Andrew Leigh

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

Degrees of Growth: How Universities Help Drive Productivity

Keynote Address to the Go8 Dialogue: Leveraging Research and Innovation to Turbocharge Productivity

Parliament House, Canberra

Wednesday, 8 October 2025

When Technology Makes Work Better

In 2016, Geoffrey Hinton, the ‘godfather of AI’, made a stark prediction. ‘We should stop training radiologists now’, he said, suggesting that artificial intelligence would soon take over the job of reading scans.

It sounded plausible. Radiology looked like the perfect test case for automation: digital images, repeatable tasks, clear benchmarks. Algorithms such as CheXNet began outperforming panels of expert radiologists in spotting pneumonia. Companies launched hundreds of products to prioritise urgent scans, draft reports and detect disease. If any profession was about to be wiped out by machines, surely radiology was it.

And yet, the opposite happened. As researcher Deena Moussa notes, in the United States, radiology residencies are oversubscribed and salaries have soared. In Australia, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists currently lists more than fifty unfilled positions, while Glassdoor reports that the average radiologist earns multiples of the national average wage. Far from being displaced, radiologists are more productive and more valued than ever.

Why? Because AI tools do not remove the need for radiologists, they change the way radiologists work. Machines speed up routine tasks, so radiologists can focus on complex diagnoses and on conversations with clinicians and patients. Faster, cheaper scans mean doctors order more of them, which in turn creates more work for radiologists. Far from hollowing out the profession, AI has deepened its importance.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

Opinion Piece

The biggest barrier to nation's challenges

Published in The Canberra Times

4 October 2025

‘It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a zero-sum game. Somebody wins and somebody loses.’ Gordon Gekko’s line in Wall Street captured the ethos of 1980s greed. Yet the mindset he embodies, that every gain must come at someone else’s expense, still lingers in public debate.

Australians sometimes hear arguments framed as if the nation is a fixed pie. Immigration is cast as ‘migrants versus jobs’. Gender equality becomes ‘women versus men’. Climate action is ‘jobs versus environment’. These frames don’t reflect the whole of politics – but they do shape how issues are discussed, and they risk narrowing our sense of what is possible.

The alternative is abundance: the belief that cooperation can expand opportunity, that prosperity can grow, and that fairness does not require someone else’s loss. Abundance is not extravagance. It is capability. It is about building systems that deliver more homes, more clean energy, more opportunity, and more shared growth.

Psychologists call the opposite tendency the ‘belief in a zero-sum game’: the idea that if one person gains, another must inevitably lose. People who hold this view tend to distrust institutions, volunteer less and feel more pessimistic about society. Economists call it the ‘fixed pie’ bias.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC RADIO CANBERRA, WITH LEON DELANEY
FRIDAY, 3 OCTOBER 2025

SUBJECTS: QantasLink base closure, Review of Artificial Intelligence and the Australian Consumer Law, Robodebt

LEON DELANEY: Earlier this week, Qantas announced it will close down its crew base at Canberra Airport, along with similar bases at Hobart and Mildura in April next year. Since then, the CEO of Qantas has reportedly provided an assurance that services to Canberra will actually be increased. Joining me now the federal Member for Fenner and Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, Dr Andrew Leigh – good afternoon.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon Leon, great to be with you.

LEON DELANEY: Well, thanks for joining us today. You have urged Qantas to reconsider its decision to close their base here in Canberra. What do you feel will be the adverse impact if they go ahead with the closure?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, the risk is that more pilots end up leaving the airline. 68 per cent of pilots who were surveyed by the three pilots unions said they'd look for alternative employment if the proposal went ahead. One in five of those pilots has already experienced a base closure and had to relocate. So, I don't feel like Qantas is treating its pilots with the decency that you'd expect from a company that's just made a $2.39 billion profit.

The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

Review Confirms Consumer Law Protects Australians In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence

3 October 2025             

Australians can be assured the nation’s consumer laws have their back when using artificial intelligence.

The Review of Artificial Intelligence and the Australian Consumer Law shows that Australians enjoy the same strong consumer protections for artificial intelligence products and services as they do for traditional goods and services, including safety protections.

The Review also highlights opportunities to make the rules clearer through a handful of minor changes, helping businesses better understand their obligations under the Australian Consumer Law. The Government will consult with states and territories on these opportunities and progress the changes when appropriate.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY
THURSDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2025

SUBJECTS: QantasLink base closure

ROSS SOLLY: I wonder whether Andrew Leigh is a fan. Are you a fan of daylight saving Andrew Leigh? Well, you're a runner. You probably do love it. Do you love it or not? Good morning to you.

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, it does make a little trickier to get out in the morning Ross. I'm enjoying the fact that I can run at the moment without my headlamp. And when daylight savings kicks in, the headlamp goes back on for a few weeks.

ROSS SOLLY: Yeah, well, but I'm sure you'll still do it. Anyway, Andrew Leigh let's talk about Qantas. I know you lobbied hard. Your federal colleagues lobbied, in fact, everybody who has any interest in Canberra lobbied hard for this, and basically, now Qantas has flipped the bird at us. Is that fair to say?

