E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC CANBERRA MORNINGS

MONDAY, 28 MARCH 2022

SUBJECTS: Increasing threats to politicians and political staff; Canberra protesters; the federal election.

ADAM SHIRLEY, HOST: When you get talking politics, how do you express yourself? Do you get a bit passionate? It's understandable. Fiery? It’s a bit on the margins. Aggressive? Politicians, journalists, you listening now, I want to have a frank discussion about the words, the sledges and the abuse that can seep in and what that can lead to. The federal Member for Fenner here in Canberra, Andrew Leigh, was last week granted a personal protection order in the ACT Magistrate's Court. He doesn't want sympathy, he doesn't want sorrow. What he does want is for us to be aware of the way the environment is changing for MPs. Dr Leigh, thanks for your time today.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Pleasure, Adam. Great to be with you.

SHIRLEY: I know that discussing the specifics of the protection order is problematic. But in very general terms, why have you sought it and needed it?

LEIGH: It's because of the nature of a particular threat that we faced in the office, and that's a challenge to me being able to do my job as an MP and to engage with the general public. One of the things I really love about representing Canberra is being out on the street stalls, door knocking, engaging directly with people. And the last thing I want to do is to be forced to retreat from that sort of activity. But I mentioned it publicly, Adam, because I think it is important for people to know that the environment is changing. The sort of toxic brew that we've seen in the United States now has a situation where there's more Americans that believe in the wacky QAnon conspiracy theory - that the government's controlled by a Satan-worshipping paedophile sex trafficking ring - then there are left handers in America. Fifteen per cent of Americans believe in QAnon. In Britain, there's been two members of parliament killed over the past decade, just doing their jobs. And so we need to make sure in Australia that we carve out a safe space for political discourse, for people to disagree without being disagreeable. Because if we lose that, I think that is really a danger for democracy.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

TELEVISION INTERVIEW

SKY NEWS FIRST EDITION

FRIDAY, 25 MARCH 2022

SUBJECTS: Australia and the Pacific; the Federal Budget; Cost of living rising under Scott Morrison; Fuel excise; Vaccines.

PETE STEFANOVIC, HOST: Joining us live now from Canberra is the Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, good morning to you. Before we talk about the budget, what's Labor's response to that deal?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Pete, it's ultimately a matter for the Sogavare Government and the people of the Solomon Islands. But Australia's traditionally had a close relationship with the Solomon Islands, going back to the 2003 RAMSI stabilisation mission. And this really does point to what happens when a coalition government takes office, cuts foreign aid to its lowest level, and talks about a ‘Pacific step up’ but fails to deliver. This has got concerning security implications for Australia, and Labor will look to be briefed on what the government’s planning to do.

STEFANOVIC: So we've been sleeping at the wheel here, in your opinion?

LEIGH: Well, this ‘Pacific step up’ just seems to have been talk rather than action. You can't cut foreign aid to its the lowest level in the generation and not expect that to have repercussions. That's why foreign aid cuts don’t just have impacts on poverty. The Morrison Government's decision to cut foreign aid also has its flow on impact on national security.

THE BUSINESS CASE FOR LABOR

SPEECH TO BUSINESS SYDNEY

SYDNEY

WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH 2022

***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

Epictetus wisely noted that we have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. As a Stoic, I’m keen to put this into practice tonight by keeping my opening remarks short, and spend most of the time learning about your businesses, your ideas, and your vision for the economy.

But with less than two months before polling day, I would be remiss if I didn’t use the chance to make the case for my party. The business case for Labor, you might say.

Let me put it as crisply as I can, by outlining ten reasons that every businessperson should vote Labor.

ANDREW LEIGH
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES
MEMBER FOR FENNER

ZANETA MASCARENHAS
LABOR CANDIDATE FOR SWAN

MORRISON GOVERNMENT FAILING AUSTRALIANS WITH UNDERPERFORMING ECONOMY

Stagnating wages and rising cost of living are forcing more and more Western Australians to seek help from services like Foodbank WA.

More than 40,000 people a month turn to Foodbank WA to make ends meet, around half of them employed but unable to balance the household budget as underemployment and price hikes start to bite.

Organisers work alongside hundreds of charities to help ease the pressure on families across Western Australia, many of which are reportedly only one or two pay cheques away from being broke.

The hardworking people behind Foodbank WA are doing vital work, but Australians should not have to be reliant on such services to make ends meet.

