Andrew Leigh

I've just put in a submission to the inquiry into the size of the ACT Legislative Assembly. Full text below.

Submission to the ACT Electoral Commission’s Expert Reference Group

Andrew Leigh MP
Federal Member for Fraser

28 February 2013

Introduction

As a federal representative for the ACT, my view is that the optimal size for the ACT Legislative Assembly should be chosen by the Assembly itself. The Gillard Government has put the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment Bill before the House of Representatives to transfer this decision-making power from the federal parliament to the ACT parliament. Naturally, I support this bill. The ACT Legislative Assembly is a mature parliament, and should be able to set its own size, as state parliaments currently do.

In addition, I thought that it might also be useful for me to provide a federal perspective on the question being considered by the ACT Electoral Commission’s Expert Reference Group. My focus in this submission is primarily on questions of representation, as it affects the work of all the ACT’s parliamentary representatives. My view is that the Legislative Assembly should be significantly increased. At a minimum, it should include 25 members, with five electorates each returning five representatives.

A Comparative Perspective

The ACT has fewer political representatives per capita than any other state or territory in Australia. Our Assembly holds the dual responsibility for both territory and local functions, making the workload of our current MLAs uniquely high. Unlike most other states, we have no upper house. All other jurisdictions in Australia – including the Northern Territory – have a local government body at a city council level.

By any objective standard, the ACT Legislative Assembly has too few representatives. In most jurisdictions, assembly size is roughly the cube root of the population it represents (see the research of Rein Taagepera and others). For example, the Australian Parliament has 226 members, which is relatively close to the cube root of the nation’s population of 23 million (284). The New South Wales Parliament has 135 representatives, not far off the cube root of the state’s seven million residents (191).

If we apply this rule to the ACT’s population of 375, 000, our assembly size should be 72, four times larger than the current assembly. Or we can put the question of size the other way, and ask ‘for what population would an assembly of 17 representatives be appropriate?’. The answer is a population of about 5000 people (about the number of people who live in Palmerston). This isn’t as flippant as it sounds. If we look at communities covered by the federal seats of Canberra and Fraser, we see that Norfolk Island, with a population of 2000 people, has an assembly of 9 representatives; while Wreck Bay, with a population of 200, has a community council of 9.

The Workload

Last year I hosted half a dozen community forums on federal issues such as aged care reform, and around a dozen mobile offices across north Canberra. These community events always attract a great deal of attention. The ACT population has never been hesitant about contacting their MPs, perhaps because many of them are current or former public servants and feel comfortable navigating the system. This is an indicator of a politically engaged city and it is a terrific thing for democracy, but it does increase the demand upon local politicians. Consequently, I manage a large number of inquiries from the people of the ACT. Approximately one-third of the constituent casework my office manages directly relates to ACT Government issues.

Our current 17 MLAs are exceptionally hard-working. I know my ALP colleagues best, and I can attest to their commitment: from Chris Bourke, Mary Porter, Mick Gentleman and Joy Burch’s numerous mobile offices; to Yvette Berry’s doorknocking; to Katy Gallagher, Simon Corbell and Andrew Barr’s hectic public speaking schedules, there is no doubting the level of time and effort associated with being an MLA. Hare-Clark is tough on candidates, and it is similarly tough to be one of 17 MLAs in a parliament that has responsibility for everything from schools to garbage collection.

When you also take into account the fact that the current Ministry is fixed at five MLAs, this means that that many government members hold between four and six ministries. For example, Joy Burch is presently the Minister for Education and Training; Minister for Women; Minister for Multicultural Affairs; Minister for Disability, Children and Young People; Minister for Art; and Minister for Racing and Gaming. Shadow ministers have similarly high workloads, holding between two and seven portfolios.

In addition, there are significant responsibilities associated with committee work, and parliamentary business (which requires a speaker, party whips and so on). Our present MLAs do terrific work, but they are too thinly spread. I worry that the harder we make them work, the more difficult it may be in the future to continue to attract talented people to run for the Legislative Assembly.

A Growing Constituency

Although the focus of the Expert Reference Group is on the ACT Legislative Assembly, it should not ignore the fact that the ACT is home to the two largest federal electorates in Australia. In my own electorate of Fraser, there are 131,698 people on the electoral roll (compared to an average of 94,000 per federal electorate in the most recent election).

