Andrew Leigh

Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh argues there is a better way for governments to manage the onerous, expensive and often self-defeating process of jailing people who fail to pay their fines.

Reforming fine and penalty processes to make offenders pay

Imagine if you owed the government money, and to teach you a lesson, the government decided to spend a few thousand dollars on you.

Wouldn’t make much sense, would it? Yet right now, that’s happening across Australia, with states and territories spending up to $770 per day per offender locking up people for unpaid fines.

Sentencing fine defaulters to time in prison puts unnecessary strains on government budgets and the community. Law-abiding taxpayers have to pony up to build and maintain prisons.

As the Federal Election looms, each party will spend the next few days frony and centre in the media spotlight trying to win your vote.

But beneath all the noise, what exactly is being promised to Canberra and in particular, Canberra women? Ahead of the election, Laura Peppas caught up with Federal member for the seat of Fraser, Andrew Leigh, to find out which issues he will be focusing on if he is successful.

What do you think are the most pressing issues for women in this election? 

I think healthcare is number one for many Australians; making sure we’ve got a strong and accessible healthcare system, that you can see your GP when you need to and that you don’t have long wait times for elective surgery. As a father of three boys, I’ve spent my fair share of time sitting in emergency rooms worrying about seeing a doctor when you need to. I’m aware just talking to families in the electorate, of how important public accessible healthcare is for people.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC NEWSRADIO
WEDNESDAY, 29 JUNE 2016

SUBJECT/S: The Turnbull Government’s fantasy costings; Marriage equality.

MARIUS BENSON, HOST: Andrew Leigh, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning, Marius.

BENSON: A pretty healthy bottom line from Scott Morrison yesterday. A billion out, but more than $2 billion back. 

LEIGH: Over the first four years, Marius, the difference between the two parties is 0.2 per cent of GDP in terms of deficit. But if you are looking at the structural deficit, if you are looking over the medium term, that is when the real difference emerges. The Government's company tax cut costs $14 billion in the tenth year, and our changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount make $8 billion to the budget. So while the Government has a stick of dynamite with a long fuse blowing out the budget in the tenth year, Labor has sensible savings that build over time. And that is why our budget plan isn't just better for the bottom line, it's also better for Australia.

Doing Democracy Decently

Scientist, historian and philosopher, the Greek thinker Aristotle had a rare ability to cut through complexity.

Politics, he said, is the art of working out how to live together. It’s as simple and as difficult as that.

In this final week of the campaign, it’s useful to remember that elections aren’t just about choosing a government. They’re also a chance to have a conversation about where we want to go as a nation.

The job of nation-building in Australia isn’t finished. It didn’t end with Chifley, Menzies or Whitlam. Australia is a work in progress. Each of us has the responsibility to build a better nation, for the brief time we have available to us. 

Unlocking the Australian dream of owning a home

One of the great things about an election campaign is the chance to chat with people all over the nation; from far north Queensland to Tasmania, from Perth to Melbourne. It’s a true privilege to be able to listen to the lived experiences of so many Australians.

One story that lodged in my mind was told at a town hall meeting in Maleny, in Queensland. It came from Tony, a burly tradesman, who stood up and told the room about his fear that none of his four children, now in their 20s, will ever be able to afford a home. Tony is worried that they won’t have a chance to share that part of the Australian dream.

Our nation faces significant challenges. Since the last election, living standards – as measured by real net national disposable income per person – have fallen by 4 per cent. Under the Liberals, net government debt has risen by more than $5,000 per person. Wage growth is at a 30-year low. The home ownership rate is at a 60-year low. Inequality is at a 75-year high. In the past generation, the top 1 per cent has doubled their share of income. And yet the Liberals want to deliver a tax cut to those earning over $180,000, 94 per cent of which will go to the top 1 per cent.

Nowhere is inequality more stark than in the housing market. When John Howard and Peter Costello halved the capital gains tax rate in 1999, they expected it would lead to a surge of investment in innovative companies. Instead, we saw a flood of investment in property speculation.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC 666
MONDAY, 27 JUNE 2016

SUBJECTS: Labor’s positive plans for the Budget.

