Andrew Leigh

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RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC AM

TUESDAY, 9 AUGUST 2016

SUBJECT/S: 2016 Census; Superannuation.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: For more on the Census, I am joined live in our Parliament House studio by shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh.

Andrew Leigh, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: So a number of politicians are not putting their names on the Census forms – are you?

ANDREW LEIGH: Yes I will be. I believe that the Census is an important national information gathering exercise.

But Michael I have been disappointed with the way in which the Government has explained their changes to the Census. They've more than doubled the period for which names and addresses will be retained. They've known for months they were making this change and yet successive ministers – Kelly O'Dwyer, Alex Hawke, Michael McCormack – have failed to make the case for that policy change to the Australian people.

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PRESS CONFERENCE

SYDNEY

MONDAY, 8 AUGUST 2016

SUBJECT/S: 2016 census.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Thanks very much everyone for coming along today. My name is Andrew Leigh, the Shadow Assistant Treasurer. We've today heard from Michael McCormack, the Minister responsible for the Census, who one day before the Australian Census has told Australians that their concerns are “much ado about nothing”. 

Frankly, the process we're facing has been a comedy of errors from the start. The Government decided some months ago that it would extend the period in which names and addresses were retained in the Census from 18 months to 4 years. A policy decision which, under the doctrine of ministerial accountability, should have been explained by the responsible ministers. 

But the responsible ministers have been nowhere to be seen. When it was Kelly O'Dwyer, Alex Hawke, and now Michael McCormack, we've barely heard a peep from the Government as to why they've made this policy change that sees names and addresses held for more than double the length of time than they had been in previous Censuses.  

COULD THE MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CENSUS PLEASE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY?

 With Australia’s five-yearly Census happening tomorrow, Minister Michael McCormack must do more to directly address community concerns about the Turnbull Government’s decision to increase the period for which names and addresses are retained.

The Coalition has let the situation deteriorate to such an embarrassing state that ABC Riverina, in Mr McCormack’s own electorate, invited an Associate Professor from the Charles Sturt University on air this morning to discuss the changes.

It seems that Mr McCormack is unable to explain the Census changes to his own constituents, let alone the nation.

Here's what some economic modelling has in common with the tobacco industry

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Let’s look at how we got here.

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RADIO INTERVIEW

FIVEAA MORNINGS WITH LEON BYNER

FRIDAY, 5 AUGUST 2016

SUBJECT/S: Royal Commission into the banks; Competition policy.

LEON BYNER: Andrew Leigh, thanks for joining us today.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: It’s a pleasure, Leon.

BYNER: Has Labor worked out the terms of reference of its proposed Royal Commission into the banks?

LEIGH: It’s for the Government to set the terms of reference Leon, but we've been strongly urging them to do it. We believe there’s a range of issues which a Royal Commission could appropriately explore and that out of that could come a more ethical and a stronger banking sector than we have today. We need to take account of the fact that Australia has seen a whole range of problems in the financial sector. Timbercorp, Great Southern, Gunns, Storm, Trio, Westpoint, insider trading scandals within the NAB and the ANZ, bank bill-swap rates – there's just been too many of these incidents to write them off as ‘bad apples’.

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PRESS CONFERENCE

MURAL HALL, PARLIAMENT HOUSE

THURSDAY, 4 AUGUST 2016

SUBJECT/S: 2016 census

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: We’re now five days out from the Census, and many Australians are concerned about the Government's decision to increase the period for which names and addresses are kept from eighteen months to four years. Labor's been asking the simple question: who's responsible for the Census?

Finally, late yesterday, we got an answer. Michael McCormack fronted a shambolic press conference at 5pm yesterday afternoon. And instead of offering Australians answers and reassurances, he gave them a litany of excuses.  

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RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC RN DRIVE

TUESDAY, 2 AUGUST 2016

SUBJECT/S: Reserve Bank interest rates cut; Australia’s economic outlook; Medicare campaign; Royal commission into the banks; 2016 Census.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer. Welcome back to RN Drive.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Thanks Patricia, great to be with you.

KARVELAS: Is the Treasurer right? We need to drive investment in this country don't we? 

LEIGH: We certainly do, Patricia. But the question is, how best to achieve that? As you've noted, the RBA cash rate has today been cut to the lowest level ever. Well below what the then Treasurer Hockey once described as "emergency levels". And that's partly because Australia along with many other countries in the world is facing extremely low inflation.

We've got sluggish demand right across the economy which is really struggling to make this transition out of the mining boom. The question then is what do you do about that? Because I think increasingly people are starting to wonder whether monetary policy has lost some of its bite. Maybe with more people relying on saving, there has been less of an impact of an interest rates cut. So that means again you don't want to have a Government which is turning away from investments in infrastructure and education and putting all of their eggs into the company tax cut basket.

WILL THE MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CENSUS

PLEASE STAND UP?

With just six days left until the Census, it is time that the responsible minister stands up.

The Government must explain the changes it has made to increase the period for which names and addresses are retained, and whether it has provided adequate resources to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This is now a first order issue for the Turnbull Government. Since 1911, the integrity of the Census has never been so threatened as it is now. Any flaws in the delivery or response to the Census will be the Turnbull Government’s responsibility.

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TELEVISION INTERVIEW

ABC NEWS 24

MONDAY, 1 AUGUST 2016

SUBJECT/S: 2016 census; Reserve Bank interest rates.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: In just over a week, 24 million Australians will be accounted for in the Census. This is the first time the vast majority of census forms will be filled out online. The Bureau of Statistics will also be allowed to keep personal information, like names and addresses, for up to four years. Labor's Shadow Treasurer Andrew Leigh is arguing that the Government should be doing more to explain the process and the privacy protections that go with them. He's been talking to national affairs correspondent, Greg Jennett.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER:  I think it makes sense, Greg. We're doing many more things online and it reduces the person power required by census-takers in big cities, so they can deploy more of those resources into remote areas. And particularly in counting homeless Australians. Homelessness is a huge policy issue, so we need to be making sure there are enough talented census numerators engaging with the homeless population on census night.

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TELEVISION INTERVIEW

SKY NEWS KARVELAS

SUNDAY, 31 JULY 2016

SUBJECT/S: UN Secretary General; Northern Territory juvenile detention Royal Commission; Herbert result; 2016 Census.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Joining me now is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Andrew Leigh from the Labor side of politics. Welcome to the program.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Thanks Patricia, and as a fellow parent, happy Harry Potter day.

KARVELAS: Harry Potter day is indeed an exciting moment. Just on some news that's dominating this weekend, Kevin Rudd has released letters. He says show the Prime Minister had supported his candidacy for the UN Secretary General before ultimately refusing to back him. Doesn't that prove he wasn't up for the job? Why would you release these confidential letters?

LEIGH: Patricia let's go back to first principles. Australia has a history of former leaders being supported by governments of different political stripes. The Hawke Government supported Malcolm Fraser's bid to be head of the Commonwealth, the Howard Government supported senior parliamentarian Gareth Evans' bid to be head of UNESCO. And in government, the Rudd and Gillard Governments both made appointments of senior Liberals to important diplomatic posts including people like Brendan Nelson. So I do think that tradition is in danger now from a Government which seems to put partisan politics before the national interest. Kevin Rudd is eminently well qualified for a range of international posts. And the Government's decision not only to slap him down but to reject Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is a dangerous omen for where the Government is going.