Andrew Leigh

MEDIA RELEASE

KING CHARLES III NOW ON AUSTRALIAN COINS

The first coins featuring the effigy of His Majesty King Charles III have now been manufactured by the Royal Australian Mint and released into circulation.

The first coins bearing the King’s effigy are the $1 circulating coin. The first batch of 3.5 million coins have been delivered to the banks and will now start appearing in cash registers across the country.

The remaining denominations of circulating coins will be released progressively in 2024, based on bank demand.

A variety of collector and investment coins bearing the King’s effigy are expected to be available for sale early next year.

CAN AMERICA LIVE UP TO THE AMERICAN DREAM?

SPEECH 

AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, CANBERRA

WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2023

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people on whose lands we're meeting today and acknowledge all First Nations people present.

I am honoured to have this invitation to address the members of the American Chamber of Commerce today. Founded in 1961, AmCham has a proud history of fostering stronger ties between our two countries. Fundamentally, commerce comes down to the interpersonal links between people. Your organisation is in good hands with CEO April Palmerlee, who not only has a strong commitment to the bilateral relationship, but also comes to the role with an impressive history of distance running. April has run ultramarathons in multiple countries, and organised running events: perfect training for getting business leaders to run towards a shared goal.

My focus today is on how the United States can live up to the American Dream. The best of America is on our screens and in our pockets. Hollywood, Silicon Valley and New York produce movies, devices and pharmaceuticals that are used the world over. Yet compared with other advanced countries, the United States ranks low on democracy and social mobility and high on inequality (Isaacs 2016; OECD 2023).  

Like many families, the influence of the United States can be seen in mine. My father, Michael Leigh, graduated from the University of Melbourne with an interest in southeast Asia. He was encouraged to undertake his PhD at Cornell University, where he wrote about government and business links in Malaysia. My Australian-born mother joined him, and they were married at Cornell’s chapel in 1967. They were in the United States in 1968, the year that Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated, and saw the racial reckoning shape life on the Cornell campus and beyond.

E&OE Transcript
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC CANBERRA DRIVE WITH ROSS SOLLY
TUESDAY, 5 DECEMBER 2023

SUBJECTS: Reserve Bank decisions; Cost of living support; Preventive detention

ROSS SOLLY: So, as you’ve been hearing in the news, the Reserve Bank today – no surprises – but they’ve decided to keep the interest rates on hold. I’m sure that’s going to be coming as a big relief for a lot of homeowners around the country and here in the national capital and surrounding districts.

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh I’m sure is also quite relieved. He is just back from competing in a triathlon, in fact, in Western Australia – as you do. Minister, thanks for coming on the show.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES, COMPETITION, EMPLOYMENT AND TREASURY ANDREW LEIGH: A real pleasure, Ross. We don’t have Ironman triathlons in the national capital, which is why you’ve got to travel to get to them. But a wonderful event.

Ultramarathons and audiobooks go together like sushi and soy sauce. In a big running year, I’ve largely eschewed podcasts for audiobooks. Here’s some of the books I’d recommend. Most are new, but some are merely new to me. Within each category, I’ve mostly put my favourites at the top.

Economics

• Claudia Goldin, Career and Family – the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics writes masterfully about how the world has changed for women across the past century, blending together work and family, and drawing lightly on data and stories to tell the tale.
• Angus Deaton, Economics in America – in the tradition of Alistair Cooke, Angus Deaton has been writing a regular letter for UK economists. This book draws together much of that material, casting light on poverty in the US, the culture of the economics profession, and containing a beautiful tribute to the late Tony Atkinson.
• Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America – the author of Evicted blends statistics and stories to dive deep into the failure of the world’s richest nation to address the problem of poverty.
• Bradford DeLong, Slouching Towards Utopia – the twentieth century has seen an explosion in material wealth… and inequality. A data-rich account of how the world has changed, and how we might do better still.
• Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington, The Big Con – consulting has its place, but the authors powerfully argue that it’s outgrown it. A book that preceded – and in some sense anticipated – the PwC scandal.
• Bradley Hope & Tom Wright, Billion Dollar Whale – the gobsmacking tale of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal
• David Graeber, Bullshit Jobs – as an economist, I don’t buy the whole argument, but it’s well worth reading
• Judea Pearl, The Book of Why – this thoughtful discussion of causal inference contains insights for any social scientist involved in analysing data. A little too long, a little too dogmatic in parts – but brilliant nonetheless.

Politics

• Greg Berman and Aubrey Fox, Gradual – this compelling argument for gradual reform draws on examples of big reforms that started gradually (US social security). Big bang reforms, the authors argue, rarely work. Besides that, they aren’t what most voters seek.
• Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny – twenty lessons from the twentieth century about how to spot a burgeoning authoritarian, and what citizens can do to prevent the rise of tyranny.
• Paul Kenny, Why Populism? – one of the world’s academic experts in populism explores its troubling rise
• Philip McKibbin, Love Notes: For a Politics of Love – if there’s an antidote to angry populism, it’s the idea of a politics of love. Drawing on examples from Nelson Mandela to Māori culture, New Zealander Philip McKibbin sketches out what a politics of love might look like today.