Since 1989, the ACT has had two Federal Members of Parliament (briefly three), two Senators and 17 MLAs, giving the Canberra population a total of 21 parliamentarians. Between 1989 and 2012 our population has increased from 275, 000 to 375,000, or by 36 per cent. Back in 1989, we had 1 parliamentarian per 13,000 people. Now, we have about 1 parliamentarian per 18,000 people.

As a territory, we currently fall just below quota for a third seat in the House of Representatives, and population growth projections suggest that this quota is unlikely to be achieved. ACT population growth needs to outpace the Australian average for us to get a third seat in the House of Representatives. On current projections, this will not occur, which means that the ACT is likely to have the most populous electorates in Australia for many years to come.

The Gillard Government’s reforms to facilitate automatic enrolment will see traditionally underrepresented groups such as young people have more of a voice at the ballot box. However, the introduction of this practice will not impact upon the quota, which is determined by population (not enrolment). Although it is trending a little below the national average, Canberra’s population continues to rise: by 2031 we are expected to have a population of 438, 000 people. The problem of underrepresentation through the current Legislative Assembly numbers will only become more pronounced as Canberra’s population increases.



Proposed Increase

As the population of Canberra continues to increase, the interests of the community could be disadvantaged by ongoing underrepresentation. Increasing the Assembly to 25 MLAs (consisting of five electorates, each returning five members) would provide the people of Canberra with a total of 29 elected representatives, or 1 per 12, 931 people. This would still be well below other states and territories (and less than half of what the cube root rule would suggest), but it would be a significant improvement on the current situation. A 25-member Assembly would provide Canberra with a level of representation per-person comparable to that in 1989, when the territory attained self-government.

In my view, a 25-member Assembly is the smallest that ought to be considered. If the Assembly is increased to 25 members, I believe that it should only be done with an indexation formula built in, which would (for example) allow an increase from 25 members to 35 members (seven electorates, each with five members) once the ACT population has increased by a certain amount (eg. 10 per cent) from today’s level. Legislating such an increase would provide a defensible and predictable default for future generations, who could always choose to vary it if they wished.



Conclusion

Expanding the Legislative Assembly to at least 25 members would bring the ACT a little closer to the national average level of representation, and help provide the local community with more avenues to raise issues of importance to themselves and their families. A growing Canberra population requires parliamentary representation equal to its needs. A greater number of local representatives would improve the currently over-concentrated distribution of ministerial responsibilities and allow MLAs to continue their excellent community advocacy work more efficiently.

The folks behind the proposed Boer War Memorial are looking for support from descendents of people who served in the war. If you think a family member might have fought for Australia in that conflict, you can look them up using this handy search engine (which thoughtfully also lets you download the entire database).

On 6 March, I'll be giving the Inaugural NATSEM Annual Lecture, entitled "Estimating Top Wealth Shares in Australia Over the Past Century" (based upon some analysis I've been doing with Pamela Katic).

It'll be held at the University of Canberra from 5-7pm. Event & RSVP details here.

On Sky AM Agenda, I spoke with host Kieran Gilbert and Liberal Senator Mitch Fifield about the choice between economic debt of 10% of GDP and a social debt of 200,000 unemployed; about the government's plans for better schools; and about the passing of former House Speaker Joan Child.http://www.youtube.com/v/qKYWuHgcrKE?hl=en_GB&version=3

With rain forecast all morning, we've decided to cancel today's Welcoming the Babies. Apologies for any inconvenience.

I have an article in today's Canberra Times about the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Let Many Shoulders Take Some of the Burden, Canberra Times, 20 February 2013

Disability touches the lives of millions of Australians. Almost one in five Australians either have a disability, have a family member with a disability or are a carer for someone with a disability.

Yet our response to disability has not reflected the scale or severity of its impact. In a prosperous nation like ours, it is profoundly wrong that heart-breaking, often shocking, stories of life with disability are not exceptional.



In parliament recently, I shared a letter from one of my constituents, Denise Reid. Ms Reid wrote to me about her son Tim, a 21-year-old man with Down syndrome. She wrote about Tim’s sense of humour and love of music. But she also told of the demoralising task of continually having to prove her son’s disability to maintain the modest payment she receives:

‘My son has an intellectual disability. There is no cure and he will never grow out of it. ... The payment is small and sometimes I feel like giving up the bureaucratic battle. But I don’t. I fill out the form and visit the GP to complete another form and wait to hear if I’ve been able to prove disability. That makes me sad.’

If this situation, where mothers of children with Down syndrome have to constantly prove that their child’s chromosomes have not changed, sounds like an unfortunate quirk of the system, we only have to consider some of the other indefensible anomalies in the current system.

