Andrew Leigh

Senator The Hon Katy Gallagher 
Minister for Finance
Minister for Women
Minister for the Public Service
Minister for Government Services

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

Alicia Payne MP
Member for Canberra

David Smith MP
Member for Bean

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
WEDNESDAY, 13 MAY 2026

SUBJECTS: What’s in the Budget for the ACT

MINISTER FOR FINANCE, KATY GALLAGHER: Thank you everyone for coming. It's great to be here with my Federal Labor colleagues. A really strong budget for Canberra, a good budget that has the Commonwealth working with the ACT government on all of the issues that Canberrans care about. This budget and the investment in it brings to a total of about an additional $4.3 billion in investment in the ACT since we've come to government. It's in our investments, in our national institutions, in our public service, but also importantly, in our infrastructure and in the future needs of the city. This budget has a lot in it for Canberra, we're very proud of it. I'm particularly and I'm going to hand to others, but I'm particularly proud of the $30 million dollar investment for the RSPCA, which will finally mean that that organisation that does such important work in Canberra can finish the new build of the best RSPCA the city could hope for. So I'll hand to my colleagues, but this budget overall, strong for Canberra obviously has some Canberra based initiatives, but also importantly, those national programs, national investments, whether it be on tax or in resilience and reform, all have an impact here in our city.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH, MEMBER FOR FENNER: Thanks so much, Katy. This budget recognises Canberra's dual role as a wonderful community and as the nation's capital. It invests in roads, rail and housing. Provides tax cuts to 260,000 working Canberrans, but it also invests in the national institutions, including MoAD, recognising Canberra's unique role as the nation's capital. It's a serious housing budget, and for the many Canberrans who have chatted to me on street stalls, they'll be valuing the way in which we invest in the enabling infrastructure for housing developments and rebalance the tax settings so as to favour people who are aiming to buy a home of their own. There'll be many Canberrans who are dreaming of turning the key in the lock of their first home, and this budget helps unlock that opportunity. And as the Assistant Minister for Productivity, I'm really proud of the productivity package, which has been modeled to add some $13 billion to GDP. That's around $1,200 for every Australian household through reforms like taking away the cost of buying standards and making approvals easier for the homes we need to build around Australia. I'll hand over now to Alicia.

ALICIA PAYNE, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Thanks, Andrew. This is another great budget handed down by Jim Chalmers last night, not just for our nation, but for our community here in Canberra. Obviously, with the situation that it is in the world at the moment, we could have had every excuse to do a budget that's squibbed on the hard reforms, but we have focused on the costs of living that Australians are facing, and particularly the housing crisis that Australians are facing, including here in Canberra. The tax reforms that we are making are really important to ensure that particularly first home buyers will have a fairer playing field as they try to get into that market. And we're also investing in a really great measure that I'd like to talk about briefly, where we're addressing a disparity for young people facing homelessness. We know that too many Australians, young Australians, are facing homelessness, and at the moment, social housing sort of can't afford to offer places to young people because of the way that the benefits they receive translate into the funding. And so we have addressed that disparity for young people, and this has come as part of the Home Time campaign, have really raised the voices of young Australians facing homelessness, including in our community here in Canberra, and this is going to make a big difference for social housing providers being able to offer them a stable home so they can build their lives. I'm so proud to be part of our government that continues to invest in our city and recognise its importance as the nation's capital, but also as a community with the challenges that other communities face. I talk a lot about how wonderful it is as a Canberran and to see the Prime Minister out and about, you know, walking around the lake, visiting our national institutions, and talking about our city as not somewhere to be ashamed of, but somewhere to be proud of. And this budget is another budget that invests in our city. We've invested $4.3 billion since we've been in government into Canberra. I'm particularly proud that this is another budget that invests in our national institutions, around $20 million, including for the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, which has its centenary coming up, and that is absolutely a much loved institution by everyone in our community and around the country, and also for the National Film and Sound Archive to continue protecting the national collections. In the previous government, these institutions were starved of the funding they needed, and it's good to see that we have restored that, but we are continuing that investment. And of course, Canberrans will benefit from the extra tax cuts we're delivering in this budget and the immediate cost of living relief that that will provide. This is a great budget for our country and for Canberra, and I hand over to David Smith.

