Andrew Leigh

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

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TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA, AFTERNOON AGENDA WITH TRUDY MCINTOSH
FRIDAY, 12 JUNE 2026

SUBJECTS: Rebuilding trust: the future of Australia’s charities and community life; 2026 Budget; tax reform; One Nation

TRUDY MCINTOSH: Meantime, one Labor frontbencher is making the case this week for Australia to develop a trust agenda to encourage more Aussies to get involved in their community and help with charities too.

Joining me is the man himself – Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. It's a mouthful. Andrew, nice to see you.

ANDREW LEIGH: Lovely to see you Trudy.

TRUDY MCINTOSH: It strikes me though, this trust agenda argument you're putting forward. Is it hard as a Labor frontbencher to make the case for building trust a month after a Budget that contains such big, broken promises?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, building trust and community is fundamental to how we work as a democracy. We need those strong charities and not-for-profits engaging in the community so we have a chance to rub shoulders with people who think differently from one another. Democracy is ultimately a contact sport and we need to see ourselves as participants engaging face-to-face rather than just angrily shooting off at one another on social media. Part of this is the social media minimum age but part of it is also backing charities, as our government has done after the 9-year war on charities that was waged by the other side of politics.

I was speaking at the National Press Club about the value of a high trust society, not just because we're healthier and happier but also because our economy works better when people trust one another.

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

Responsible Business in a World in Transition

Australian Treasury,
Canberra

Thursday, 11 June 2026

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, on whose lands we meet today, and all First Nations people present.

Thank you, Michael, for your leadership as Chair of the Board overseeing the Australian National Contact Point. The AusNCP is Australia’s National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises: the Treasury-based body that promotes responsible business conduct and helps handle complaints when concerns are raised about multinational enterprises.

My thanks also to Shiv Martin, who will guide the panel discussion shortly, and to my fellow panellists. Each of you brings serious expertise to the question of responsible business conduct, which is another way of saying that if I say anything foolish in the next ten minutes, it will have a very short shelf life.

Thank you also to the members of the Governance and Advisory Board, who provide crucial oversight and impartial advice drawing on their expertise, organisations and networks across the community, to the AusNCP team in Treasury, and to everyone who has helped mark this 50th anniversary of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Anniversaries are funny things. At 50, a person might buy reading glasses and start developing suspiciously strong opinions about lumbar support. But for an international instrument, 50 is something different. It means endurance. It means adaptation. It means having survived governments, recessions, technological upheavals, and at least a few acronyms that have tested the patience of innocent bystanders.

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

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NATIONAL PRESS CLUB Q&A
CANBERRA
WEDNESDAY, 10 JUNE 2026

SUBJECTS: Fertility; early childhood education; social media; tax reform; Rebuilding Trust: The Future of Australia’s Charities and Community Life; stamp duty; tax deductibility of donations to independent schools; Australian National University; deductible gift recipient regime; community foundations; One Nation

TOM CONNELL, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB PRESIDENT: Thank you Assistant Minister. You detailed the decline of participation in groups and organisations in groups themselves. There’s also been a decline in the fertility rate. Now, speaking from personal experience, once you have kids you get very conscious of the community – is the playground up to scratch, are the footpaths safe, how’s the local school going? Do you think there’s a link between the two and if so, is there anything the government can do about that or not?

ANDREW LEIGH: It’s a great question Tom. I’m delighted by it because it was not the question I expected you to start off with. Normally – for those who don’t often attend Press Club talks – basically we give a speech and then the questions are about what’s on the front page of the papers. And so, Tom I know you’re doing your bit for the country. Congratulations on your upcoming third child. But you’re right, the fertility rate is falling.

My read of the evidence is that the best thing that a country can do if it wants to raise its fertility rate is to invest in early childhood services. It became one of the priorities for the Prime Minister. He set it out in his early budget replies, making clear that we wanted to move away from a situation in which some professional women found themselves working the second or the third day for free.

So, significant investment in the early childhood system. Taking away the financial burden of return to work is good for productivity but my read is it’s also really good for fertility. Unlike a Baby Bonus, it’s an investment which flows through the education of young Australians - a service that isn’t just babysitting but is a core part of the education system. And as we look to raise wages in that sector and improve professionalisation, we’ve not only seen a greater uptake but also an improvement in the quality of the early childhood sector.

TOM CONNELL: Yeah, I’m not sure if the groups on Auckland Island were studied as to who were parents and who were not – there’s my working theory though. The other thing that’s increased a lot in this century is everything being online. So much so that you now say something is ‘IRL’ if it’s actually in real life, which is kind of bizarre we’ve got a term for that if you think about it. Do you see a link to that as well? Because there are lots of online groups but that aspect of physically meeting up and starting the small talk and finding you’ve got something in common with someone who you didn’t think can often lead to so much more. Is that another change? Again, is there anything the government can do about that, or not really?