Imagine you rented a car from Canberra airport, and had an accident as you drove out of the airport that left you a paraplegic. Your payout eligibility might differ depending on whether the hire car company had registered that vehicle in Victoria or Queensland.

The same disability is treated differently if you got it falling off the roof while cleaning your own gutters or being while paid to clean someone else’s.

That is how much of a patchwork our current system is.

Such stories have been heard so often in discussions around the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

People with disabilities and their loved ones don’t need is a system that makes living with disability a bureaucratic battle.

It is with that spirit and with a recognition that past governments have not provided adequate support to people with disabilities and their carers that the government is putting in place a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Underpinning the rationale for the Scheme is the appreciation of an uncomfortable truth: disability, itself, does not discriminate. Each of us is just a car crash away from a profound disability, a dice roll in the genetic lottery from giving birth to a child with a congenital abnormality.

Under the current system, the risk of falling foul of that lottery—and of the emotional and financial costs that often follow—is heaped on the shoulders of those people with a disability and their carers. It is, effectively, privatised.

What the National Disability Insurance Scheme will do, like other landmark reforms such as Medicare and universal superannuation before it, is transfer that risk across society. It will ensure that those citizens not in a position to meet their own care needs are supported, not swamped.

The Prime Minister emphasised this in a recent address to the National Press Club, saying that the Scheme sets out to ensure ‘those hit with life’s cruellest blows get the help they need.’

A National Disability Insurance Scheme system comes with a serious price tag. But that should not prevent us from transferring the risks and costs of disability to where they rightly belong: on the shoulders of the many, not the few.

The Scheme will provide people with a disability individual care and support based on their needs, giving them real choice and control over these supports, fostering innovative services that are delivered and coordinated locally, and bringing long-term certainty to the resourcing of disability care and support.

Chief Minister Katy Gallagher lost no time pledging her commitment to the National Disability Insurance Scheme at the outset. As a result, when the ACT becomes one of the NDIS launch sites later this year, around 5,000 Canberrans with a disability will benefit.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is a long-overdue reform, helping to make Australia’s social safety net a little stronger and our nation a little fairer. Hopefully it will help thousands of Australians—like Tim and Denise Reid—who should be getting more support and doing less paperwork.

Andrew Leigh is the federal member for Fraser, and his website is www.andrewleigh.com.

Thanks to last week's parliamentary intern, Thomas Baker, for assistance in drafting this piece.

I am inviting locals to come along and celebrate the newest members of our community at the third annual “Welcoming the Babies” event on Sunday 24 February 2013 (10.30am to 12.30pm) Glebe Park, Canberra City.

I am proud to be holding my third Welcoming the Babies event and am looking forward to celebrating the day with parents and members of our community. The inaugural Welcoming the Babies held in 2011 had 150 people in attendance, including babies, their parents, and siblings. I invite parents to register babies up to 18 months of age, so that they can participate.
As a father of three young boys I know how daunting it can be trying to get information about what’s out there. By bringing together the various services and organisations in one place we’re hoping to make looking after young ones that little bit easier. It’s a chance for parents to find out the different things out there for them and connect with other parents. It’s also a way for us to celebrate our youngest and cutest residents.

The event is also a reminder that we need supportive families and a strong community to give children the best opportunity in life. Last year was a great success and was a fun filled day with face painting, balloons, and entertainment. I’m looking forward to an even bigger Welcoming the Babies this year.

Parents wishing to register their babies should email andrew.leigh.mp < at > aph.gov.au or call 6247 4396 with the name of their baby and their contact details.
All members of the community are invited to come along and help celebrate “Welcoming the Babies”.

I spoke in parliament today about Teach for Australia (Joe Hockey, speaking before me, had wrongly suggested that my electorate was named after Malcolm Fraser, so I had to set him straight).

Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 6) Bill 2012, 14 February 2013

It is my great pleasure to serve as the member for Fraser, a seat named after Jim Fraser, who was the ACT's sole representative in this House from 1951 through to 1970. It is true that he did serve alongside Malcolm Fraser for much of that period, but there are significant differences in outlook between them. Jim Fraser was a proud Labor member, committed to social justice, committed to the rights of workers and a true reforming member of this House. While the shadow Treasurer may seek to model his politics on those of Malcolm Fraser, that is not my role model here in this place.