ANDREW LEIGH: I think it is Ross. They've made $2.39 billion in profit this year and yet seem determined to go ahead with closing these bases, not only in Canberra, but also Mildura and Hobart. And that means that there'll be pilots who may well decide no longer to stay with the airline. There was one survey that their Pilots' Association did, along with the Transport Workers Union which found 68 per cent of those pilots would reconsider working with the airline. And one in five of them have already had to move once due to a base closure.

ROSS SOLLY: Yeah, I mean they say it's not about money. I mean, you pointed out the profit there which is huge - but they say this is not money-related Andrew Leigh. Do you buy that?

The Hon Dr Daniel Mulino MP
Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services

The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

More companies paying their fair share

2 October 2025

The Albanese Government welcomes the latest ATO report into corporate tax transparency which shows the percentage of large businesses paying no tax has fallen.

The report shows large corporates paid $95.7 billion in income tax during the 2023-24 financial year with an increase in tax paid by private entities.

The ATO reports Australia has some of the highest levels of tax compliance of large businesses in the world.  More than 94% paid voluntarily, a figure that rose to 96.3 per cent following ATO compliance actions.

That action took the total income tax take from large business to over $100 billion for the second year in a row.

The percentage of companies that didn’t pay tax has decreased to 28%, while the number of companies that have never paid tax has fallen slightly too.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO
TUESDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Renewables, Final Budget Outcome, Labor’s abundance agenda, zero-sum thinking

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Time to talk federal politics with the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury and the Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, you've got to be concerned about the impact that this roll‑out is having on regional areas very, very close to your electorate?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well regional areas are of course the ones that are most affected by dangerous climate change as you know Stephen. Farmers are already feeling the brunt of more extreme weather events, droughts, Australian bushfires…

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Yeah okay, but Andrew putting wind farms in Australia is not going to change any of that. We know that based on the figures.

ANDREW LEIGH: Australia makes a contribution to global emissions, and this is a bit like saying that…

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
ABC AFTERNOON BRIEFING, WITH MELISSA CLARKE
MONDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Prime Minister’s visit to the UK, Final Budget Outcome, Tomago smelter

MELISSA CLARKE: For the government's view, let's bring in Assistant Productivity Minister Andrew Leigh. Thank you for joining me from Canberra, Andrew.

ANDREW LEIGH: Pleasure Melissa, great to be with you.

MELISSA CLARKE: So, before we get to the budget figures – can I just ask you about the PM addressing the UK Labour Party conference during his visit to the UK? Was that an appropriate thing for him to do?

ANDREW LEIGH: It certainly was, and it was a great speech. I mean, it followed very much in the history of Clement Attlee and Ben Chifley's relationship – the strong relationship between Tony Blair and Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. Those links are well known and long-standing and help buttress the strong links we have with the UK. The Prime Minister spoke about the importance of defending democracy at a time in which populism is on the rise, about the strength of the relationship between our two countries, and about the important initiatives such as AUKUS that are being pursued. It was absolutely a national interest speech, and one that strengthened even further the ties between Australia and the UK.

The Hon Jim Chalmers MP
Treasurer

The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

Reappointments to the Competition Review Expert Advisory Panel

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

OPINION PIECE

Are We Counting What Really Counts?

Published in Inside Story

Thursday, 25 September 2025

If you were diagnosed with cancer in Australia in the early 1990s, the chances you would survive for another five years were little better than 50–50 — a toss of the coin. Thirty years later, the most recent data shows the odds of surviving that long are better than 70–30. But such remarkable improvements in medical treatment aren’t always captured in our national statistics. As the Productivity Commission noted last year, our traditional way of measuring productivity may be missing a significant share of the benefits patients are receiving from improved care.

Diane Coyle has spent her career carefully studying how we measure economic progress, often highlighting the shortcomings of traditional approaches. Her many books include The Weightless World (1997), which examined how digital technologies shifted value towards ideas and services, and GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History (2014), which traced the origins of national income accounting and its limits in a service-based economy.

In her latest book, The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters, Coyle returns to some of the same themes. She points out that there is always a lag between the structure of the economy and how we measure it, noting that statistics in the late 1800s were overly dominated by agricultural numbers rather than metrics that captured factory production. Today, however, Coyle goes further. “The elastic relationship between the statistics and the economy they represent,” she contends, “has stretched to breaking point.”

Policymakers have long recognised the limitations inherent in national income accounting. No one has expressed it more powerfully than Robert Kennedy, who in 1968 noted that gross national product included money spent on cigarette advertising, ambulances and guns, yet “does not allow for the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.”

To this, Coyle brings fresh examples. A hypothetical treatment that reverses disabling symptoms and restores a patient’s ability to lead an independent life. A silicon chip that is more energy efficient. A decision by a hospital to use a cheaper medicine that achieves the same result. Smaller smartphones. A person who marries their paid cleaner, increasing happiness while reducing measured economic output.