Andrew Leigh

As the G20 meetings in November edge closer, it's time to get serious about Australia's response to issues like multinational tax avoidance. But so far all we've seen from Treasurer Joe Hockey is empty rhetoric. In this release I argue that it's time for the Treasurer to do more than talk:

MEDIA RELEASE

HOCKEY MUST SIGN UP FOR MORE TAX TRANSPARENCY

Treasurer Joe Hockey is procrastinating and prevaricating on a key measure to stop multinational companies shifting profits offshore.

The Common Reporting Standard provides for the automatic exchange of financial account information between banks in different countries. It is designed to make it easier to track how money moves around the world so that governments can ensure companies pay their fair share of tax.

In August, over 40 countries joined an Early Adopters Group and committed to fast-tracking implementation of the standard from January 2016. Despite Treasurer Joe Hockey endorsing the standard after the G20 Finance Ministers meeting in February, our name was conspicuously absent from that list.

One of the more exciting new developments in Australian media has been the launch of The Mandarin - a news service dedicated to in-depth coverage of the Australian public sector and policy making. I recently sat down with one of their reporters, David Donaldson, for a chat about using randomised trials to help guide better policy development. Here's a summary:

The case for randomised trials in policy development, The Mandarin, 10 September

Governments should use more randomised trials in policy development, according to federal Labor frontbencher and former economics professor Andrew Leigh.

Randomised trials are used extensively in the private sector — “you are having randomised trials done on you every time you enter a supermarket or every time you use Google”, Leigh told The Mandarin at his Parliament House office recently.New South Wales has been conducting randomised trials with letters asking people to pay fines and tax, among other things, building on the work of the British government’s Behavioural Insights Unit.

A recent NSW trial found the number of citizens paying overdue land tax jumped from 27% to 39% by introducing greater personalisation and a statement that “8/10 people pay their land tax on time” in legal notices. Other trials have included six or eight possible alternatives in the layout of websites, for example, allowing exact measurements of how customers responded to the inclusion of a photo, a logo or different text. 

Another day, another not-for-profit group publicly telling Kevin Andrews we need to keep the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission...

MEDIA RELEASE

DOES ANYONE STILL SUPPORT KEVIN ANDREWS?

Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews is becoming increasingly isolated in his crusade to abolish the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, with a key representative of the Catholic church rejecting plans to scrap it.  

In an opinion piece today the General Secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Rev Brian Lucas, has argued for constructive modifications to the commission while endorsing many of its key functions.     

Here's one for all the fans of football and behavioural economics: Guardian Australia is featuring a piece I've written looking at why professional sports have become less violent in recent decades. This is an excerpt from my new book 'The Economics of Just About Everything':

How the cost of injured players ensured fewer fights, The Guardian, 10 September

In the 54th minute of the second game of the 2013 Rugby League State of Origin series, a fight broke out. Annoyed at Paul Gallen’s slowness to get off Jonathan Thurston, Queenslander Brent Tate pushed him away. New South Wales player Trent Merrin punched Tate, Queenslander Justin Hodges hit Merrin from behind, and New South Welshman Greg Bird joined in. What was surprising about the event wasn’t that a fight broke out, but that it was relatively mild. Of the four players sent off, two claimed not to have thrown a punch.  

This morning's Sky AM Agenda spot was dominated by discussion about the Abbott Government's first year - mostly because it takes a lot of time to list off all the promises they've broken to the Australian people. Here's the video and transcript:

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

TV INTERVIEW

SKY AM AGENDA

MONDAY 8 SEPTEMBER, 2014

SUBJECT/S: Australian military involvement in Iraq; James Ashby allegations; Tony Abbott’s unfair budget

KIERAN GILBERT: With me on the program this morning is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Andrew Leigh, and the Parliamentary Secretary for Communications, Paul Fletcher. Paul Fletcher, first to you: I guess the Foreign Minister is stating the obvious in many respects, that battling the ideology of a group such as ISIS is a lot tougher than winning militarily?

