberra Times recently on the negative impact that the Liberals’ promised 12,000 job cuts will have on Canberra.

MEDIA STATEMENT

1 February 2012

Gai Brodtmann MP
Federal Member for Canberra

Andrew Leigh MP
Federal Member for Fraser

Senator Kate Lundy
Senator for the Australian Capital Territory

PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS

The figures presented in the Canberra Times today are not correct.

The Government believes it is important the public service continues to play its part in delivering savings to the Budget given tight fiscal conditions.

The Government expects agencies to continue to meet the efficiency dividend without resorting to forced redundancies.

We know the Liberal Party likes to boast about sacking 12,000 workers:

“For a start, 12,000 public servants in Canberra will be made redundant over a two-year period immediately upon us being elected.”
HOCKEY – Q&A – 27 JUNE 2011

However we expect agencies to create savings in areas including: reductions in the use of big consultancy firms and contractors; replacing travel with the use of virtual meeting facilities; reductions in agency spend on hospitality and entertainment; minimising media and advertising expenditure; reductions in printing and publication expenditure, and more efficient and consistent delivery of training.

The future figures for wages and salaries used by the Canberra Times do not account for new policies that may be agreed to by government in future budgets.  Adjusting for this would change the projections.

The figures also do not reflect the Government’s expectation that agencies meet the Efficiency Dividend from non-salary expenditure.  This means in future years the wage and salary figures are expected to increase at the expense of non-wage and salary departmental expenditure.

Unlike the Liberals, we believe that a strong public service is essential to support the community and deliver critical government programs.

My opinion piece in today’s Canberra Times looks at the local impact of the Coalition’s promised 12,000 public service job cuts.

Abbott Plans to Cut APS Heavily, Canberra Times, 20 January 2012

If US politics is the greatest show on earth, then the Republican Primaries must surely be Comedy Central. And no candidate is more radical than libertarian Ron Paul, who believes that there should be no income tax, no foreign aid, and no unemployment benefits. Among Ron Paul’s promises is a plan to abolish five government departments, getting rid of 10 percent of US public servants.

If you think this sounds radical, you may be interested to know that Tony Abbott’s promises are only a little less extreme. In the last election, the Coalition committed to getting rid of 12,000 public servants – around 7 percent of the Australian public service.

Continue reading ‘US Republicans Downunder’ »

With the parliamentary year having wrapped up, I thought I’d post another call for potential interns and fellows. Details here (or below).

In particular, I’m interested in students with data-crunching skills (eg. someone with one or two semesters of econometrics under their belt). There are a couple of empirical projects I’m keen to try out.

Continue reading ‘Internships and Fellowships’ »

Are you aged under 24, with a zest to represent other young Australians? Then why not apply for a position on the Youth Engagement Steering Committee for the 2012 Australian Youth Forum? Applications close 31 October 2011. Details here.

I spoke in parliament yesterday about the important role played by public sector workers – particularly teachers and public servants.

Continue reading ‘In praise of public sector workers’ »

The last parliamentary fortnight wrapped up with a debate over a motion moved by the Liberal Party about Australia’s ‘forgotten families’. I spoke in the debate, and used it as a chance to discuss the government’s achievements and agenda, and contrast them with the relentless negativity of the Opposition Leader.

Continue reading ‘Wrapping up the Parliamentary Week’ »

Due to recent events, I’ve now found myself looking for another staff member. The job ad is below. Please note that it’s only a 6 month stint. Applications close 15 July.

Continue reading ‘I’m Hiring’ »