Andrew Leigh

Celebrating the Australian Institute of Sport's support for our Paris Olympians
Constituency Statements, Federation Chamber
Wednesday 14 August 2024

Most of our Olympians are coming home today and with them 53 medals—the best medal tally for Australia since the Sydney games. There have been some remarkable stories over in Paris: 43-year-old basketballer Lauren Jackson earning her fifth Olympic medal; cyclist Matthew Glaetzer, who lost four bronze medal races in the past four Olympics, beating thyroid cancer and finally getting an Olympic medal in Paris; and Jessica Hull becoming the first Australian woman to claim a medal in the 1,500m and propelling the athletics team to its best result since Melbourne in 1956. We saw Saya Sakakibara, the BMX gold medal winner, with an emotional tribute to her brother Kai. We saw Jess Fox taking home six individual medals in total over her various games, and we've now seen her sister Noemie win in the first-ever kayak cross event. The Fox family in itself would have ranked 29th on the medal table. Kayak cross was supported by the Albanese government's $20 million Paris preparation fund. Then we had 14-year-old skateboarding gold medallist, Arisa Trew, who said to her parents that she would now like a pet duck.

Taxation (Multinational—Global and Domestic Minimum Tax) Bill 2024 - Second Reading Speech

It's important to see this in its historical and international context. No government in Australian history has done more on multinational tax fairness than the Albanese government. No government around the world is doing more to improve multinational tax integrity than Australia.

THE FUTURE OF MEDICARE: RESEARCH-INFORMED POLICY FOR BETTER ACCESS AND HEALTH

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Symposium
Wednesday 19 June 2024, Canberra

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal elders, on whose traditional lands we meet, and pay respect to all First Nations people here today.

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a father proudly tells his son ‘When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.’

Building Medicare wasn’t easy. In the 1960s, economists John Deeble and Dick Scotton of the University of Melbourne carried out an industry study of the health care sector. In a recent article, Ross Williams recounts their work (Williams 2024). Using data on 5000 people across four states, combined with Ronald Henderson’s poverty survey, Deeble and Scotton showed the problems in the existing system.

They found numerous shortcomings. Pensioners got free health care, but low-income workers didn’t. Around one in five Victorians lacked health insurance, and therefore risked a double whammy – if they became badly ill, they could lose their life savings to medical bills. Meanwhile, the system was regressive, since the most affluent enjoyed tax deductibility of both premiums and co-payments.

DISCOVERING WHAT WORKS: WHY RIGOROUS EVALUATION MATTERS*

Australian Evaluation Showcase
Monday 17 June 2024, Canberra

*** CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY ***

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners of these lands, and pay respect to all First Nations people present.

You might think that certain truths are so self-evident that they transcend the need for evidence. For example, in the area of education, surely we know that:

• Parents are more likely to get their kids to school with the threat of losing income support.
• Literacy tests are a fair representation of students’ ability.
• Early childhood staff have the skills they need. 
• A health program that is co-designed with students and educators will address adolescents’ risk behaviours.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AT WORK: CHANGING DEMAND FOR AI SKILLS IN JOB ADVERTISEMENTS*
Australian Bureau of Statistics and Reserve Bank of Australia Joint Conference on Human Capital
11 June 2024, Sydney

I acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of these lands, and pay respect to all First Nations people present.

Barely a day goes by without someone discovering a new use for artificial intelligence. Financial institutions are using AI to detect fraud, by looking for unusual transaction patterns. AI integrated with virtual reality is being used to create highly realistic training simulations for pilots, first responders and surgeons. Musicians are using AI to create new instruments and vocal processes. Educators are using AI to personalise the learning experience. Dating coaches are using AI to train people on finding their perfect match. Gardeners are using AI to choose which plants will work best together, schedule optimal watering times and devise pest control strategies. Carers are using AI to craft fictional stories that are perfectly tailored for young listeners.