Senator The Hon Katy Gallagher 
Minister for Finance
Minister for Women
Minister for the Public Service
Minister for Government Services

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

Alicia Payne MP
Member for Canberra

David Smith MP
Member for Bean

Tuesday, 12 May 2026

Albanese Government Delivers For Canberra In The Federal Budget

Tonight’s Federal Budget brings the Albanese Labor Government’s investment in Canberra to more than $4 billion in the ACT since coming to office, making sure Canberrans are getting their fair share.

This year’s budget delivers important investments for Canberra, building on our strongest ever commitment to Canberra, with funding for infrastructure, community services, national institutions and practical cost-of-living relief.

This level of investment demonstrates what Labor governments can deliver when they work together, Labor is delivering the projects and services that Canberra needs, while also supporting local jobs and strengthening the national capital for the future.

The Budget builds on our significant local investments that support better services, community organisations and deliver better infrastructure across the ACT including:

The Hon Jim Chalmers MP
Treasurer

The Hon Clare O'Neil MP
Minister for Housing
Minister for Homelessness
Minister for Cities

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERENCE
BELCONNEN, CANBERRA
SUNDAY 10 MAY 2026

SUBJECTS: $2 billion housing infrastructure fund, Federal Budget, Farrer by-election

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH MP: Indeed, well, good morning. My name is Andrew Leigh, the local member for the seat of Fenner, and the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. I'd like to welcome you all today to Belconnen, in the heart of my electorate. There's plenty of gifts that you can give mums around Australia who are celebrating Mother's Day. Flowers are good. Brunch is better. But maybe the best gift of all might be providing a housing policy that allows the adult kids to move out one day.

What we're doing here is investing in housing through the Housing Australia Future Fund backed by Australia's largest superannuation fund - 315 affordable homes that are going to be available right in Belconnen, close to Lake Ginninderra, public transport and all the amenities. And the announcement we're making today is going to see more housing flow to more parts of Australia, not just unlocking more supply directly, but also working with states and territories, on reforms that will see them fast track housing.

As the Assistant Minister for Productivity, I'm really passionate about boosting productivity in Australia and the housing sector. We've seen housing productivity go backwards, adjusted for quality over the last three decades. This will be great for productivity, great for housing supply, and essential for Australia's families. My pleasure now to hand over to the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers.

TREASURER JIM CHALMERS: Very good of you, Andrew, to welcome us to your local community. Terrific local member, and also Assistant Minister as well in the Treasury portfolio. I want to acknowledge the absolute mountain of work that Andy does for our government when it comes to the sorts of announcements we're making today. And also Clare O'Neil, the Housing Minister, who's got an important announcement to make as well. Before I get to that, I wanted to say a big Happy Mother's Day to all of the mums, and if you're missing your mum today, we're thinking of you as well. From my point of view to Laura and Carol and my mother in law, Barbara, Happy Mother's Day. We do Mother's Day on Saturdays in our family, because typically this time of year, we're hanging out with you guys on Mother's Day instead. So big shout out, Laura, Carol, Barbara, all the mums and everyone who's missing their mum today.

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

Technology for Social Justice: Building a More Connected Australia

Infoxchange Technology For Social Justice Conference 2026,

Online Address

Wednesday, 6 May 2026

Hello everyone, and thank you for the opportunity to join you, albeit virtually, for the Technology for Social Justice Conference.

I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which you are meeting, and pay my respects to Elders past and present.

Let me begin by recognising the extraordinary work of the not-for-profit sector. Every day, charities strengthen social cohesion, support people through hardship, and build the connective tissue that holds communities together. They are also an economic force, employing Australians, connecting neighbourhoods, mobilising volunteers, and delivering services that change lives.

Increasingly, that work depends on technology.

