Andrew Leigh

FIVE TESTS FOR THE OPPOSITION LEADER'S BUDGET REPLY
Statement on Matters of Significance, House of Representatives
Wednesday, 16 May 2023

If you want to know what the coalition really believe in, let's go back to the most unpopular budget of the past generation, a budget that commemorated its 10-year anniversary this year, the 2014 budget. The 2014 budget was preceded by then Prime Minister Abbott saying there would be ‘no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no cuts to pensions, no changes to the GST and no cuts to the ABC and SBS’. He vowed to avoid these things and he embraced every single one of them.

 In that 2014 budget, the Liberal Party and the National Party said that under-30s would get no unemployment support for six months. In fierce discussions about the right level of JobSeeker, they thought the right level for young Australians should be zero. They said that pensions would no longer be indexed to wages but would only be indexed to prices, essentially saying to Australia's fixed-income retirees that they could no longer share in productivity growth in the economy. They said that HECS-HELP debts would be indexed at a faster rate, a strong contrast to what we said in this budget, which was that the indexation of those debts would be lower.

 The 2014 budget, which commemorates its 10-year anniversary this week, had a $43 million cut to ABC and SBS. It had a $114 million cut to the CSIRO. It had deficits as far as the eye could see from a party that had promised before the election that they would deliver a surplus in their first year and in every year after that. And the 2014 budget ended bulk billing. I wonder who was the health minister who presided over that decision? Hey, that's right: it's none other than the Leader of the Opposition, the man who, when he was health minister, was voted by doctors the worst health minister in living memory.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC CANBERRA DRIVE WITH ROSS SOLLY
WEDNESDAY 15 MAY 2024

SUBJECTS: Budget 2024; Tax Cuts for Every Australian Taxpayer; Energy Bill Relief for Every Household; Funding for ACT Infrastructure; Canberra to Sydney Rail Link

ROSS SOLLY (HOST): Here's a statistic for you, Andrew Leigh. I know you like your statistics.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Absolutely.

SOLLY: Should everyone get the $300 energy bill rebate on our ABC Canberra Drive poll at the moment, you'd be happy to know 55 per cent of ABC Canberra Drive listeners say yes, 45 per cent say no, Andrew Leigh.

LEIGH: The simple answer to the 45 per cent is that energy companies don't know your income, they don't know your wealth. What they know is whether you're a concession card holder.

If you're a government and you're rolling out energy bill relief, you can either do it to everyone or you can do it just to concession card holders. You can't do any more fine-grained targeting than that. Our view was that middle-income Australians were doing it tough, and we wanted to extend energy bill relief to them. So, the most straightforward way of doing that was to provide it to everyone.

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TV INTERVIEW
AFTERNOON BRIEFING WITH GREG JENNETT
WEDNESDAY 15 MAY 2024

SUBJECTS: Budget 2024; Tax Cuts for Every Australian Taxpayer; Energy Bill Relief for Every Household; A Future Made in Australia

GREG JENNETT (HOST): Well, time for some government perspective now on all things Budget. Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Treasury matters, so closely linked to the processes and the planning that got us here. And Andrew's back with us in the studio. Welcome once again.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks, Greg.

JENNETT: Energy bill relief. Is the Government claiming in giving $300 to every household that you are at least in part, making good on the $275 reduction promise?

LEIGH: That hasn't been at the forefront of our thinking. Really, this is about providing energy bill relief at a time when households are under pressure. We've done it this way because it's the most efficient and straightforward way of providing that energy bill relief and because it reduces inflation. So, that's making the Reserve Bank's job easier. It's really important that fiscal and monetary policy work closely together. We've done that in past Budgets. We've done that again in this Budget.

ACT FEDERAL LABOR TEAM

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PRESS CONFERENCE
PARLIAMENT HOUSE
WEDNESDAY, 15 MAY 2024

SUBJECTS: Labor’s Budget; delivering for Canberra; public service; infrastructure; ACT public housing debt; Independent candidates.

SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: I’m here with my colleagues, Federal ACT representatives Andrew Leigh, David Smith, Alicia Payne. We’re really pleased to be here the morning after the night before of the Budget with a very strong investment in Canberra. Obviously, the Budget as a whole had a focus on cost-of-living without adding to inflation, but also had an eye on the future and seizing the opportunities that are coming with the transformation to Net Zero economies through the Future Made In Australia. There’s a lot of investment in Canberra. We’ve gone for many years under the former government not being recognised, either for our role as the nation’s capital or as a city on our own. And this budget deals with that, continues the work we’ve done in the previous two budgets, there’s investment in jobs, in supporting households with cost-of-living and our role as the nation’s capital through infrastructure investments. So it’s a very positive budget for Canberra and I’m going to hand to my colleagues now to focus on a couple of the key initiatives.

THE HON DR ANDREW LEIGH MP, MEMBER FOR FENNER: Well, thanks very much Katy. And this is a budget that delivers for all Australians, but a budget that really looks after Canberra. And one of the reasons for that is you’ve got the extraordinary Katy Gallagher, former ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Finance, sitting around the Expenditure Review Committee table, the Cabinet table, making decisions that don’t leave Canberra out. We saw in the Liberals’ last budget, the ACT get just one fifth of our fair share of infrastructure spending. This budget does right by the people of Canberra. One of the important aspects of the Budget is that every Canberra taxpayer gets a tax cut. That tax cut is a bigger tax cut than they would have received for four out of five Canberra taxpayers. We want Canberrans to earn more and to keep more of what they earn. And these tax cuts that’ll flow from 1 July are fairer, more efficient and will do more for the ACT economy than they would have done before we rejigged them. I’ll hand now to my colleague Alicia Payne to say a few words about other aspects of the Budget for Canberra.

ACT FEDERAL LABOR TEAM

ALBANESE GOVERNMENT INJECTS OVER $350 MILLION IN CANBERRA TO SEE OUR CITY THRIVE

The Albanese Government values Canberra’s role as the national capital and is making the investments in the 2024-25 Budget to rollout transformative projects and upgrade local infrastructure that will support our growing city to thrive.

Only a Federal Labor Government can work hand-in-hand with the ACT Labor Government to deliver the investments that Canberra needs to grow, while supporting local jobs and maintaining Canberra as the national capital.

This Federal Budget will inject almost $250 million to revitalise the AIS facilities in Bruce and ensure they are modern and fit-for-purpose for Australia’s elite and aspiring athletes.

PAINTING ON A BIG CANVAS

Institute of Public Accountants & Canberra Business Chamber 2024 Federal Budget Breakfast

Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra

15 May 2024

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners of these lands, and pay respects to all First Nations people present. Thank you to the organisers, the Institute of Public Accountants, and the Canberra Business Chamber, for the opportunity to address you following this year’s Federal Budget. I also acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues who are here today. Apologies in advance that I cannot stay for the whole event – we have a scheduled crossbench briefing at 8.15am where I am presenting on upcoming legislation.

By my rough count, this is the seventh time I’ve addressed this breakfast – a great chance in the Great Hall to talk about whether last night’s budget meets our great expectations. It’s not just a moment to talk numbers, but also an opportunity to consider Australia’s place in the world, and whether we’re making the right calls to shape a fairer society and a stronger economy.

If you need reminding that each of us are inheritors of past traditions and custodians of the future, take a look at the tapestry at the end of the room. In designing it, Arthur Boyd wanted to refer to one of history’s great tapestries, the Bayeux Tapestry that shows the events leading up to the 1066 Norman Conquest. Halley’s Comet is in that 1066 tapestry. In 1986, when the tapestry was being made, Halley’s Comet was in the sky again. So the weavers suggested that Boyd include it, as a way of acknowledging the history of those weavers from nearly a millennium ago.

SUBJECTS: Australian Institute of Sport Funding; Canberra Stadium; Ironman; Budget; Cost of Living relief; making HECS fairer; Commonwealth Prac Payment; Hamas-Israel Conflict; University Protests; High Court decision

LEON DELANEY (HOST): First up today the Federal Member for Fenner, the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury, Employment and probably a few other things that we don't know about. Andrew Leigh. Good afternoon.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon, Leon. I have to reassure you and your listeners there's no secret ministries with me.

