Andrew Leigh

HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

Matter of Public Importance
Tuesday, 20 August 2024

My grandfather Roly Stebbins was born in a tent in 1922. At age 14, in the middle of the Great Depression, he left school to provide for his family. He worked as a boilermaker. Then, after World War II, he and my grandmother Jean Stebbins, a teacher, set about building their first home. They got a cheap block of land in Seaholme near Williamstown and fired the bricks by hand. Roly would get help from his mates, building the house bit by bit when they could.

My grandfather's story was the story of Australia in those postwar decades. Through the interwar period, the homeownership rate in Australia was about half. By 1966, it had risen to nearly three-quarters. This was a huge surge in the homeownership rate spurred initially by the Curtin and Chifley governments and, to their credit, continued by the Menzies government. But it's a very different situation today. Under the former Coalition government, the homeownership rate hit a 60-year low and their policies only made the problems worse. We had the HomeBuilder program, which blew out to five times the expected budget and which, according to the former Governor of the Reserve Bank, Philip Lowe, increased construction prices. We had the former government's policy of raiding your superannuation to pay for a home, which Malcolm Turnbull referred to as the 'craziest idea I've ever heard'. We had the government walk away from social housing and from investing in tackling the problem.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC BREAKFAST WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO
TUESDAY, 20 AUGUST 2024

SUBJECTS: Peter Dutton’s hypocrisy on visas, humanitarian impact of ongoing conflict in the Middle East, helping Australians avoid being scammed

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, HOST: Time to talk Federal Politics with Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fenner, and Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. Andrew, good morning.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Morning Stephen. Great to be with you.

CENATIEMPO: Now, I want to ‑ I'm interested in talking to you about this telecommunications amendment, but first, I'm surprised that you want to talk about Peter Dutton's remarks on Gazan refugees here, because I'm sure the government thinks that they're on a winner here, but you're not.

LEIGH: Well, Stephen I'm happy to talk about anything that's on your mind, but certainly what Peter Dutton's doing seems to me extraordinarily divisive, and something that I think would trouble many Canberrans…

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC CANBERRA DRIVE WITH ROSS SOLLY
THURSDAY, 15 AUGUST 2024

SUBJECTS: Peter Dutton’s remarks on visas for Palestinians, ongoing conflict in the Middle East, CFMEU Bill, AIS support for Olympians.

ROSS SOLLY, HOST: Watching it all unfold on the hill today. Maybe he even took part in some of the discussions, some of the debate, Local Member Andrew Leigh. Good afternoon to you, Andrew Leigh.

ASSISTANT TREASURER ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon, Ross. Great to be with you and your listeners.

SOLLY: Yes, I watched a bit of Question Time today. I've been, for my sins, I have been listening to some of the argy-bargy that's been going on. A couple of people texting earlier on said it's a bit of a dark day in Australian politics when the debate sort of centres on how we treat refugees, etcetera. What's your take on it? Zali Steggall used the 'r' word, the 'racist' word. Was that going too far?

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWSDAY WITH KIERAN GILBERT
WEDNESDAY, 14 AUGUST 2024

SUBJECTS: CFMEU, Middle East conflict, AIS support for our Olympians.

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Joining me live in the studio as the Assistant Employment and Competition Minister, along with the responsibility for Charities and Treasury too, Andrew Leigh. Thanks for your time. Looks like there will be a deal on this legislation to put in administrators for the CFMEU. Many in the construction sector say it's not a day too soon.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Absolutely, Kieran. We've moved quickly on this as the allegations came to light. We understand that there is no place for bullying and thuggery in the construction sector. These issues have been particularly concerning to people who believe in the power of unions, who've been shocked to see what's gone on within the construction division of the CFMEU. So, the sooner that the Coalition and the Greens work to pass this important legislation, the better.

REMARKS AT ASIALINK YOUNG LEADERS PROGRAM

AsiaLink Leaders Program
Thursday 25 July 2024

Thank you, Sarah. I want to begin by acknowledging the meeting of traditional lands, the Ngunnawal people. I want to acknowledge the First Nations people present today, and commend AsiaLink for your engagement with First Nations stories. I love that conception of Noel Pearson, that the story of Australia can be thought of as the confluence of three rivers: our indigenous story, the European settlement, which has given us so many of our institutions, and; the multicultural story, which is at the heart of what AsiaLink does.

My very first memory at the age of two is a still image in Sarawak in Malaysia. We were there living at the museum in Sarawak because my father was extending his research looking at links between government and business in Malaysia. From ages five to eight I lived in Indonesia - in Jakarta and in Banda Aceh - where for a time I attended a local school, until my mother realized that schooling in Banda Aceh in the late 1970s largely consisted of the Indonesian government having us sing nation-building songs, so all the children would think of themselves as Indonesian first and Acehnese second.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC BREAKFAST WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO
TUESDAY, 6 AUGUST 2024

SUBJECTS: Paris Olympics, Philanthropy Australia Conference, Increasing competition at Sydney Airport.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, HOST: Time to talk federal politics with Andrew Leigh. He is the Assistant Minister for Charity - Competition, Charities and Treasury and Member for Fenner. Andrew, good morning.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning, Stephen. So, great that you did that shout out to the women Olympians. They're remarkable aren't they?

CENATIEMPO: Well, the blokes need to really lift their game, don't they?

LEIGH: I'll say, yeah, we have some extraordinary women. And the notion that one family could be ranked 16th on the medal table, as you say, is just an extraordinary fact about our sporting success.

TRIALLING BETTER SUPPORTS FOR WORKFORCE AUSTRALIA PARTICIPANTS

The Australian Government is undertaking service improvement trials for Workforce Australia Online to better meet the needs of the people that use them.

I am pleased to announce that a key trial is now underway to test whether people using Workforce Australia Online services have better employment outcomes if they use voluntary one-on-one coaching sessions.

People in Workforce Australia Online currently self-manage their own pathway to employment. The trial enables some participants to engage voluntarily with one-on-one additional supports. 

A SYMPHONY OF IMPACT

Philanthropy Australia Conference, Adelaide
6 August 2024

I acknowledge the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, and all First Nations people present today. Thank you to Philanthropy Australia CEO Maree Sidey for the invitation to address you today. I’d also like to acknowledge former CEO Jack Heath AM for his three years of service. I also want to specially recognise the thought leadership of Sam Rosevear and Krystian Seibert, who rejoins Philanthropy Australia after serving as an Associate Commissioner on the Productivity Commission’s landmark report into philanthropy.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC LIVE & LOCAL WITH LEON DELANEY
MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2024

SUBJECTS: Death of Terry Snow, Appointments to Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Advisory Board, Competition in the airline sector

LEON DELANEY: The city of Canberra and the nation of Australia have lost one of its greatest citizens with the passing of Terry Snow at the age of 80. Joining me now, the Federal Member for Fenner and the Assistant Minister for Charities, not-for-profits and various other things - Doctor Andrew Leigh, good afternoon.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon, Leon. Great to be with you.

MEDIA RELEASE

APPOINTMENTS – DEPUTY CHAIR AND MEMBER

AUSTRALIAN CHARITIES AND NOT-FOR-PROFITS COMMISSION ADVISORY BOARD

I am pleased to announce that the Government has appointed a new Deputy Chair and a new member to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) Advisory Board.

The Advisory Board supports the ACNC Commissioner by providing sector-specific advice relating to charities.

Ms Sara Harrup has been appointed as the part-time Deputy Chair (and member) in recognition of the contributions she has made as a member since 1 August 2023. Her appointment as Deputy Chair will commence on 2 August 2024 and continue through to 1 August 2026.