Andrew Leigh

SUBJECTS: Australian Institute of Sport Funding; Canberra Stadium; Ironman; Budget; Cost of Living relief; making HECS fairer; Commonwealth Prac Payment; Hamas-Israel Conflict; University Protests; High Court decision

LEON DELANEY (HOST): First up today the Federal Member for Fenner, the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury, Employment and probably a few other things that we don't know about. Andrew Leigh. Good afternoon.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon, Leon. I have to reassure you and your listeners there's no secret ministries with me.

DELANEY: I'm very relieved to hear that. Canberra's been getting a lot of love in the last couple of days. Obviously, we saw earlier this week the report from the committee inquiry into making Canberra great again, because I find that, as a phrase, much easier to remember than the actual name of the inquiry. And there were a lot of positives to come out of that. Today, of course, we've seen the announcement of $250 million for the revitalisation of the Australian Institute of Sport. What will that pay for?

LEIGH: Well, this is going to pay, Leon, as you said, for important investments in making sure that the AIS is ready for Brisbane 2032. That'll include the accommodation and the work around that precinct. The AIS, formed in 1981, was fundamental to Australia's success in the Sydney 2000 games. And we're investing again, eight years out from Brisbane in order to make sure that this facility is world class. That reflects the Federal Government's commitment to Canberra. You've had the investment in the National Art Gallery, the National Museum, in light rail. We are a government who takes Canberra seriously and recognises that investing in Canberra, is investing in the nation and investing in the nation's capital. This is really exciting. It was great to be out there this morning and chatting away with some of the sports people, including triathlete Zoe Clarke and runner Michael Roeger, as well as others in various sports who are going to be part of the future of elite sport.

DELANEY: Now, of course, as part of the announcement this morning, there was also a very small matter of $10 million towards the ACT Government's work to develop a Bruce precinct master plan. So, I assume this means that the Federal Government is on board with Chief Minister Andrew Barr's idea of developing a sporting and health precinct in Bruce, incorporating a new national sports stadium in that area, rather than locating a stadium in civic, where some people have suggested it should be.

LEIGH: Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, Leon. Today we've announced a quarter of a billion dollars for the AIS. The decision of the stadium is going to be further down the track, but certainly Bruce has a lot going for it. As a sports precinct, you've got the Brumbies training ground there. You've got the University of Canberra, which has more elite athletes among its student body than any other, and a great sporting research infrastructure. And then you've got the Australian Institute of Sport. So, the idea of linking those up is absolutely right. We'll have the AIS Arena opening soon. That is really important for getting that area mobilised. If you're a sports tragic, I imagine there'll be no better place to live in Australia than in Bruce.

DELANEY: Ok, I wanted to ask you about the AIS arena because it's not clear when that's going to be back online. So, do you have any update on the progress being made there?

LEIGH: Look, I'd expect it to happen in the coming weeks. They've been taking bookings for events. It's a matter for the ACT Government, so I don't have a precise date for you, but I'd expect to be any day now.

DELANEY: Well, that's very good news indeed. Now, I know that in other news, you've just completed a mammoth athletic event yourself, racking up another Ironman competition. What the devil do you think you're doing? You're going to kill yourself behaving like that.

LEIGH: Well, look, the Ironman is one of those events I really always looked at as a kid and thought that would be an amazing thing to do. And so now, as a politician, to have completed the three Australian Ironman races, I think, makes me the first politician crazy enough to do them. No, it's good fun. It's a 3.8k swim, 180k cycle and 42k run. The body's starting to recover now after the weekend.

DELANEY: Yeah, that was up in Port Macquarie, I believe.

LEIGH: Yeah, that's right, yeah, yeah. Beautiful course. Fantastic bunch of volunteers out there. Canberra don’t host an Ironman, the closest we have is the half Ironman distance, the Challenge Canberra event, which happens at the end of the year.

DELANEY: Yes, certainly Port Macquarie is a lovely destination, but I'm not quite sure I would be prepared to participate in an event like that just so I could visit Port Macquarie. It's obviously almost budget time and we've seen a number of pre budget announcements already, including today's announcement about the Australian Institute of Sport. The Treasurer has been talking about providing more cost of living relief. How is it possible to do that without also encouraging inflation?

LEIGH: It's about making sure the cost of living relief is targeted and we're not engaging in the sort of unfunded cash flash that our predecessors did, Leon. They tended to spend almost all of the revenue upgrades. We've been banking most of ours. To be precise, they banked about 40% of the revenue upgrades. We banked closer to 90% last year. We delivered the first surplus in 15 years and we can see another surplus within sight so long as we make those responsible decisions. But it is also about investing in the future. And the decision to reduce the student debt for 3 million Australians announced earlier this week I think will be very welcomed by Canberrans. For somebody with a typical HECS debt that’s taken $1,200 off their debt. And also to be investing in those practical training places for the next generation of teachers, nurses and social workers. So, we’re doing targeted investments, not an unfunded cash splash. And that's how we're able to take pressure off inflation.