For more than three decades, Infoxchange has shown what is possible when digital tools serve human dignity. As a social enterprise, it partners with community groups, government and business to tackle challenges such as homelessness, family violence, mental health and disability, while supporting First Nations communities, women, young people and families. Infoxchange platforms are used by tens of thousands of frontline services, improving coordination and lifting impact.

That is technology doing exactly what it should: helping people get on with the business of changing lives.

Under the leadership of your CEO, David Spriggs, Infoxchange has become a powerful advocate for digital inclusion and cross-sector collaboration. David brings more than two decades of experience across the technology and community sectors. One of his proudest achievements has been helping bring Ask Izzy to life, connecting people in crisis with essentials such as housing, meals, healthcare and support services. It has guided millions of searches for help.

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

AI for the Underdog

Speech to a breakfast panel on ‘AI In Practice: Turning Hype Into Measurable SME Impact’, organised by the Deakin SME Research Centre at Deakin University,
Melbourne

Wednesday, 6 May 2026

I acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to all First Nations people present.

Thank you for the invitation to join you this morning, and to Deakin’s SME Research Centre for bringing us together.

I’m especially pleased to be here because this is exactly the right audience for a conversation about artificial intelligence. Too much of the AI debate has been conducted as though the only people who count are big technology firms, big consulting firms and big corporates with procurement teams large enough to form their own netball comp.

Australia’s economy is built in workshops, clinics, studios, restaurants, building sites, local accountancy practices, family businesses, exporters, repair shops and spare bedrooms.

So my theme this morning is ‘AI for the underdog’.

The question for Australia is not whether artificial intelligence can write another Henry Lawson poem, generate a picture of a kangaroo in a spacesuit, or summarise a Productivity Commission report into a podcast. Useful, yes. Occasionally alarming, also yes. But not enough.

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, 5 MAY 2026

SUBJECTS: Budget; changes to FBT exemption for EVs; Capital Gains Tax; housing; opportunity knocks

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Time to talk federal politics with the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. And I always forget where I've got to put productivity in there. And the Member for Fenner, Dr Andrew Leigh. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Stephen. Productivity comes first!

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: All right. Well it should. And so it should too. Right. So, productivity, competition, charities and treasury. I want to. Look, I'm not going to ask you to speculate what's in the budget, which I've got to say though, why don't we just do what we used to do in the old days and release the budget on the day, rather than all these leaks in the weeks and sometimes months leading up to them?

ANDREW LEIGH: When you said the old days Stephen, I thought you were going to refer to giving the entire budget to Laurie Oakes a couple of days beforehand so he could publish the whole thing beforehand.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Well yeah, maybe not that. Yeah, okay. But at least there was only a couple of days.

ANDREW LEIGH: We've spaced out a number of the announcements and the announcement today around electric vehicles I think, recognises the change in the market. As you said, when we put in place the EV tax discount, there were only two models under $40,000. Now there's 10 models under $40,000 and one model that's under $30,000. So, that change in the EV markets means that it's appropriate to start phasing down that EV FBT discount. But the technology has also helped extend our fuel reserves, so we've got more days of fuel available as a result of having a greater uptake of electric vehicles.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Yeah, okay. All right. Well, we'll agree to disagree on that. But one of the big talking points has been changes to the Capital Gains Tax discount. Now, I'm not going to ask you to confirm whether or not that's going to happen. I think most of us know it probably is, but the argument here is that changes to the Capital Gains Tax discount will somehow make it easier and more affordable for a young person to get into the housing market. You're a – you know, you're a, as far as politicians go, a highly intelligent person. Explain to me how that works?

Senator the Hon Anthony Chisholm
Assistant Minister for Resources
Assistant Minister for Regional Development
Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Senator for Queensland

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

Tuesday, 5 May 2026

Sugar Code of Conduct Review

The Albanese Labor Government is committed to a strong sugar industry in Australia, where fair and robust regulatory settings support our sugarcane growers and sugar millers.

More than 80% of all sugar produced in Australia is exported as bulk raw sugar, ranking Australia as one of the largest raw sugar exporters in the world.

