Andrew Leigh

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TELEVISION INTERVIEW

BUSINESS NOW

WEDNESDAY, 6 APRIL 2022

SUBJECTS: Engaged Egalitarianism and why the Australian recovery must prioritise openness; Labor’s plans to tackle multinational tax avoidance; Labor’s Powering Australia plan; Labor’s plan to ease the costs of living and support economic growth.

ROSS GREENWOOD, HOST: The Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury Dr Andrew Leigh today laid out a plan to increase foreign investment into Australia as he delivered the Economic Society of Victoria's biennial Stan Kelly lecture. Andrew Leigh joins us now from Melbourne. Andrew, many thanks for your time, as always. Before we get to foreign investment, I want to go to Scott Morrison, who's in the Hunter Valley. We've just heard him only just in the last few minutes criticising Labor for not putting in a tax cap of 23.9 per cent as the government has, saying that effectively if you did not have a tax cap, this would mean Labor would continue to tax at higher levels and therefore hang on to more of the people's money. How do you respond to that?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Scott Morrison's a desperate man who will say anything and do anything. The fact is that his tax to GDP ratio of 22.1 per cent is considerably higher than the tax to GDP ratio of 20.9 per cent of the previous Labor Government. This is the second highest taxing government in the post-war period, after only the Howard Government. So Scott Morrison has no leg to stand on when it comes to higher taxes-

HONEY, I SHRANK THE GROCERIES

The New Daily, 2 April 2022

Freddo Frogs were reduced from 15g to 12g – but the price stayed the same. New varieties of Tim Tams mostly have nine biscuits in a pack, not the 11 biscuits you’ll find in the original pack. Many brewers have shrunk the size of their beers down from 375ml to 330ml, while some winemakers are selling 700ml bottles rather than the usual 750ml.

Dubbed ‘shrinkflation’ by US economist Pippa Malmgren, the term refers to a cunning trick that manufacturers like to pull: Selling us less product for the same price. In recent times, Maltesers fun-size bags have dropped in weight from 144g to 132g. Smiths chips have shrunk from 200g to 170g. A tube of Pringles has downsized from 165g to 134g.

Bob Hawke: Demons and Destiny

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, 29 March 2022

The first time I met Bob Hawke in person, he shook my hand and looked directly into my eyes. It felt like the two of us were in a bubble, cordoned off from the rest of the world. Hawke was 70 years old, and eight years out of the prime ministership, but he still had his famous animal magnetism. The only other time I’ve experienced this magic trick was when I shook hands with Bill Clinton.

Troy Bramston’s new biography of Bob Hawke captures the energy and achievements of Australia’s longest-serving Labor prime minister. Raised by parents who often told friends that their son would be prime minister, Hawke made his reputation by winning substantial wage rises for workers. It earned him the admiration of the union movement and the epithet “Mr Inflation” from the conservatives.

PRO-GROWTH AND BUSINESS

The Australian, 1 April 2022

Labor’s credentials on social justice are well known. Ours is, after all, the party that was founded by workers in 1891, and whose achievements include the pension, Medicare and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

But Labor’s economic credentials are also an important part of our story. Trade liberalisation, floating the dollar, and competition reform are enduring achievements of my side of politics. We know that you can’t have a strong labour market without strong companies. Unlike left-wing extremists who criticise economic growth, we’re passionate pro-growth progressives.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
6PR MORNINGS
WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2022

SUBJECT: Federal Budget.

LIAM BARTLETT, HOST: To discuss the federal budget today, the ramifications and the fallout from the government and the opposition, we welcome the federal Liberal Senator for WA and Attorney-General Michaelia Cash. Michaelia, good morning. How are you?

MICHAELIA CASH, ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Good morning, Liam. I think more appropriately, I hope you're doing all right.

BARTLETT: I'm in splendid isolation. I can't complain.

CASH: I do apologise. You can actually hear the bells in the background. So I'm calling in from Canberra where the Senate is sitting.

BARTLETT: Absolutely. We understand that. We appreciate your time this morning, Minister. And from the opposition in our Canberra studio, the Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury and Charities, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, good morning to you.

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RADIO INTERVIEW

2CC BREAKFAST

WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2022

SUBJECT: Federal Budget.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, HOST: There's a certain predictability, post budget, to radio programs because the government will always tell you, the government of the day will always tell you that the budget has been absolutely spectacular. The opposition will tell you why it's a failure. We've heard from the government - Simon Birmingham, the Finance Minister, joined us to tell us why it's good. To tell us why it's bad, the Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury, Andrew Leigh, is with us. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Good morning, Stephen. Great to be with you and your listeners.

CENATIEMPO: Why is this a bad budget?

LEIGH: A trillion dollars of debt and so little to show for it. I mean, you look at the real wages going backwards. Canberra households would be feeling the pinch and knowing that in the time that the coalition has been in office, wages in real terms have grown only 1.4 per cent-

CHRIS BOWEN MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY
MEMBER FOR MCMAHON

ANDREW BARR
ACT CHIEF MINISTER
TREASURER
MINISTER FOR CLIMATE ACTION

ANDREW LEIGH MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES

ALICIA PAYNE MP
MEMBER FOR CANBERRA

DAVID SMITH MP
MEMBER FOR BEAN 

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DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
CANBERRA
MONDAY, 28 MARCH 2022

SUBJECTS: Community battery announcements for Canberra; infrastructure funding in the ACT; Western Sydney Airport; election prospects; National Cabinet.