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

National Press Club,
Canberra

Wednesday, 10 June 2026

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, and acknowledge the vital work that First Nations leaders do to build community.

Thank you to Maurice Reilly and the National Press Club board, my parliamentary colleague Alicia Payne, head of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Sue Woodward and my chief of staff and coauthor Nick Terrell. I’m especially chuffed to have with us today my wife Gweneth, with whom I’ve shared the happiest work of all: building a family and helping build community in our neighbourhood.

Let me start with a story.

In 1864, within the space of four months, two Australian ships were shipwrecked on Auckland Island, south of New Zealand.

The first, the Invercauld, was wrecked on the northwest of the island. Its captain, George Dalgarno, took the approach of ‘every man for himself’. The crew splintered. The strong abandoned the weak. One desperate sailor resorted to cannibalism. Within a year, only three of the original twenty-five had survived.

The second was the Grafton, wrecked on the southeast. Its captain, Thomas Musgrave, took a different approach. His five sailors worked together. They built a hut, shared food, cared for one another and even made a chess set to keep their minds alive. After eighteen months, they sailed hundreds of kilometres to seek rescue. Every sailor survived.

The setting was the same. The social bargain was different.

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

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TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA, WEEKEND FIRST EDITION WITH ALEX THOMAS
SATURDAY, 6 JUNE 2026

SUBJECTS: Australia's relationship with New Zealand, changes made to the recent budget, migration, AI.

ALEX THOMAS: And joining us live is Labor MP and Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, great to have you on the show. The Prime Minister meeting with Christopher Luxon up in Queensland. What do you think is going to be the main focus of those talks?

ANDREW LEIGH: The relationship with New Zealand is a strong one and we're engaging together on a range of fronts. Obviously, we work collaboratively on climate change. This is a conservative government committed to action on climate change and that work will continue. We're also firm advocates of open markets in New Zealand and Australia together have been working to reduce trade barriers, as we did in the most recent budget - continuing the important work of getting rid of tariffs for the benefit of all Australians.

ALEX THOMAS: The New Zealand Prime Minister having a bit of a dig, suggesting Australians’ unhappy with the recent negative gearing and CGT changes could head across the Tasman. Is that a serious concern or just a bit of banter?

ANDREW LEIGH: Look, I think there's always been a friendly relationship between the two leaders. I know the Prime Minister said to me recently how much he values that relationship that he has had with successive New Zealand leaders and how important that long standing relationship is. It transcends parties and partisanship and really does reflect the fact that Prime Minister Albanese has worked so constructively with his engagements and international leaders of all political stripes.

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

Tax Reform

House of Representatives,
Parliament House 

4 June 2026

The essential story of Australian policy reform is of moments in which Labor Governments make the hard choices, followed by fallow periods of Coalition Governments. Of those moments, in which Labor Governments have made tough policy choices, we've often been opposed by those opposite. They fought us on Medicare in every election from 1969 to 1993. They opposed the introduction of capital gains tax, they opposed the creation of universal super, and they opposed Labor's measures to put in place a clean energy future, so it's no surprise to see the forces of conservatism in Australia today opposing Labor's sensible changes to rein in the excesses of negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount in order to put 75,000 more Australians into a home of their own.

This bill before the House will deliver a tax cut to all working Australians through the new working Australians tax offset. This is an important measure which rewards income from work. I did my PhD thesis on the US Earned Income Tax Credit and can attest to the benefits of a tax credit that is directed at income from labour. It boosts labour supply and creates stronger incentives for participation. This important tax cut for all working Australians is also backed up by the instant tax deduction, which ensures that Australians with modest tax affairs without big deductions don't need to go through the paperwork burden of maintaining receipts but get that automatic tax deduction every year.

The changes that we're making to rein in the excesses of negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount are dealing with a problem that goes back decades. Negative gearing was put in place in 1936 and the capital gains tax discount in 1999. Together they acted to increase the incentives for investors to get into the market and caused at so many auctions investors to beat out first home buyers. Shortly after the changes were put in place by the Howard-Costello Government, we saw taxable rental income turn negative. Landlords on net were claiming more back from the taxpayer than the tax that they were paying. We saw at auction after auction first home buyers find that prices were just pushed out of reach and that they were beaten by investors at a chance to get a home of their own. Our homeownership rate steadily fell, particularly for younger Australians, and many experts called on parliamentarians to do the right thing and deal with the problem that had arisen.

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

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO
TUESDAY, 2 JUNE 2026

SUBJECTS: National Anti-Corruption Commission; polling; housing; 2026 Budget

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Time to talk federal politics with the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury and the Member for Fenner, Dr Andrew Leigh. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Stephen, how are you?

