Andrew Leigh

Randomised Trials, Employment Services and Work For All
Connect Up 2023, Surfers Paradise
Tuesday, 25 July 2023

Introduction

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the Yugambeh region, and all First Nations people present here today. I commit myself, as a member of the Albanese Government, to the implementation in full of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, including a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament. Thanks to CoAct CEO Simon Brown and chair Lynn Smart for the invitation to speak at ConnectUp 2023.

In 1944 and 1945, as war raged in the Pacific, HC (Nugget) Coombs and a team of fellow economists in the Ministry of Post-War Reconstruction drafted a White Paper on Full Employment. Commissioned by Prime Minister John Curtin, the result was punchy and bold. It began with an excoriating denunciation of the way that the economy in the interwar years had served Australians:

‘Despite the need for more houses, food, equipment and every other type of product, before the war not all those available for work were able to find employment or to feel a sense of security in their future. On the average during the 20 years between 1919 and 1939 more than one-tenth of the men and women desiring work were unemployed.’

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO NATIONAL BREAKFAST WITH HAMISH MACDONALD
TUESDAY, 25 JULY 2023

SUBJECTS: Cost of living, Appointment of Chris Barrett to the Productivity Commission, Randomised trials and employment services system, Review into offshore processing.

HAMISH MACDONALD (HOST): The economic storm facing Australia might be gathering pace, but right now, the budget bottom line is looking better than ever. Yesterday, the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, revealed the surplus has gone down since the May budget - sorry, gone up to $20 billion. But despite housing being a major problem in the community and government support payments below that of the poverty line, it's unlikely that any of that money will be used to ease the cost of living pressures. Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury and Employment and joins the program now. Good morning to you.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT, COMPETITION, CHARITIES, AND TREASURY ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning, Hamish.

The Australian Government is providing up to 30,000 unconnected families with school aged children across all states and territories with a free National Broadband Network (NBN) connection for 12 months.

The initiative will provide 50 megabits per second (Mbps) fixed-line services, Fixed-Wireless Plus and Sky Muster Plus services, depending on where the family lives, with large or unlimited data quotas. The School Student Broadband Initiative will narrow the digital divide and boost education opportunities for students without crucial access to home internet.

ANZLF Closing Plenary: Collaboration For Economic Resilience
Wednesday, 19 July

Introduction

Kia ora and hello.

Australia and New Zealand enjoy a straight-talking – sometimes playful – but always respectful relationship.

Its benefits reach beyond our borders to support stability, prosperity and security across our region.

In recent years, I have appreciated the chance to visit New Zealand as a guest of Presbyterian Support Northern, and to discuss shared economic and social challenges with Finance Minister Grant Robertson and New Zealand High Commissioner Annette King.

The Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum is an important part of our ongoing dialogue, and I thank you for the invitation to speak today.

A More Competitive Labor Party
Per Capita John Cain Lunch, Melbourne
Wednesday, 19 July 2023

John Cain and Labor

John Cain is one of Labor’s great heroes. When in 1982 he led Victorian Labor to power after 27 years in the wilderness, the reforms spanned the field, from education to law reform, the environment to open government. This being Victoria, sport was a part of the reform agenda too. Cain’s government demanded that the Melbourne Cricket Club admit women members, and introduced Sunday VFL games. In the early-1980s, Cain’s unleashing of reform after a generation in opposition was a blend of Whitlam and Hawke, with a dash of succession. John’s father, John Cain senior, had been the previous Victorian Labor Premier: governing until 1955, when the Split destroyed his government.

Yet although his father had been premier, John Cain was not a Labor powerbroker. Along with John Button and Barry Jones, he was factionally independent. He had seen what divisions in the party had done to his father’s government. Like most active Labor Party members, he chose not to be in a faction.