ALICIA PAYNE, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Good afternoon, everyone and thank you for coming. I'm Alicia Payne, the Member for Canberra and it's my great pleasure to be here this afternoon with our Chief Minister Andrew Barr, and my federal colleagues, the Member for Bean, David Smith and Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh to welcome Chris Bowen, our Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy to Canberra to make this great announcement this afternoon about community batteries. 

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RADIO INTERVIEW

5AA MORNINGS

MONDAY, 28 MARCH 2022

SUBJECT: Federal Budget.

GRAEME GOODINGS, HOST: Joining me now is Dr Andrew Leigh, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury. Dr, good morning. Thanks for being with us.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Good morning, Graeme. Great to be with you and your listeners.

GOODINGS: Australia's national debt is approaching a trillion dollars. Can we afford all these handouts?

LEIGH: This is certainly the highest our debt’s ever been. I’m old enough to remember Malcolm Turnbull launching a debt truck when he was fear mongering about $300 billion of debt. Now debt’s up at three times that level, from a government that promised when they came into office they'd have the budget in surplus in the first year and every year after that. Only a couple of years ago, they were printing these ‘Back in Black’ coffee mugs, which they then had to smash by the dozen because they've failed to meet their own fiscal forecasts. But even more worrying is the quality of the spend. You've got sports rorts. You’ve got $20 billion of JobKeeper to firms with rising revenues. You've got overpaying by tenfold for land near the Western Sydney Airport, and the car park rorts scandal that we saw the last election. Extraordinarily Graeme, there seems to be more money in the budget for car parks, despite the fact that for so many of the car parks that they announced last time around construction has never commenced.

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RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC CANBERRA MORNINGS

MONDAY, 28 MARCH 2022

SUBJECTS: Increasing threats to politicians and political staff; Canberra protesters; the federal election.

ADAM SHIRLEY, HOST: When you get talking politics, how do you express yourself? Do you get a bit passionate? It's understandable. Fiery? It’s a bit on the margins. Aggressive? Politicians, journalists, you listening now, I want to have a frank discussion about the words, the sledges and the abuse that can seep in and what that can lead to. The federal Member for Fenner here in Canberra, Andrew Leigh, was last week granted a personal protection order in the ACT Magistrate's Court. He doesn't want sympathy, he doesn't want sorrow. What he does want is for us to be aware of the way the environment is changing for MPs. Dr Leigh, thanks for your time today.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Pleasure, Adam. Great to be with you.

SHIRLEY: I know that discussing the specifics of the protection order is problematic. But in very general terms, why have you sought it and needed it?

LEIGH: It's because of the nature of a particular threat that we faced in the office, and that's a challenge to me being able to do my job as an MP and to engage with the general public. One of the things I really love about representing Canberra is being out on the street stalls, door knocking, engaging directly with people. And the last thing I want to do is to be forced to retreat from that sort of activity. But I mentioned it publicly, Adam, because I think it is important for people to know that the environment is changing. The sort of toxic brew that we've seen in the United States now has a situation where there's more Americans that believe in the wacky QAnon conspiracy theory - that the government's controlled by a Satan-worshipping paedophile sex trafficking ring - then there are left handers in America. Fifteen per cent of Americans believe in QAnon. In Britain, there's been two members of parliament killed over the past decade, just doing their jobs. And so we need to make sure in Australia that we carve out a safe space for political discourse, for people to disagree without being disagreeable. Because if we lose that, I think that is really a danger for democracy.

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TELEVISION INTERVIEW

SKY NEWS FIRST EDITION

FRIDAY, 25 MARCH 2022

SUBJECTS: Australia and the Pacific; the Federal Budget; Cost of living rising under Scott Morrison; Fuel excise; Vaccines.

PETE STEFANOVIC, HOST: Joining us live now from Canberra is the Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, good morning to you. Before we talk about the budget, what's Labor's response to that deal?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Pete, it's ultimately a matter for the Sogavare Government and the people of the Solomon Islands. But Australia's traditionally had a close relationship with the Solomon Islands, going back to the 2003 RAMSI stabilisation mission. And this really does point to what happens when a coalition government takes office, cuts foreign aid to its lowest level, and talks about a ‘Pacific step up’ but fails to deliver. This has got concerning security implications for Australia, and Labor will look to be briefed on what the government’s planning to do.

STEFANOVIC: So we've been sleeping at the wheel here, in your opinion?

LEIGH: Well, this ‘Pacific step up’ just seems to have been talk rather than action. You can't cut foreign aid to its the lowest level in the generation and not expect that to have repercussions. That's why foreign aid cuts don’t just have impacts on poverty. The Morrison Government's decision to cut foreign aid also has its flow on impact on national security.