DELANEY: Ok, those practical placement payments are an excellent idea, but why do some students miss out, including psychology students, which I would have thought would be very important? There's a shortage of workforce in that field. Dietitians have also put their hand up and said, well, why do we miss out? We have compulsory practical placements in our qualification training as well. Medical students have missed out. Apparently there's a host of important professions that apparently have missed out.

LEIGH: Leon, we're guided by the recommendations of the Australian Universities Accord, and it suggested that we start with these professions. They're the professions where we're seeing the highest risk of dropout. And what you really don't want as a society is to put those resources into training someone, then have them go into prac poverty and discover that they can't get through the prac. So, it's social workers, teachers, nurses where we're seeing the greatest extent of the problem. I don't deny that it's an issue elsewhere, but we've begun with those occupations, which are highly feminised, most at risk of students not completing their studies as a result of not being able to afford the prac period.

DELANEY: I know it's a terribly bolshy thing to suggest, but I've always thought that students applying themselves at tertiary education, attempting to contribute to the community, ultimately should get a higher rate of payment than people that are on Jobseeker just not doing much at all.

LEIGH: Well, they're certainly going to be earning more over the course of their lifetime. So, part of this question is making sure you're supporting people through the course of their studies, but also recognising that doing a university degree boosts your lifetime earnings by a million dollars or more. And so it's appropriate to provide that support during the university period, but also to recognise that these are people who'll typically find themselves in the top half of the income distribution in a lifetime sense.

DELANEY: While we're talking about universities, what do you make about this spate of protests on university campuses, including here in Canberra, apparently in support of the Palestinian people? Fine. But it appears that some of them are actively promoting Hamas, a terrorist organization and there are accusations or allegations of some anti semitic behaviour, including here at the ANU.

LEIGH: There's no space for antisemitism or for Islamophobia in Australia. I think it's appropriate to be pro Palestine, pro Israel and pro peace. And so we ought to have peaceful protests, but we can't have the kinds of protests that are spreading hate speech and disunity in Australia. I'm really keen to make sure that we have an Australia that is more united around questions of ethnic and religious diversity. That's one of the goals of our Government, is to bring people together, not tear them apart. It's always been our goal as we pursue our foreign policies, but also as we try and ensure that we have a more cohesive community here at home.

DELANEY: You talk about being pro Palestine, pro Israel and pro peace, but it seems rather difficult to be all three at once.

LEIGH: Not at all. I think you want to support a two state solution that's at the very heart of getting peace in the Middle East. Australia is not a central player, but we have been a long standing advocate for a two state solution. That is not a solution which extreme elements of Israeli politics are for. It's not what Hamas wants. So, to be in favour of a two state solution is the way of supporting the best interests of Israelis and Palestinians living in harmony in the future.

DELANEY: And it appears that the government has had a win in the High Court today, with the High Court ruling in favour of the government's position in relation to the detention of a individual who was suggesting that he should not be deported to Iran. Is that a win for the government or is that a loss for human rights?

LEIGH: We certainly welcome the decision of the High Court and we always recognised the separation of powers. We respect decisions of the High Court where we disagree with them. You expect me to say this as somebody who was a High Court associate to Michael Kirby some years back, but it's certainly a decision that we welcome as a government.

DELANEY: All right. And obviously, we're still looking at the outcome in terms of the legislation the government is attempting to put through. It's still in an inquiry at the moment, isn't it?

LEIGH: Yes. I mean, the Coalition of Liberals, Greens and nationals have decided to stall that legislation in the Senate. I think that's disappointing. This is really about making sure that people who are not valid refugees aren't able to stymie their removal process. It's important to ensuring that we adhere to the rule of law here in Australia. The minor parties and the opposition ought to step out of the way and pass the bill.

DELANEY: But when we're talking about matters of human rights and in some instances life and death, surely it's worthwhile taking the time to deliver adequate scrutiny of legislative measures.

LEIGH: Well, the Liberals voted for this in the House, and yet they sent it off to a Senate inquiry in order to slow it down. I'm not quite sure where they're at on this bill, but if you want to achieve a sensible outcome which ensures that there is a clear removal pathway for people found not to have a valid asylum claim, then you need to support this bill. It only goes to a small number of people who are opposing the attempt to remove them from Australia once they've been found not to have a valid asylum claim.

DELANEY: Andrew, thanks very much for your time today.

LEIGH: Thank you. Leon.