E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AM AGENDA
MONDAY, 17 JUNE 2019

Subjects: Hong Kong protests, tax cuts, Paladin, medevac.

LAURA JAYES: Joining me now from Canberra is Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh. Before we get to the economic, the economic policies and those tax cuts passing or not passing through Parliament, I want to ask you first Dr Leigh about your view of what's happened in Hong Kong in the last week and whether the Australian Government has done enough to support these protesters or has there been this fear of a China backlash perhaps.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Good morning, Laura. Great to be with you. I really take my hat off to the bravery of those two million Hong Kongers who've taken to the streets to demand their fundamental liberties. Under the 50 year handover that was agreed in 1997, it is important that Hong Kong maintain that separate system and I’ve been surprised frankly that the Australian Government hasn't been speaking out in support of those protesters who've been arguing against the fugitive extradition laws.

SMALL-L LIBERALISM AND THE LABOR TRADITION*

KEYNOTE ADDRESS - SECOND ANNUAL HISTORY AND THE HILL CONFERENCE - AUSTRALIAN POLICY AND HISTORY

MELBOURNE

13 JUNE 2019

I acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and pay respect to their elders.

In many countries, social democrats are on the ropes. In the United States, Republicans control the White House and the Senate. At a state level, 23 states are fully controlled by Republicans, compared with just 15 by Democrats. In Britain, the internal turmoil inside the Conservative Party has not translated into support for Labour, with prominent Labour figures now joining the Liberal Democrats. In Germany, the 2017 election loss saw the social democrats record their worst defeat in the post-war era. In France, social democrats came fifth in the presidential election. Social democrats have also seen a collapse in their vote in the Netherlands, Italy and Hungary.

REAGAN'S TOP ECONOMIC ADVISER DIES

Australian Financial Review, 12 June 2019

A mark of a great policy economist is their willingness to stick to good science, even where it disagrees with their preferred side of politics. American economist Martin Feldstein, who died this week at the age of 79, was such a person.

From 1982 to 1984, Feldstein served as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, which effectively made him Ronald Reagan’s top economic adviser. While Reagan oversaw a massive increase in government debt, Feldstein urged balanced budgets. At a time when many in the Reagan administration were willing to let deficits balloon, Feldstein recognised that there are only two ways to pay for government spending: taxes now or taxes later.

I first met Marty, as he was generally known, as a student in a small graduate class on public finance in the early-2000s. His love of teaching was legendary, and he had for many years taught Economics 10, Harvard’s signature undergraduate class on economics. Among graduate students, Marty focused special attention on areas where he had published journal articles (he wrote more than 300) or op-eds (which he produced prolifically).

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC DRIVE MELBOURNE

WEDNESDAY, 5 JUNE 2019

Subjects: AFP raids, economy, Canberra.

HOST: Andrew Leigh is the ALP member for the seat of Fenner in the ACT, joining us from our Canberra studio. How are you going Andrew?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY:  Very well, Raf. G’day, Tim. How are you?

TIM WILSON: Good, Andrew. How are you?

LEIGH: Wonderfully well.

HOST: Tim, I’ll start with you, as a Government representative in some ways. Are you concerned by the raids? Are they an infringement on people's ability to report on government?

INDIGENOUS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP EVENT

OPENING ADDRESS

CANBERRA

31 MAY 2019

Like Auntie Roslyn Brown, I acknowledge that we're meeting on traditional lands of the Ngunnawal people and pay my respect to elders, past and present. I acknowledge the extraordinary leadership of Cindy Mitchell as the executive chief executive officer of Mill House Ventures, recognise Maree Sainsbury, Peter Radoll, Dennis Foley, Susan Moylan-Coombs, Adrian Appo and many other distinguished guests here today. I was a regular visitor to University of Canberra's campus during the course of the election campaign and I certainly hope to be back on a regular basis over the course of this term, and I'll say very briefly at the end of some remarks about one of those visits.

When I was at university, I worked as an instructor at Sport and Recreation camps. One of the things we used to teach children to do was to throw a boomerang. One of the great things you can do when you've got a group of kids around and they're looking at a boomerang is to turn the boomerang over so the flat side is up and ask them to tell you the difference between the two arms of the boomerang. Eventually they see the bevelled edge of the two arms sits on the bottom of one arm on the top of the other. When they reflect on it a bit more they realise that it's those two bevels that cause the boomerang as it spins to trace out an arc. In an instant they come to realise the sheer ingenuity of those who tens of thousands of years ago invented the boomerang.