PAUL FLETCHER, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Well look, that's right. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has spoken about the scale of the challenge and the fact that there's an ideology there as well as its physical manifestation in the form of this appalling terrorist organisation ISIS or ISIL. Obviously we are working with other western nations, led by the US, but we need to be realistic and I think Julie Bishop's comments have been directed towards advising the Australian population about the scale of the challenge, what can be realistically achieved. Of course we are focused on protecting Australia against the terrorist challenge posed by those who might return from fighting in the Middle East with terrorist groups like ISIS and ISIL. But also doing our part, along with other nations, to seek to protect the innocent, protect civilians in Iraq, and stand up for our values. 

GILBERT: Andrew Leigh, Australia at the weekend was announced as part of that core Coalition. The US President detailed that at the NATO summit over recent days, and this is very much where it has been heading for some time.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Kieran, I think having a broad coalition is really important in this issue. President Obama spoke about the importance of involving regional partners, and particularly about getting Sunni-majority nations involved as well. For me, I spoke last week in the parliament about the tests that ought to apply to Australia's involvement. Gareth Evans laid out what I thought was quite a nice six-point test, of which the three most important notions were: whether it is a just cause, which I think it clearly is; whether we have a reasonable prospect of success in carrying out the arms drops; and whether we have legitimate authority. For me, those tests being passed, what the government is doing does fall within what Gareth Evans has called 'a responsibility to protect'. 

It has been a shocking year for the Australian Public Service under the Abbott Government. On this first anniversary of the Coalition taking government, it's worth remembering what they promised before the election, compared with what has happened since.

MEDIA RELEASE

PUBLIC SERVICE ANOTHER VICTIM OF BROKEN PROMISES

The Australian Public Service has just endured its toughest year since ‘Max the Axe’ rampaged through in 1996, with thousands of jobs lost and promises broken.

Before the 2013 election, Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne both categorically promised there would be no forced sackings within the public service, and that no more than 12,000 jobs would go:

The Australian Financial Review was kind enough to do a profile of me for the 'Saturday lunch with...' column. Here's the highlights from a delightfully long chat with journalist Fleur Anderson:

The very different politician

Lunch with economist turned politician Andrew Leigh begins with an embarrassing mix up. There’s a patch of his ­Canberra electorate that’s become hipster heaven. It has been lauded even in the New York Times travel section for the proliferation of cool restaurants where the patrons play “hipster or hobo”, guessing the socio-economic status of people on the street.

On the evening of Wednesday 3 December, my friend Nick Champion and I will be debating Coalition MPs Lucy Wicks and Michael McCormack, on the question: 'The Eureka legend belongs to the left or right of politics'.

The debate is part of a one-day ANU conference, being organised by Canberra historian David Headon, for the 160^th anniversary of Eureka, at the Research School for Humanities and the Arts.

If you’d like to attend the dinner debate, the conference, maybe both or would just like to know more, details are in the brochure (pdf). 

MEDIA RELEASE 

HOCKEY OFFERS NOTHING BUT HOT AIR ON GLOBAL PROFIT SHIFTING

Treasurer Joe Hockey has revealed he has nothing but talk to offer when it comes to making multinational companies pay their fair share of tax. 

In Parliament this morning, Mr Hockey spent 15 minutes mouthing empty words about tackling base erosion and profit shifting by major global firms. But despite all his big talk, Mr Hockey failed to outline how his government will make companies that evade tax pay a single dollar more tax. 

What’s more, Mr Hockey has heaped responsibility for pursuing global tax avoidance onto the Australian Tax office, at a time when his government is axing 2100 tax experts from that agency.  

I'm proud to be one of the inaugural conveners of the Parliamentary Friendship Group on Homelessness. It's really important that we talk about homelessness in our community so that those who are experiencing it don't become invisible. In my launch speech I shared the stories of a couple of Fraser locals who know first hand what it's like to live on the streets; now you can read about them too...

ADDRESS TO THE LAUNCH OF THE PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP GROUP ON HOMELESSNESS

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners of the lands on which we meet today; my co-convenors Senators Ludlam and Seselja; Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness Jan McLucas; Homelessness Australia CEO Glenda Stevens; Chris Hawley, who will share his story with us later; and the many members and senators who have joined us today.

Let me start with a story.

Glenn Tibbitts was born at 26 weeks in the back of an ambulance because his mother had endured another beating. Glenn’s first recollection of abuse he suffered was between the age of one and two. Around the age of 7 his parents broke up and as Glenn describes it: ‘the door of the cage was left open and that was my opportunity to go’.