I rise today to speak about one of the schedules in the Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 6) Bill 2012, which provides tax deductible gift-recipient status to an organisation known as Teach For Australia. Teach For Australia is modelled on Teach For America, which is now in its third decade. Teach For America bases its success on two vital truths: firstly, that there is no more important job that teaching disadvantaged children and, secondly, that there is a reservoir of idealism among talented university students. More than one in 10 US Ivy League graduates now applies to Teach For America. Its recruiting is so selective that it is able to take just the top 20 per cent of applicants.

Since starting in 2009, Teach For Australia has sought to bring the same model to disadvantage in Australia's schools. Disadvantage is rife in the Australian school system. A few statistics bear that out: according to Teach For Australia, the most disadvantaged students in Australian schools are three years of learning behind the most advantaged by the time they are in mid-high school. One in five year 9 students living in households with no-one in paid work fail minimum reading standards. In remote schools, 39 per cent of students do not finish high school, and in very remote schools that is 65 per cent. Of those attending university, only 15 per cent of university students come from the bottom socioeconomic quartile, compared with 42 per cent from privileged backgrounds. There is a crying need to get great teachers into disadvantaged schools. The government's Gonski reforms are focusing on improving resources for those schools, but Teach For Australia also plays an important part.

Teach For Australia associates, as the teachers are known, train for six weeks in intensive summer training at the University of Melbourne, and then continue to receive formal education, mentoring and leadership coaching through their two-year placement. Teach For Australia associates are now teaching in schools in Victoria, the ACT and the Northern Territory. Like Teach For America, they are an extremely selective program. Fewer than one in 10 applicants to Teach For Australia is selected. The average university entrance score of Teach For Australia associates is 97.

Tony Simpson, principal of Copperfield College in Melbourne's outer west, describes his Teach For Australia teachers as 'mindblowingly successful'. The way in which Teach For Australia trains their associates encourages students who might not have studied education to combine theory and practice. As Teach For Australia founder Melodie Potts Rosevear put it:

‘TFA allows select individuals to complete roughly one-third of their degree, and then to combine theory and practice by doing the rest of the degree over the course of the next two years as they are teaching.’

Like the UK counterpart, Teach First, independent evaluations support the success of the Teach For Australia model. For example, a randomised evaluation that Mathematica Policy Research did on Teach For America found that the benefits from having a Teach For America teacher were equivalent to an additional month of learning.

But we will not just see the benefits of Teach For Australia in the classroom. Teach For America now, with nearly a full generation having gone by since the first Teach For America teachers went through the system, is beginning to reshape US education policy debates. Two Teach For America alumni have founded KIPP schools, a set of charter schools that focus on teaching American students in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. There are more than 26 elected officials in the United States who have a direct experience of teaching disadvantaged students as a result of Teach For America. Like President Obama's Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, who taught in Chicago and Melbourne, these politicians are far better policymakers for having taught disadvantaged students.

The challenge that Teach For Australia faces is to show the same successes in Australia. As the minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth said:

‘I congratulate these graduates for completing their initial training of the Teach For Australian program and for their commitment to teaching kids in some of our most disadvantaged communities over the next two years. Through Teach For Australia we are giving some of Australia's brightest and keenest graduates the chance to make a real difference in the lives of students who may be struggling because of their social circumstances.’

I know the commitment to Teach For Australia is a bipartisan one. I would like to acknowledge the member for Aston, who served on the board of Teach For Australia, and who I know is a strong supporter, as am I, of the Teach For Australia model.

Right here in the ACT we have terrific Teach For Australia teachers working in our schools. Imogen Byrne at Belconnen High School has now finished her TFA time and is still teaching at that school as are Corey McCann at Calwell High School and Igraine Ridley-Smith at Calwell High School, who received the New Educator of the Year Award at the 2012 Public Education Excellence awards—a real testament to her hard work with science and maths students. Felicity Olver at Erindale Secondary College and Lia Van den Bosch at Hawker College have also passed their first two years of the program and are teaching in the education system, which is a clear indication that many Teach For Australia associates stay in the education system beyond the two years they are required to.

Now in year 2 of the program in the ACT are Sebastian Knox at Belconnen High School, Bridget Martin at Erindale Secondary School, Stephen Barnard at Lake Tuggeranong College, Jessica Brunton at Lake Tuggeranong College, Tanya Greeves at Lanyon High School and Helen Baxendale at the Canberra College. Now in their first year of the program in the ACT are Min Kim at Calwell High School, Robert Pickup at Erindale Secondary School, Jessie Snodgrass at Kingsford Smith School, Alpha Cheng at Caroline Chisholm High School, Zed Mancenido at Lake Tuggeranong College and Hannah Brickhill at Melrose High School.