APPOINTMENT AS A SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER

I am pleased to be appointed by Anthony Albanese as Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury.

Labor has always been the party that drives economic reform in Australia. When the Grattan Institute identified the ten biggest economic reforms of the past generation, six were Labor reforms, three were bipartisan, and only one was a Coalition idea.

The election result does not change the problems in the Australian economy. Living standards and wages have been stagnant for years. The business startup rate is falling. Household debt and government debt have skyrocketed. Australia is missing in action when it comes to global reform of the multinational tax and trading system. Poverty and inequality are too high.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC CANBERRA DRIVE

THURSDAY, 30 MAY 2019

Subjects: The federal election, Labor frontbench. 

ANNA VIDOT: Andrew Leigh, thank you for joining us this afternoon and commiserations.

ANDREW LEIGH, MEMBER FOR FENNER: Oh thanks, Anna. That's very kind, but terrific news that Katy Gallagher is in the shadow ministry. Canberrans can be confident that they're going to be well represented on Labor's frontbench.

VIDOT: And we're all on tenterhooks to find out exactly what portfolios she’ll be taking over. In a statement that you released earlier today, Andrew Leigh, you urged non-factionally aligned members of the Labor Party to stay engaged. But why should they, when your contribution has been rewarded in this way?

LEIGH: Well, I've had the privilege for the last six years of being on Labor's frontbench, working as the Shadow Assistant Treasurer on developing nearly 20 multinational tax policies, as Shadow Minister for Competition working on a dozen monopoly-busting policies and as the first-ever Shadow Minister for Charities and Not-for-Profits on engaging with the community sector and building their policies. So I've had a great privilege working on those policies and I'll be exceptionally active over the next three years to make sure that the values of Canberra and that my ideas on economics are incorporated into Labor's policy agenda for the next election.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

TELEVISION INTERVIEW

ABC AFTERNOON BRIEFING

THURSDAY, 30 MAY 2019

Subjects: The federal election, Labor frontbench, tax cuts.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Andrew Leigh is factionless. He was the assistant treasurer in the shadow Labor party, in the shadow ministry. Because he is factionless, he is not going to be on the frontbench and he joins us now. Andrew, welcome.

ANDREW LEIGH, MEMBER FOR FENNER: Thanks, Patricia. Great to be with you.

KARVELAS: You have made a career choice not to join a faction. Do you regret that a little today?

LEIGH: I have had six years working on the frontbench, Patricia, getting to work on the sorts of ideas that I engaged with when I was an economics professor. That privilege is a great one which is extended to very few people. And I found that not being in a faction has meant that I can move freely through the party. That’s the preference of the people who chose me in the ACT to be the Labor candidate for Fenner. I am not sorry about the decision I made. I understand the factional system, the factions have been around since the 1950s. I even wrote an academic article back in 2000 about the role of factions in the Labor Party. This is just an aspect of modern Labor.

STATEMENT ON THE SHADOW MINISTRY

My warmest congratulations to those chosen for the Labor frontbench today. Our party can be proud that we have so many talented people to serve in the shadow ministry.

I am privileged to have had the chance to serve for the past six years as part of Labor’s frontbench economic team.

As Shadow Assistant Treasurer, I developed 19 policies to close multinational tax loopholes and tackle the scourge of tax havens.

As Shadow Minister for Competition, I worked with the small business sector and consumer groups on a dozen reforms to rein in monopolies, including passing Labor’s access to justice legislation from opposition earlier this year.

As the first ever Shadow Minister for Charities and Not-for-Profits, I helped fight against the Coalition’s war on charities, and developed ten policies to strengthen non-profits and build a more vibrant community sector.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2GB MONEY NEWS
TUESDAY, 21 MAY 2019

Subjects: The federal election.

ROSS GREENWOOD: One person who has always been prepared to front up here on Money News is Dr Andrew Leigh, who was - perhaps, who knows what he might be in the future - and he’s on the line right now. Andrew, many thanks for your time.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Pleasure, Ross. How are you?