PHILIP CLARK, PRESENTER: Andrew Leigh, Member for Fraser, Shadow Assistant Treasurer, is in the studio here with me this morning. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning, Philip. Great to be with you.

CLARK: Last week of the campaign, it will all be over soon. Forecast, or deficit forecasts, or forecast of what the budget is likely to be in ten years or so have to be met with a great deal of scepticism and the Government is getting into Labor for saying that, well, your forecasting a bigger deficit in the near years – you're both saying that by 2020-21 the budget will be back in some sort of surplus. So you're both predicting that that'll arrive at around the same time, but it's just the path to get there is different. But how much stock could we put in these things anyway?

LEIGH: Philip, there are clear differences in the way in which the parties have couched a number of big decisions. In the case of our changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, existing properties are grandfathered. So these are savings that build over time, like money put in a term deposit. The Coalition's biggest promise – indeed, the biggest promise of the election – is a $50 billion tax cut to the largest companies in Australia. That too, builds over time in its cost to the budget, like a stick of dynamite with a very long fuse. So that's why the Coalition aren't going to be giving you their ten year numbers, Philip, because they are not at all proud of them. They have got a ten year plan to cut company tax, but they're not going to give you the ten year costings around that. I think Canberra households are making long-term decisions. Sending a child to school is a decision for thirteen or fourteen years. Taking on a mortgage is a decision for twenty or thirty years. So voters don't want a government that can only plan for a couple of years in advance.

COULD YOU LIVE A MONTH IN A SHARING ECONOMY?

Claire Marshall's goal was simple: to see if she could live for a month in the "sharing economy".

Emerging in recent years, the sharing economy connects suppliers of goods and services with people who need them. More than one in 10 of us have used a ride-sharing service like Uber.

More than one in 200 homes are on apartment rental sites like AirBNB. If you need a parking spot, Parkhound lets you rent a nearby driveway. If you'd like a caravan for a week, Camplify lets you lease one.

According to one estimate, the sharing economy is growing at 140 per cent per year, driven by the combination of smartphones, fast internet and clever entrepreneurs. But like most advances, it isn't all upside.

LABOR HAS PUT SCAMMERS ON NOTICE. THE LIBERALS? *SAD TROMBONE*

A recent wave of allegations of misleading and often unconscionable conduct by pharmaceutical, food, a recently-privatised health insurance company, and private colleges that targeted vulnerable people, has left many Australians hoping the consumer watchdog will be given the powers it needs to have their back.

Only Labor has put scammers and dodgy operators on notice.

A Shorten Labor Government will introduce a comprehensive suite of competition reforms that deter and punish anti-competitive and anti-consumer conduct.

To date, the Liberals have been deafeningly silent on consumer protection.

Below is a helpful checklist of positive competition and consumer policies and actions.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS PM AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, 22 JUNE 2016

SUBJECTS: Asylum seekers, Marriage equality, Labor’s positive plans for Medicare, Costings

DAVID SPEERS: You're watching PM Agenda. Plenty to talk about as we were canvassing before the break and I'm pleased to say with us this afternoon, both here in the Canberra studio, the Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and the Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh. Thanks for joining us. I want to start on asylum seekers, Malcolm Turnbull said today 28 boats have been trying to come to Australia, 734 passengers in total under the Coalition's watch. So they haven't tried to stop coming here have they Senator? 

CORMANN: But we've been successful in stopping them coming here and that's because we had a very clear policy framework with temporary protection visas with regional processing and with a commitment to turn the boats around where it's safe to do so. And of course what we know is that more than 50 Labor members and candidates in open defiance against Bill Shorten's assertion that he would continue the strong policy framework of the Coalition.

SPEERS: A few candidates overnight have been expressing various views. Let me ask you, Andrew Leigh, would this specific boat though, from what we know, the vessel was intercepted, people taken aboard the Navy and Border Force vessels, their boat was scuttled or burnt in the water and flown back to Vietnam after being processed at sea, is that what Labor would do?

LEIGH: David, we've said we'd pursue the same set of policies the Coalition would in terms of deterring people coming to Australia. But we don't believe that it's necessary to have people locked up in punitive conditions in Manus and Nauru in order to achieve that.