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Very well. Now Andrew, we see on both sides of politics, travel entitlements used incorrectly from time to time. But beyond that, where was the evidence of wholesale corruption at a federal level that we needed this NACC?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, there were a number of scandals under the Morrison Government. You had the Paladin scandal, you had the sports rorts, you had car park rorts, you had the scandals around that required the resignation of Minister Bridget McKenzie.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: But again, coming back. But this is my point when, you know, when we're talking about car park rorts and sport rorts, this is just the other side of politics did something so therefore it's corrupt, it's not real corruption?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well Minister McKenzie stepped down because what was judged to have been a breach of the ministerial code of conduct. Under Robodebt, you certainly had people who took their own lives as a result of a terrible…

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Yeah but, but Andrew that's not corruption, that's bad policy?

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

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO ILLAWARRA, BREAKFAST WITH MELINDA JAMES
TUESDAY, 2 JUNE 2026

SUBJECTS: Changes to leasing arrangements for Booderee National Park

MELINDA JAMES: Today is a very special day for the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community. There are changes to the leasing arrangements for Booderee National Park. As I keep saying, I think one of our more magical parts of what is already a pretty spectacular region. Have you ever spent beautiful nights sitting by a campfire near Green Patch, for example? So many beautiful, beautiful places, incredible beaches, absolutely pristine natural beauty. And of course, the traditional lands of the people of Wreck Bay. Well, the leasing arrangements will change. And to tell us more about how this is going to work, I'm joined by the Member for Fenner, which of course covers Wreck Bay, it being Jervis Bay territory – Andrew Leigh. Andrew Leigh, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Mel, great to be with you.

MELINDA JAMES: Yes, again. We spoke last week about not such happy bit of news for the Wreck Bay community in relation to the PFAS contamination and the pursuit of 3M, but now a much happier story to talk about. This was foreshadowed. I remember a little while ago, at the anniversary of Booderee National Park being handed back to the Wreck Bay community that these leasing arrangements would change. But what's going to be different?

ANDREW LEIGH: So this will increase the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council's share of revenue from 25 per cent to 50 per cent and it also increases the annual rents that are paid to reflect current market values. And that's ahead of a transition to sole management of Booderee by WBACC in the middle of 2028. So this is really a reflection of the extraordinary caring and custodianship that the local First Nations people deliver to Booderee National Park. As you say, a place of extraordinary beauty, source of jobs and revenue for the local community, and also that protection and custodianship that the local Indigenous community do so well.

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

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY
TUESDAY, 2 JUNE 2026

SUBJECTS: 2026 Budget; housing; productivity; Australian universities; faster and more reliable NBN for Canberrans

ROSS SOLLY: So the federal government's Budget sell continues today. I noticed Jim Chalmers is popping up all over the place convincing people that the Budget has the best interests of all Australians at heart. Andrew Leigh is the Member for Fenner, also the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, and joins us this morning.

Dr Andrew Leigh, good morning to you.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Ross, great to be with you.

ROSS SOLLY: Good to have you on the show as well. So I noticed in the last 24 hours we've seen that house prices have gone down in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in the last few weeks. What do you attribute that to, Andrew Leigh, and do you think the Budget has had any impact on that?

ANDREW LEIGH: I think the most interesting thing Ross, has been that first home buyers are starting to beat out investors at auctions, and for people who've struggled for years to break into the property market for the first time, that's pretty good news.

ROSS SOLLY: So this is good, this is good news that house prices are going down in Canberra?

ANDREW LEIGH: Look, the correction we've seen is down over the recent month or two, but up over the year. Our modelling has our policies slowing the growth in house prices, not causing house prices to fall.

Most of this of course, is about housing supply which is why we've got $47 billion worth of measures projected to make a difference to 420,000 new homes. But also it's partly recalibrating the tax settings in ways that the experts have been calling on for years.

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

Senator The Hon Malarndirri McCarthy
Minister for Indigenous Australians
Senator for the Northern Territory

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

Tuesday, 2 June 2026 

Lease Variation Strengthens Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council's Role In National Park Management

Changes to leasing arrangements for Booderee National Park in the Jervis Bay area have been agreed between the Australian Government and the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council (WBACC), strengthening First Nations park management and increasing revenue sharing arrangements.

The head lease is a comprehensive document setting out how the park is jointly managed between WBACC and the Australian Government through the Director of National Parks. The variation follows long-term discussions and negotiation between all parties.

The updated lease increases WBACC’s share of park revenue from 25 percent to 50 percent, and increases annual rents paid to WBACC to reflect current market values, strengthening benefit sharing.

Importantly, the variation recognises the Wreck Bay community’s long-held aspiration to assume sole responsibility for Booderee National Park, and sets out how the parties will work together in good faith to enable a transition to sole management of Booderee by WBACC by 31 May 2028.

This updated lease marks the first variation since 2003.