The sugar industry is a fixture of rural and regional communities across Queensland and northern New South Wales and supports more than 40,000 jobs directly and indirectly across the industry.

To ensure the industry’s regulatory settings are benefitting growers and millers, the government is commencing a review of the Sugar Code of Conduct today.

The Sugar Code of Conduct regulates the relationship between sugarcane gro0wers and sugar millers and supports transparency and fairness in commercial arrangements.

The code was introduced in 2017 and is due to sunset on 1 October 2027.

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO BRISBANE, DRIVE WITH ELLEN FANNING
MONDAY, 4 MAY 2026

SUBJECTS: Albanese Government reforming the minimum charitable tax deduction, instant tax deduction, housing, Middle East conflict, interest rates, tax

ELLEN FANNING: Soon you’ll be able to claim donations from as little as a cent on your tax. At the moment you have to donate at least $2 to claim it as a tax deduction. Dr Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity and Treasury. Dr Leigh, why the change?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, thanks for having me on Ellen. Part of the change is just to ensure that people can do these round up for charity events which are, in many cases, raising hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars for charities. There’s one example in which Woolies partnered with Foodbank and raised three-quarters of a million dollars. There’s organisations such as Rounda and GoGive that allow people to round up for charity.

But right now those little round ups can’t be claimed at the end of the tax year. And what we’re saying is let’s scrap the $2 donation deduction threshold and so you can claim any charitable deduction you make.

ELLEN FANNING: I was at Woolies on the weekend and OzHarvest said, you know, ‘Would you like to round up by 60 cents?’ Yeah righto, so I did. I jabbed ‘Yes’, as I’m sure a lot of people would. How am I meant to keep track of that, Andrew?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, right now it’s not deductible because it was less than $2, and so you don’t keep track of it because you can’t claim it. But over the course of the year, if you do that on every shop, then you might be talking tens or hundreds of dollars that you can appropriately claim at tax time.

We hope it will encourage another pathway to generosity. And after all, this $2 donation threshold comes about in a very strange way. Back in 1927 it was set to be one pound, which was then worth about $100 today, and then when we went to decimal currency, one pound became $2, and it’s stayed there ever since.

ELLEN FANNING: Really? I love that you know that Dr Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Productivity and Treasury. Who’s been getting the kudos or deductibility for our donations to date for these little multiple cent donations?

The Hon Jason Clare MP
Minister for Education
Member for Blaxland

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

4 May 2026

Playground upgrade opening at Cranleigh School

Minister for Education and Federal Member for Blaxland, Jason Clare and Member for Fenner AM Andrew Leigh today opened a new playground upgrade at Cranleigh School in Holt, ACT.

The playground upgrade includes the replacement of six existing soft fall areas and the installation of a new soft fall zone featuring a new double swing, giant sandpit and shade sails.

The playground upgrade will give Cranleigh School students and community groups a safe, compliant environment that supports students to access fixed play equipment confidently and securely.

The Commonwealth Government has provided funding of $250,000 through the Schools Upgrade Fund towards this project, with additional funds coming from Cranleigh School.

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

Opportunity Knocks

Published in The Saturday Paper

2 May 2026

In My Brilliant Career, Miles Franklin gave Australia a portrait of frustrated talent in the figure of Sybylla Melvyn. Sybylla is intelligent, ambitious, restless and painfully aware of the narrow world around her. She knows she has ability, and she can see how few doors are open to a girl in her position. Her family’s fortunes are sliding, money is scarce, and marriage to a wealthier man is held out as the respectable route upward. She refuses it. The book’s title is ironic: this is not the story of a brilliant career fulfilled, but of one blocked at the outset.

More than a century on, we still argue about the same question in different language. How tightly should a person’s future be tethered to their parents’ income, their suburb, their school, or the people they happen to know? How much should a childhood predict?

As a politician, I see that as a question of fairness. As an economist, I see it as a question of efficiency. A country is less productive when it does a poor job of finding talent, nurturing talent and deploying talent. Social mobility is not only about justice between citizens. It is also about whether we are making full use of the abilities of our own people.

That matters because talent is common, while opportunity is not.