The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA, AFTERNOON AGENDA WITH TRUDY MCINTOSH
FRIDAY, 12 JUNE 2026
SUBJECTS: Rebuilding trust: the future of Australia’s charities and community life; 2026 Budget; tax reform; One Nation
TRUDY MCINTOSH: Meantime, one Labor frontbencher is making the case this week for Australia to develop a trust agenda to encourage more Aussies to get involved in their community and help with charities too.
Joining me is the man himself – Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. It's a mouthful. Andrew, nice to see you.
ANDREW LEIGH: Lovely to see you Trudy.
TRUDY MCINTOSH: It strikes me though, this trust agenda argument you're putting forward. Is it hard as a Labor frontbencher to make the case for building trust a month after a Budget that contains such big, broken promises?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, building trust and community is fundamental to how we work as a democracy. We need those strong charities and not-for-profits engaging in the community so we have a chance to rub shoulders with people who think differently from one another. Democracy is ultimately a contact sport and we need to see ourselves as participants engaging face-to-face rather than just angrily shooting off at one another on social media. Part of this is the social media minimum age but part of it is also backing charities, as our government has done after the 9-year war on charities that was waged by the other side of politics.
I was speaking at the National Press Club about the value of a high trust society, not just because we're healthier and happier but also because our economy works better when people trust one another.
TRUDY MCINTOSH: But does it undermine that case for trust from politicians when a Prime Minister has gone to an election – so clearly said he wasn't going to do anything on negative gearing and capital gains tax, only for a year or so later to completely change his mind, that seems to undermine trust not build it?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well Trudy, one of the big reasons that young people have turned off politics is that they felt it hasn't been possible to get into the homeownership market. And so, we decided after looking at all the evidence that we needed not only to have the most ambitious home building project - $47 billion supporting 420,000 homes - but also to do something about the tax settings which were seeing investors beating out first time home buyers at auction after auction…
TRUDY MCINTOSH: But it still potentially does undermine trust in politics, doesn't it Andrew? You've been around this long enough to know, yes some people will be happy to see change, but others might be pretty annoyed by the broken promise?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well Trudy, I think what ultimately undermines trust in politics is if we see a broken tax system and do nothing. We had a Senate report which came down and overwhelming the evidence before that was saying we need to fix capital gains and negative gearing. We've had experts such as Bob Breunig, Saul Eslake, Chris Richardson, think tanks such as the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, E61 and the Grattan Institute that have been calling for reform for years. And a government that wants to build trust with the Australian people, particularly young Australians, needs to deal with this challenge of home ownership and getting the homeownership rate going back up again.
TRUDY MCINTOSH: We're seeing next week, just a two days worth of hearings to look at what are pretty complicated changes, particularly the capital gains tax arrangement. How is that a good public policy way of going about things, trying to truncate people being able to come forward and put forward their views?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, I mentioned before the previous Senate inquiry which went into exactly these issues and which heard scads of evidence about the importance of tackling capital gains and negative gearing. People have had an opportunity to make submissions to this inquiry. It'll be up to the Senators who are from all parties to decide who they want to call as witnesses over the hearings. But there's a lot of evidence that's been put before them already. People have been welcome to make submissions to that inquiry.
TRUDY MCINTOSH: I wanted to get your view on the march of One Nation. It seems to be sucking a lot of the political oxygen at the moment in federal politics and in state politics too. The One Nation factor here in the ACT where you've got a lower house seat, it may not be the same sort of threat to you. There is certainly a rise, though, in the independent vote in the ACT. The David Pocock wave is having a big effect. One of your colleagues, David Smith, nearly lost his seat at the last election to an independent. How does Labor combat the rise of community-based independents?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well Trudy, One Nation aims to divide. In some sense, its name is the most deceptive thing in Australian politics. They're not about bringing us together, they're about tearing us apart for their own crass political interests. They're about demonising migrants and demonising difference in a country which has been built on the values of multiculturalism and being open and welcoming.
If you hate modern multicultural Australia, it's hard to see how you can be a true patriot as One Nation claims. I love the way that…
TRUDY MCINTOSH: Is that true for all of the people who say they support One Nation though, Andrew? Does that risk kind of the US style Democrat comments which was tainting Trump supporters as a ‘basket of deplorables’? Is there genuine factors pushing people to One Nation?
ANDREW LEIGH: No, I'm speaking specifically about their leaders Trudy, and the way in which their leaders have aimed to get political capital out of trying to fuel anger and division, grievance and getting people riled up. One Nation isn't a party of solutions, they're a party of trying to confect outrage. They're taking their playbook from right wing populists around the world who have been on the rise. They're taking their money from billionaires and they're delivering policies which are against the interests of working Australians. They voted against our wage theft laws. They don't want minimum wage rises for Australians. They're fundamentally an anti-worker party and their views about Australia are the antithesis of the modern, diverse, successful multicultural democracy that we.
TRUDY MCINTOSH: Are you concerned then that Pauline Hanson said today all of that $3 million raised is going to be used to target Labor seats? Is that a waste of money or do you think she'll get some traction?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, of course Pauline Hanson is going to spend the money she gets from billionaires and anyone else on trying to fuel her divisive political agenda. But what I would urge people to do is to look carefully at One Nation. This is a party with a history of scandals. It has gone over to the United States and tried to solicit money from the National Rifle Association to water down Australia's gun laws. This is a party where three quarters of their elected members have quit the party before the end of their first term.
One Nation won't get anything done. A vote for One Nation is a vote for grievance politics. What Labor is about is looking after Australians and supporting battlers, rather than billionaires.
TRUDY MCINTOSH: Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh, great to see you today. Thanks.
ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks Trudy.
ENDS