The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA, WEEKEND FIRST EDITION WITH ALEX THOMAS
SATURDAY, 6 JUNE 2026
SUBJECTS: Australia's relationship with New Zealand, changes made to the recent budget, migration, AI.
ALEX THOMAS: And joining us live is Labor MP and Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, great to have you on the show. The Prime Minister meeting with Christopher Luxon up in Queensland. What do you think is going to be the main focus of those talks?
ANDREW LEIGH: The relationship with New Zealand is a strong one and we're engaging together on a range of fronts. Obviously, we work collaboratively on climate change. This is a conservative government committed to action on climate change and that work will continue. We're also firm advocates of open markets in New Zealand and Australia together have been working to reduce trade barriers, as we did in the most recent budget - continuing the important work of getting rid of tariffs for the benefit of all Australians.
ALEX THOMAS: The New Zealand Prime Minister having a bit of a dig, suggesting Australians’ unhappy with the recent negative gearing and CGT changes could head across the Tasman. Is that a serious concern or just a bit of banter?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, I think there's always been a friendly relationship between the two leaders. I know the Prime Minister said to me recently how much he values that relationship that he has had with successive New Zealand leaders and how important that long standing relationship is. It transcends parties and partisanship and really does reflect the fact that Prime Minister Albanese has worked so constructively with his engagements and international leaders of all political stripes.
ALEX THOMAS: Is that relationship and that co-operation, and sort of reasonably friendly trade terms, more important than ever at the moment with the sort of global economic challenges?
ANDREW LEIGH: Yes, absolutely. I mean, you look back to Mark Carney's comments about middle the importance of middle power liberal democracies standing up for the rule of law and for open markets. That has been something that Australia has worked collaboratively on. Of course, we engage wherever we can in Australia's interests with major and smaller countries alike. But if you look at the work that Don Farrell has been doing around trade, a lot of that has involved working with countries about our size in Europe.
ALEX THOMAS: It does contrast, though, rather with the latest tariffs announcement out of the US. There was the claim that Australia is using slave labour to make goods to be exported. What's your reaction to that?
ANDREW LEIGH: We've got very strong modern slavery laws which have been strengthened under this government. So, we take the issue extremely seriously and I would note that this has been an approach that the Trump administration has taken to around 50 different countries. We're of course continuing to press the case for open markets. Trade liberalisation is good for raising living standards. It increases number of jobs and increases wages. Economists disagree on lots of things, but one of the things we do agree with one another on is the benefits of free trade. Australia will continue making that case in the national interest.
ALEX THOMAS: We saw the Prime Minister with a staunch defence yesterday of his recent budget. That came at the Economic Outlook Forum run by Sky News and The Australian. Why do you think there's such a split between economic experts who are praising Australia's growth during what are difficult global conditions that we've already talked about versus those experts that predict recession is just around the corner?
ANDREW LEIGH: Alex, reform is hard. If it was straightforward then every government would do it. Often you see when governments embark on serious reform that they take a temporary hit in the polls. That was true of the Hawke government when it introduced capital gains tax and fringe benefits tax in the 1980s – taxes that are now simply taken for granted. What we're doing is engaging in the reform conversation with Australian people because we know that we can't continue down this path of having young Australians locked out of the Australian dream of home ownership. This budget delivers tax cuts for all working Australians. It makes our tax system fairer and it will support the building of 420,000 homes as part of the most ambitious home building agenda in 70 years.
ALEX THOMAS: Yeah, and I guess you've almost answered the question a little bit. I was going to say how concerned— your words sound great and I'm saying nothing to suggest I don't absolutely believe you. But you can understand there is scepticism amongst the voting public isn't there? They worry that announcements are made with a view to getting re-elected more than necessarily the actual benefits of it but you're clearly outlining there that this is going to have a benefit to Australians in real terms?
ANDREW LEIGH: Alex, if all you cared about was the polls then you wouldn't do any reform in the budget. What Treasurer Chalmers and Prime Minister Albanese have done has grasped the nettle of tax reform which has been called for experts such as the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, E61 and the Grattan Institute. You've had people like Rob Breuinig, Saul Esake, Chris Richardson, Aruna Sathanapally calling for reform for years. And it's taken our government to step up and put in place those important reforms that make the tax system fairer and the housing market more accessible for young Australians.
ALEX THOMAS: Andrew, I'm really keen to get your view on migration. Such a hot topic this week. And I guess the key thing that Australians are worried about is whether that person or persons coming into the country is a drain or a benefit on the Australian economy. What's your view?
ANDREW LEIGH: We have very clear evidence that migrants are a benefit to the Australian economy. As economists like to say, migrants aren't just mouths to feed, they are muscles to build and minds to inspire. You go on a construction site, 28% of the workers are born overseas. You go into a hospital, about 40% of the nurses and about 50% of the doctors are born overseas. Aged care workforce benefits from overseas born workers. And we also get innovation. Our last two Nobel laureates were born overseas. Australia really gains from that international know-how that comes in through local businesses, through research and development. It makes us more vibrant, more dynamic, more innovative and ultimately raises living standards.
ALEX THOMAS: Yeah, and it does key into this whole question about productivity and the need to raise it. Do you think Australian businesses are embracing AI enough when it comes to concerns over the country's productivity?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, they're embracing AI, but they could do it more. One of the challenges is improving diffusion. I gave a speech at the Chifley Institute forum recently talking about the diffusion agenda and the value of getting new practices out across Australia. There's understandable scepticism, but there's also huge gains to be made from better use of artificial intelligence, whether that's through things such as firms making use of new technologies in order to produce documents or produce imagery, improving websites or simply saving time through better processes. But workers need to have a voice and workers need to be well trained as they go through that process.
ALEX THOMAS: Okay. That is Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. Really appreciate your time on the show today. Thank you.
ENDS