My argument today is simple: the Labor Party needs to provide space for people to remain outside the factional system. Across the country, the power of the factions is at an all-time high. We need to ensure that it is a legitimate choice for everyone – from new members to elected officials – to be non-factional. To join Labor should be enough. We should not be asking that those who want to make an impact within the ALP must join a sub-group within the party. Factions are fine. But not being in a faction should be fine too.

Monopoly makes life harder for central banks

The Australian, 18 July 2023

The job of the Reserve Bank is never easy, but it is especially challenging at times when inflation is outside the target band. Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and major problems with vital supply chains are undoubtably key drivers of Australia's inflation problem.

Nonetheless, two new pieces of research suggest that a lack of competition may impede the transmission of monetary policy - effectively making life harder for central bankers. Both were published in May in the American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings.

The first study, by Romain Duval, Davide Furceri, Raphael Lee and Marina M. Tavares, considers the effect of mark-ups. Mark-ups are the gap between cost and price. In a highly competitive market, mark-ups tend to be small. When monopolies rule, mark-ups are massive. Across many advanced countries, mark-ups have risen over recent decades.

The Albanese government values the expertise and the contributions of the charity sector highly. We know how vital Australian charities are in building stronger, fairer communities that are better places to live.

We’ve set up an expert steering group to work with Treasury and the Department of Social Services to draft a sector-led Blueprint. When finalised, the Blueprint will recommend ways the sector and government can work together so that Australian charities can reach their potential.

The steering group have identified eight key areas to focus on, and we’d like to know which of these eight areas matter most to your organisation.

Which themes reflect problem areas for your organisation? Which are the areas of opportunity you can’t yet take advantage of? Which areas are you feeling on top of?

Please complete the survey here.

The expert steering group will be overseeing broad and substantive sector consultations in coming months. This survey is intended to give the Assistant Minister an early sense of the priority areas for different sizes and types of charities.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC BRISBANE BREAKFAST WITH CRAIG ZONCA AND LORETTA RYAN
WEDNESDAY, 12 JULY 2023

SUBJECTS: Charity town halls, Government’s goal to double philanthropy, Speech to Australian Economists Conference, Bank branch closures.

CRAIG ZONCA (HOST): The Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh is joining us. Guess what, he has literally just run into the studio this morning. In your running gear, Andrew Leigh, good morning to you.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT, COMPETITION, CHARITIES, AND TREASURY ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning, great to be with you.

LORETTA RYAN (HOST): Where have you run to and from?

LEIGH: Just along the beautiful South Bank. I’ve been going for a run with a bloke called Wayne Spies. Wayne just broke the masters world record for a race called Comrades, which is an 87‑kilometre race in South Africa, and he's currently training to take a shot at the over 50 marathon world record.

RYAN: Gosh.

LEIGH: Amazingly quick runner. We were running at Andrew pace, not Wayne pace.

ZONCA: And is that what you do, if you're visiting a particular city, will you go for a run to experience early mornings, say like you have in Brisbane today?

Monopoly and the Banker: More Than a Board Game
Australian Conference of Economists, Brisbane
Wednesday, 12 July 2023

Since our panel has been asked to riff off Governor Lowe’s remarks in his lunchtime talk, I thought it would be helpful for me to focus on the ways in which developments in my portfolio of competition have affected monetary policy. 

The job of the Reserve Bank is never easy, but it is especially challenging at times when inflation is outside the target band. Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and major problems with vital supply chains are undoubtably key drivers of Australia's inflation problem.  

Nonetheless, two new pieces of research suggesting that a lack of competition may impede the transmission of monetary policy – effectively making life harder for central bankers. Both were published in May in the American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings.

CHARITY SECTOR TOWN HALL MEETINGS

This week, I will hold a series of town hall meetings across Australia to meet with charity sector representatives.

The Australian Government values the expertise and the contributions of the charity and non-profit sector, which constitutes almost one-tenth of the economy, and over one-tenth of employment. We know how vital Australian charities are in building stronger, fairer communities.