AI engines have matched and exceeded humans on a range of tests. As Stanford University’s AI Index 2024 Annual Report points out, artificial intelligence has exceeded human benchmarks on tasks such as reading comprehension, image classification and visual reasoning (see Figure 1). As AI has surpassed these benchmarks, researchers have had to identify new challenges, such as competition-level mathematics, where AI has moved from 10 per cent of human-level performance in 2021 to 90 per cent on the latest estimates (Maslej et al 2024).

 A MORE COMPETITIVE AUSTRALIA
Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2024-2025 
Consideration In Detail, 6 June 2024

When Labor came to office, Australia's economy was insufficiently competitive. We had seen one of the lousiest decades of productivity growth in the postwar era. Australia's household living standards had suffered, and real wages had flatlined as a result of what they described as a ‘deliberate design feature’ of their economic architecture. And so Labor, since taking office, has set about injecting a little bit more dynamism, a little bit more competition, into the Australian economy.

We know that the Australian economy under the former government had some serious competition problems. We know that, over that period, we saw an increase in market concentration in many industry sectors. Work by the OECD's Dan Andrews and Macquarie University's Elise Dwyer has shown that, if you compare Australia and the United States across 17 industries, the Australian economy is more concentrated than the US economy in 16 out of those 17 industries. This isn't just a matter of Australia being a medium-sized economy. If you look over the period from 2006 to 2020, Dan Andrews and Elise Dwyer find that the Australian economy became more concentrated, not less. Our size grew, but the market concentration problem got worse.

MR BILL WOOD AM
Constituency Statement, House of Representatives
Thursday, 30 May 2024

Labor people are proud of the fact that ours is Australia's oldest and greatest political party, formed in 1891, 133 years ago. But Bill Wood had a special claim. He could say he had been a member of the Australian Labor Party for more than half its existence.

REPAIRING PRODUCTS AND REINVIGORATING COMPETITION
Opening remarks to the Griffith University Law Futures Centre
23 May 2024, Brisbane

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge the elders, customs and traditions of the Jagera and the Turrbul, from both sides of the Maiwar and all First Nations people present today.

I would like to thank Griffith University Law Futures Centre for inviting me to provide opening remarks ahead of the lecture by Assistant Professor Anthony Rosborough.

I thank Professor Leanne Wiseman for organising this event and bringing everyone together – including students, researchers and policymakers – to consider the right to repair through the lens of competition policy and market power. Having had the pleasure of speaking at your 2022 Australian Repair Summit, it’s terrific to be joining you again.

To those of you attending today, I thank you for advocating on behalf of Australian consumers and business.

TOGETHER WE THRIVE: CELEBRATING THE IMPACT OF VOLUNTEERING
Queensland Volunteering Awards, Volunteering Queensland
Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane
22 May 2024

I acknowledge the Jagera people and the Turrbal people as the Traditional Custodians of these lands and pay respects to all First Nations people present.

I am pleased to join you today to celebrate the contribution of volunteers across Queensland. I acknowledge the Governor of Queensland, Jeanette Young, and thank the organisers, Volunteering Queensland for the vital role you play in Australia’s national volunteering infrastructure and for the work you do to promote connected and inclusive communities.

Happy National Volunteer Week to all volunteers here today.

GUARDIANS OF GENEROSITY: PRIVACY AND PHILANTHROPY IN AUSTRALIA
Fundraising Institute of Australia
Wednesday, 22 May 2024

Thank you to the Fundraising Institute of Australia for inviting me to address your annual Essential Member Update, and for bringing together this group of people with such an important role in the viability of our charity sector.

I am speaking to you from Brisbane, where I have just addressed the Queensland Volunteering Awards. I acknowledge the Jagera people and the Turrbal people as the Traditional Custodians of Meanjin, and pay my respects to all First Nations people present.

Labor governments are reforming governments, and in two spaces that have key significance to charitable fundraising there are some meaningful changes underway.