I had the pleasure of having two Teach For Australia associates work as fellows/interns in my office. These people not only work hard in the classroom and work on programs out of school hours but also in their school holidays decide to work for a member of parliament. It is a crazy idea but I and my staff delighted in having their ideas and enthusiasm with us in the office. I thank Daniel Carr and Tanya Greeves for that.

The power to change lives is a power that is in the hands of great teachers. I will read a letter from a Melbourne girl to her English teacher Liam Wood. She wrote:

‘You were the only teacher that believed in me... I was doubted, labelled dumb/stupid and put down constantly in every class, except in Writer's Workshop. You created an environment that made each student special, like they belonged in the class ... I know I never spoke about personal things but you and Writer's Workshop changed my life just before I had given up. Things at home have even gotten better since I joined your class. ... Never forget that by treating young adults/teenagers like equals or as a friend and just simply believing in them you'll give them faith, hope, dreams and inspiration.’

That was just one of the several letters that Liam received from his students.

Teach For Australia is a powerful program. It is changing lives among children in disadvantaged schools. I hope that as a result of it receiving tax deductible gift recipient status through this bill it will encourage further philanthropic support for a program which is part of the broader work that all of us in the House have to do to improve the quality of education that the most disadvantaged students in Australia receive.

I spoke in parliament today about the Canberra Cavalry, and argued that mine is the sportiest electorate in Australia.

Canberra Cavalry, 14 February 2013

On Saturday night the Canberra Cavalry blasted Perth Heat out of the park to win the title of Australian Baseball League champions. Baseball may be a game that is played on the southside, but it is a game close to my heart. As somebody who enjoys numbers and sport and also the enthusiasm with which the sport is played, it is great to see a Canberra team coming out on top. In particular I pay tribute to Canberra's first baseman, Aaron Sloan, who was named MVP of the season, hitting .625 and scoring three runs of the weekend. Canberra Cavalry are building a local fan base.

They are a team of which I am proud in a city where sport is played as well as anywhere in Australia. In fact, I would put my electorate of Fraser up against the sporting prowess of any other electorate in this place. We are assisted slightly by the fact that we have the Australian Institute of Sport; nonetheless, we have great teams like the Brumbies and the Raiders and now the Canberra Cavalry showing the way and showing that Canberra is not just the political capital, the bush capital, but also the sporting capital of Australia.

I spoke in parliament yesterday about the ACT's new GP Super Clinic.

GP Super Clinic, 13 February 2013

On Monday I had the pleasure of turning the first sod for a GP Super Clinic in my electorate of Fraser. Located at the University of Canberra campus in Bruce, the Super Clinic is one of 48 such clinics that have either begun operations or are under construction as part of the government's healthcare agenda. This GP Super Clinic will form part of a hub-and-spoke system in the ACT, with future facilities in my electorate in Casey and in Calwell in South Canberra.

These investments in high-quality, comprehensive, convenient health services have significant benefits for the people of Fraser. As well as being convenient -- grouping services such as occupational therapy and physiotherapy under the same roof as the local GP -- Super Clinics allow for team work among health professionals, promising better quality health care.

Being located at the University of Canberra, the Super Clinic has a strong emphasis on educating medical, nursing and allied health students. It will soon be turning these university students into the next generation of health professionals, helping maintain and improve the standard of primary health care in the ACT and the broader region.

The GP Super Clinic could also help attract and retain health professionals. We know that medical students who train in the ACT are more likely to end up living and working locally, so having the magnet of a large, high-quality facility linked to student education is a great benefit for the future of health care.

Established by Ochre Health and jointly funded by Health Workforce Australia, the University of Canberra and the federal government, the Bruce GP Super Clinic is the product of a partnership, working together to provide better health care.

I thank all of those people involved in establishing the GP Super Clinic; their hard work is already bearing fruit: Minister for Health, Tanya Plibersek; the ACT Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher; University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen Parker; University of Canberra Chancellor, John Mackay; University of Canberra Deputy Chancellor, Tom Calma; and John Burns from Ochre Health. I would also like to acknowledge Thomas Baker, an intern in my office, who attended with us and who assisted me in preparing today's remarks.

With the government's commitment to build more than 60 new Super Clinics around Australia and to upgrade and extend around 425 existing health practices and facilities, the construction of the Bruce GP Super Clinic is part of the government's national health vision. This is a vision for better health care, better health training and better health research. I was pleased to see that coming to fruition with the beginnings of the Bruce GP Super Clinic.