Andrew Leigh

Ahead of formal protests at the CSIRO Black Mountain labs in Canberra, I spoke today about the literal decimation of Australia's premier science agency.  

CONSTITUENCY STATEMENT

JUNE 25, 2014

In 1931, Labor member Jack Holloway became the first Australian to be Minister for Science. Eight decades later, the Abbott government became the first government in three generations to not have a science minister. The lack of a science minister has sat alongside another significant decision by this government: decimating the CSIRO. This government is literally sacking one in 10 CSIRO staff.

 

 

 

Today I spoke in Parliament about the Abbott Government's plan to cut government cleaners' pay by nearly $5 an hour. The change is slipped into the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Bill 2014.

SPEECH

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The context in which we are debating this bill is a context in which inequality has been rising for a generation. Since 1975 earnings in the top 10 per cent have gone up 59 per cent after inflation. Earnings in the bottom 10 per cent have gone up 15 per cent after inflation. So we have had a generation in which earnings have risen three times faster for financial dealers and anaesthetists than they have for checkout workers and cleaners. To put it another way: if cleaners had enjoyed the same wage growth over the last generation as people in the top of the earnings distribution, they would be $14,000 a year better off.

 

Labor will vote against the Government’s plans to increase fuel excises because of the cost of living impact on low and middle income earners. It's also a tax on regional and rural Australia. Today I spoke on the Excise Tariff Amendment (Fuel Indexation) Bill, suggesting that if the National Party had any integrity it would stand up against the petrol tax too.

SPEECH

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

In this debate we have seen a notable lack of speakers from the Nationals. This is the Liberal tail wagging the Nationals dog.

The Australian Financial Review has this morning published my opinion piece that mounts a defence of Australia's gun buyback scheme.

OPINION PIECE

SHOOTING DOWN ARGUMENTS AGAINST TOUGH GUN LAWS

In the decade up to 1996, Australia averaged one mass shooting every year. Places like Hoddle Street, Queen Street, Strathfield, Surry Hills, the Central Coast and Port Arthur all became synonymous with killings in which five or more people died.

In the decade after the 1997 National Firearms Agreement (NFA), Australia did not have a single mass shooting.

Last night in the Chamber, I spoke against the Government's omnibus Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (2014 Budget Measures No.1).  

SPEECH

House of Representatives

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

It is a pleasure, in this debate, to follow the contributions of the member for Jagajaga, the member for Gellibrand and the member for Hotham—three Labor members whose careers in politics have been founded on the notion that we must work for those more vulnerable than ourselves. It is a pleasure for me to follow them because the legislation we are debating tonight goes to the heart of the Australian social contract—a social contract that says that an egalitarian tradition is something that Australians hold dear.

This morning I spoke at the CEDA 2014 State of the Nation Conference at Parliament House, addressing the challenge of closing loopholes that allow multinational companies to pay a lower rate than Australian small businesses. 

SPEECH

Thanks very much Stephen for a very generous introduction. Can I of course acknowledge that we're meeting on traditional lands of the Ngunnawal  people and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.

It's a great honour to be sharing the stage too with John Brumby, one of our great economic reformers and Jeremy Thorpe, one of the deep thinkers in Australia around the issue of tax. You’ll be surprised to know that some people find tax eye-glazingly dull. I've been looking forward to talking to you about tax all week.

I spoke in Parliament today to mark the 25th anniversary of the Australia-Indonesia Institute. 

CONSTITUENCY STATEMENT

MONDAY JUNE 23, 2014

In the late 1970s I lived in Indonesia for three years, in Jakarta and Banda Aceh. I stay in contact with my friend Niko, although my Indonesian has not advanced much beyond the schoolboy Indonesian of Terima kasih and Baik-baik saja.

 

This morning, in my weekly slot on Fairfax Breaking Politics, the discussion explored the latest Fairfax/Neilson poll, the values underlying the Treasurer's first budget, the idea of a federal ICAC, the angry reaction to the Attorney General's East Jerusalem comments and the Government's inadaquate response to climate change.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

ONLINE INTERVIEW

BREAKING POLITICS, FAIRFAX ONLINE

MONDAY, 23 JUNE 2014

HOST CHRIS HAMMER: Andrew Laming to you first. A Fairfax news poll out today shows that more than 60 per cent of people still think the budget is unfair. Is it time to revise the budget?

ANDREW LAMING: Look, definitely not and it won’t be revised. We were elected to do the hard and necessary decisions but that didn’t mean it would be popular. A lot of this is long term stuff that Australians will look back on and say they were ensuring shrewd and important moves made at a time in history when they had to be taken – that’s really the essence of the budget.

 

 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

DOORSTOP INTERVIEW

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA

MONDAY, 23 JUNE 2014

SUBJECT / S: Charities commission backed by Malcolm Turnbull; ASIO powers and ISP data retention; State asset sales and competition.

SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER, ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning everyone. Welcome to another gorgeous Canberra morning. I’m Andrew Leigh, the Shadow Assistant Treasurer. 

We know that the charities commission was recommended by a series of reports, going right back to the Howard Government days. It was set up by Labor in 2012 and is already doing a strong job in protecting donors and supporting charities. But now it's been revealed that while the Howard Government was in office, a report came down signed co-signed by Malcolm Turnbull supporting the charities commission. Malcolm Turnbull argued for a charities commission for exactly the same reason Labor implemented a charities commission, which is that it supports the sector and now enjoys the support of four out of five charities in a recent survey.

So, if Tony Abbott won't listen to the Australian people, maybe at least he could listen to Malcolm Turnbull. Because just as Malcolm Turnbull supports carbon pricing, so too, he supports the sensible reform of the charities commission.

This morning I issued a media release urging the Prime Minister to listen to the wisdom in his own party room on the importance of the charities commission. 

MEDIA RELEASE

 Malcolm turnbull backs charities commission

Harmonising laws for the not-for-profit sector, now being achieved by the single and national Commonwealth regulator, is an idea that has been enthusiastically backed by members of the Coalition, including Malcolm Turnbull.

The Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission, currently threatened with the axe under Tony Abbott, isn’t just something Labor has championed. It is a textbook reform streamlining reporting laws for the sector advocated by Liberals in recent years.