Andrew Leigh

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.

Senator The Hon Murray Watt MP
Minister for the Environment and Water
Senator for Queensland 

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

Data confirms the environment is good for Australia’s economy and our wellbeing

Friday, 24 April 2026

The Albanese Government has released the second set of National Ecosystem Accounts, which will help improve our environmental stewardship for the future.

The data tracks the condition of Australia’s ecosystems and will help inform future decision-making processes and better measure environmental impact.

The accounts put a dollar value on the carbon storage, fresh water, and wild fish that our environment provides to the national economy, as well as measuring the contribution of some of Australia’s land, freshwater and marine ecosystems to the economy, showing:

• Australia had 3 consecutive years of La Nina from 2020 to 2023, which caused carbon-retaining grasslands and forests to grow. In 2021-22, these environments stored 34.6 billion tonnes or $59.5 billion worth of carbon

The Hon Kristy McBain MP
Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories
Minister for Emergency Management 

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

Tara Cheyne MLA
Minister for City and Government Services

Old Well Station Road Upgrade Completed At Nadjung Mada Nature Reserve 

29 April 2026

The ACT Government has completed a major upgrade of Old Well Station Road through Nadjung Mada Nature Reserve.

This project marks the final milestone for a program of works delivered by the Parks and Conservation Service for Canberra’s northern grasslands that received $2.1 million from the Albanese Government through the Disaster Ready Fund. This package also included major remediation and restoration works at Jarramlee Nature Reserve and the Budjan Galindgi Nature Reserve, which all provide critical habitat for threatened species.

Jointly funded by the Australian and ACT governments the Building Climate Resilient Visitor Infrastructure project also delivers safer access, stronger emergency management capability and improved protection for nationally significant grassland habitat in Canberra’s north.

The upgraded road now provides a safe, reliable, all‑weather route built to rural roading standards. It supports bushfire response, emergency services and land management operations, while also improving community access for pedestrians and cyclists connecting surrounding neighbourhoods with schools, services and the wider city.

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

Why leaving a bequest should become part of every Australian’s estate-planning

Published in The New Daily

23 April 2026

Jennie Mackenzie spent her life helping children learn.

As a former Play School director and early childhood educator, she believed in nurturing potential.

After facing cancer herself, she became interested in the work of the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney. When she died, she left a bequest to support early-career researchers.

One recipient said that support helped make her return to Australia possible after postdoctoral work in Canada and the United States.

It is a striking example of what a bequest can do. A person dies, but their values keep working.