ANDREW LEIGH

SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY

SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES

MEMBER FOR FENNER

PATRICK GORMAN MP 

SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA 

MEMBER FOR PERTH

AMANDA HUNT

LABOR CANDIDATE FOR CANNING

LABOR WILL WORK WITH CHARITIES, NOT AGAINST THEM

Charities and not-for-profits in Perth have highlighted the stress they face during a roundtable to discuss how an Albanese Labor Government would help repair the sector.

Australia’s charities are under huge pressure. Through bushfires and a recession, floods and a pandemic, Scott Morrison has expected charities to step up whenever his Government has failed – and they’re expected to do that with fewer volunteers and less money.

Charities and not-for-profits need more support from the Federal Government, and recognition that they do so much to help struggling Australians and hold the social fabric together.

OPENING REMARKS TO CHARITY ROUNDTABLE

PERTH

WEDNESDAY, 16 MARCH 2022

Thank you for joining us. It’s a pleasure to be here with my talented colleague Patrick Gorman, and Labor’s candidate for Canning Amanda Hunt, who will be well known to you from her time heading Uniting WA.

Over recent decades, Australia’s social capital has dropped dramatically. Compared with the 1980s, Australians now have half as many close friends, and know half as many of our neighbours. Church attendance and union membership have declined. Membership of large organisations has fallen sharply. And in fact, the number of organisations in Australia hasn't kept pace with population - there's fewer organisations per person than in the past. We've seen a steady decline in volunteering, a drop which has accelerated through the pandemic. And there has been a decline in the share of Australians who are actively engaged in team sports and community sporting activities.

RECONNECTING AUSTRALIA

SPEECH TO AUSTRALIAN SERVICES UNION MEMBERS

BLAXLAND

TUESDAY, 15 MARCH 2022

*** CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY ***

Australia has changed markedly in the last generation.

If you go back to the mid-1980s, the average Australian had twice as many close friends and knew twice as many of their neighbours. Compared to then, we've seen a drop in the level of volunteering. We’ve seen a decline in the number of community organisations in Australia. We’ve seen a fall in membership of those mass organisations. We've seen a drop in church attendance, union membership and membership of sporting clubs.

In short, Australia has become disconnected.

US LESSON IN WHY WORKERS NEED A BOOST IN REAL WAGES

The Australian, 16 March 2022

They call them “deaths of despair”. In the US, deaths from drug overdoses, suicide and alcoholic liver disease have been rising in the past decade. Well before the pandemic, American life expectancy was going backwards.

There are many causes of this American malaise, but a big one is the fact the economy simply hasn’t been delivering for working people. In the past 50 years, real wages for the typical American man have barely risen. Real incomes for the poorest households have gone backwards.

LINDA BURNEY MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR FAMILIES AND SOCIAL SERVICES

SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS

MEMBER FOR BARTON

SENATOR JENNY MCALLISTER

 SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMMUNITIES

 AND THE PREVENTION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE

 LABOR SENATOR FOR NEW SOUTH WALES

ANDREW LEIGH MP

SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY

SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES

MEMBER FOR FENNER

SUSAN TEMPLEMAN MP

MEMBER FOR MACQUARIE

RESTORING RESPECT FOR THE COMMUNITY SECTOR

An Albanese Labor Government will support a stronger, more diverse and more independent community sector.

Through floods, fires and a pandemic, the community sector has stepped up to provide support to struggling Australians.

Despite this, the Morrison Government has repeatedly tried to devalue and silence community sector voices. At the same time, many community sector organisations have been working with less money, less funding certainty and increased stress.

If elected, Labor will change this.

AUSTRALIA'S LAWS MUST CHANGE TO CONTAIN PUTIN'S DIRTY MONEY

The Canberra Times, 12 March 2022

As advanced democracies tighten sanctions on Vladimir Putin, regulators are looking more closely at how the Russian President made his money. Some sources suggest that he may have $100 billion – others as much as $200 billion. That would put Putin’s wealth higher than the combined annual output of South Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory.

One thing that we can be sure about is that Putin uses tax havens. In 2016, the leak of the Panama Papers revealed a complex web of transactions that Putin and his associates used to hide their assets, including helicopters, planes, a superyacht and a palace on the Black Sea. Tax havens like Panama helped conceal the true owners of these assets.