DELANEY: I'm very relieved to hear that. Canberra's been getting a lot of love in the last couple of days. Obviously, we saw earlier this week the report from the committee inquiry into making Canberra great again, because I find that, as a phrase, much easier to remember than the actual name of the inquiry. And there were a lot of positives to come out of that. Today, of course, we've seen the announcement of $250 million for the revitalisation of the Australian Institute of Sport. What will that pay for?

LEIGH: Well, this is going to pay, Leon, as you said, for important investments in making sure that the AIS is ready for Brisbane 2032. That'll include the accommodation and the work around that precinct. The AIS, formed in 1981, was fundamental to Australia's success in the Sydney 2000 games. And we're investing again, eight years out from Brisbane in order to make sure that this facility is world class. That reflects the Federal Government's commitment to Canberra. You've had the investment in the National Art Gallery, the National Museum, in light rail. We are a government who takes Canberra seriously and recognises that investing in Canberra, is investing in the nation and investing in the nation's capital. This is really exciting. It was great to be out there this morning and chatting away with some of the sports people, including triathlete Zoe Clarke and runner Michael Roeger, as well as others in various sports who are going to be part of the future of elite sport.

SUBJECTS: Naval Interaction with PLA Fighter, Budget, Supermarket Competition, Peaceful protests

KIERAN GILBERT (HOST): Let's bring in the Assistant Minister for Treasury, Competition and Charities, Andrew Leigh, who's live in the studio. Andrew, pointing out that there's been no Ministerial contact yet, but the Prime Minister reiterating that whenever they have an opportunity that will be raised to their concerns about the near miss last week.

ANDREW LEIGH: Yes, Kieran, this isn't just an issue of safety for our defence personnel. It's also a question of maintaining international law and the freedom of our military to operate in international airspace. So, we are concerned and we've made those representations at the appropriate levels.

GILBERT: It's an interesting paradox, though, because during Beef Week, where we're seeing all sorts of export deals done, Chinese representatives there, along with others from across the region. So, on the one hand, the trade relationship back on even keel, but some instability elsewhere.

LEIGH: This will be true throughout our lifetimes, Kieran. If you go back 100 years, our biggest trading partner was Britain, which was instrumental to the founding of the Australian colonies. Then we had the United States, with which we had a defence relationship. But now and for the foreseeable future, our largest trading partner is going to be a country with which we're not always lockstep in military sense. So, this is the new normal for Australian politics.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
HIT104.7 WILKO AND COURTS
MONDAY, 6 MAY 2024

SUBJECTS: Port Macquarie Ironman, Making HECS-HELP fairer.

NEIL WILCOCK (HOST): I know that a lot of people who are listening might have student debt if obviously you racked it up while you're at school and then maybe, like, you've just been in the workforce for a little while, but you haven't been earning enough to start paying things back, so maybe you've got quite a lot there. So, we've got MP Andrew Leigh on the phone. Good morning, Andrew.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: G'day. Great to be with you.

WILCOCK: Oh, there you are. Andrew, quickly, we know that you're away at the moment, so you're not in town. Is it because you're going to be an Ironman? Is that what you were doing?

LEIGH: Yes. I raced the Port Macquarie Ironman yesterday as my third Ironman. So, I think that now makes me the only politician stupid enough to have done all three Australian Ironman races.

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TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWSDAY WITH KIERAN GILBERT
THURSDAY, 2 MAY 2024

SUBJECTS: Government’s responsible cost-of-living relief, impact of spending from the states on inflation, lack of competition in the beer industry, applications open for advocates to become designated complainants, Port Macquarie Ironman.

KIERAN GILBERT: Joining me live now in the studio is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh. Thanks for your time. Is this a bit of a worry, the cash splash from the states, Queensland in this case, when it comes to the inflation challenge the Government and the country faces right now?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, Kieran, I think all relief is welcome for households and all those Queensland households will be seeing tax relief on 1 July, as we put in place a tax cut for all taxpayers. In our last Budget we had the federal support for energy bill relief. That's something we believe is a responsible, targeted cost-of-living measure as we look to work in concert with the Reserve Bank to reduce inflation.