Travel

• Adam Gopnik, Paris to the Moon – a wonderfully witty tale about writing and childrearing in the city of light
• Ari Shapiro – The Best Strangers in the World – so it turns out that Ari isn’t just a storytelling journalist, he’s also a singer for a major band (Pink Martini). Yes, I’m jealous. Yes, the book is fabulous.

E&OE Transcript
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC CANBERRA AFTERNOONS WITH LEON DELANEY
FRIDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2023

SUBJECTS: Productivity Commission interim report into philanthropy; Reform of tax deductions system for charity donations; House of Representatives Committee Report on Employment Services; Advanced manufacturing policy; Cost-of-living relief in MYEFO.

LEON DELANEY: Well, there's a lot going on in the Federal Parliament at the moment. I think there's only one more sitting week left to go. Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Assistant Minister for Employment, and local member for Fenner, Dr Andrew Leigh, good afternoon.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES, COMPETITION, TREASURY AND EMPLOYMENT ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon, Leon. Great to be with you and your listeners.

DELANEY: I've got that right, haven't I? There's one more week to go.

LEIGH: There's a week for the Senate and a day for the House, an extra day to deal with any legislation that gets amended in the upper House.

2023 AUSTRALIAN IMPACT INVESTING AWARDS

Australian Impact Investment Awards, Sydney
Thursday 30 November 2023

Introduction 

Thank you for inviting me to speak to you and join in celebrating the Australian Impact Investing Awards. 

As you all know, your work today through impact investing creates vital opportunities to improve the lives of those who are disadvantaged in our community.

For this, I commend you, and congratulate today’s award recipients.

Recently, the Australian Government partnered with the New South Wales Government to trial an innovative homelessness intervention, called Foyer Central. 

This trial aims to provide accommodation and support services to young people exiting out of home care, or at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness in Sydney.

COMPETITION AND BUSINESS DYNAMICS
Australia Financial Review CFO Live Summit, Melbourne
Tuesday 28 November 2023

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.

I pay my respects to the Elders past and present, and acknowledge any First Nations Australians with us today.

Introduction

Australia thrives on competition.

It is most obvious in our love of sports – even unexpected wins like the One Day Cricket World Cup – but it goes deeper than that.

You can’t have a fair go without competition.

Especially when we’re feeling the pinch of the cost-of-living pressures.

E&OE Transcript
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO MELBOURNE DRIVE WITH ALI MOORE
MONDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2023

SUBJECTS: Reform of the RBA; Appointment of a new Deputy Governor of the RBA; Dismissal of Mike Pezzullo.

ALI MOORE: You'll know that review into the Bank's operations that happened earlier this year and it's led to legislation that's now being introduced to Federal Parliament. The legislation is going to create a new board that's going to have the sole job of setting interest rates and the reforms are also going to remove a little known mechanism that allows the government to overrule the Reserve Bank. Also, the Government has announced today the new Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank, a central banker who is going to come from the UK. Andrew Leigh is Assistant Minister for competition, Charities and Treasury. Andrew Leigh welcome to Drive.

ASSISTANT MINSTER FOR CHARITIES, COMPETITION, TREASURY AND EMPLOYMENT ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks, Ali. Great to be with you and your listeners.

AUSTRALIANS URGED TO GIVE GENEROUSLY

Tuesday 28 November is ‘Giving Tuesday’. Created eleven years ago, Giving Tuesday follows the shopping day ‘Black Friday’. Where Black Friday encourages spending, Giving Tuesday encourages generosity.

Right now, many charities are feeling squeezed. In some cases, donors and volunteer support has fallen, while demand for help has risen. The end of the year is a time when some charities, including food relief and crisis support organisations, are at their busiest.

IS SOCIAL MEDIA WORSENING YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH?

SPEECH

LIFELINE AUSTRALIA ANNUAL MEMBERS FORUM

SYDNEY, 24 NOVEMBER 2023

Thank you very much for that generous introduction. Chris Siorokos and I have known one another for 32 years, and he doesn’t look like he’s aged a day since we first met. As well as having the gift of eternal youth, Chris is a man of remarkable intellect, generosity and purpose. You are fortunate to have him as your Executive Director.

We’re meeting on the traditional lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I acknowledge their Elders, past and present and acknowledge any First Nations people present.

It is a real honour to be speaking to the Lifeline Australia Annual Members Forum in this year, the 60th anniversary of Lifeline. My grandfather, Keith Leigh was a Methodist minister, a bit like Alan Walker, who founded Lifeline back in 1963. I never had the chance to meet my paternal grandfather, but that ethos of service was one that I was very aware of growing up. The story of Alan Walker's founding Lifeline is remarkable. Lifeline Australia took its first telephone call within a minute of the telephone lines opening. It took 100 calls on the first day and it now routinely takes over 1000 calls a day. You've been an inspiration to similar organisations around the world ever since you were profiled in Time magazine back in 1964. Your introduction of a text messaging service and online platforms are absolutely vital. You have saved many Australian lives and brought meaning to many more.