Andrew Leigh

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 26 AUGUST 2020

We are now in the greatest economic downturn that Australia has seen since the Great Depression. Research from the Australian Treasury has revealed just how damaging this can be, particularly to young Australians. That research has looked at the so-called scarring effect, the long-term effect, of graduating in the teeth of a recession. I know this effect well, having finished high school in 1990 and seen some of my classmates who searched for work utterly unable to find it at that time.

We know now that there are 13 jobseekers for every job vacancy, so this problem is particularly acute.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 26 AUGUST 2020

The charity sector has a massive impact on our society and our economy. It is eight per cent of GDP, it has 1.3 million workers—about a tenth of the national workforce—and three million volunteers.

The charities sector is bigger than agriculture or manufacturing or retail, and yet the charity sector is under pressure like never before. Research from the Australian National University's Nicholas Biddle and Matthew Gray, commissioned by Volunteering Australia, found that two-thirds of volunteers were forced to cut back their hours as a result of COVID. A survey by Giving Tuesday found that nearly two-thirds of charities had a drop in volunteer activity and fundraising. Research by wealth management firm JBWere estimates that total donations will fall by seven per cent this year and 12 per cent next year.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC CANBERRA DRIVE
TUESDAY, 25 AUGUST 2020

SUBJECTS: Google; the importance of supporting local Australian journalism; multinational tax avoidance; JobSeeker and JobKeeper.

LEON DELANEY, HOST: Have you noticed that when you open up Google Chrome or when you use Google search, these little yellow triangles pop up with warning signs saying ‘warning, warning, Will Robinson, danger’? No, they say something like ‘warning, the Australian Government is about to impose rules that will dramatically impact upon Google's ability to provide you with services’ or something to that effect. So in order to shed some light on just what damn hell is going on there, I thought I should consult with that well-known technology guru, the Member for Fenner Andrew Leigh. Good afternoon.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Good afternoon, Leon.

DELANEY: I never knew you were a technology guru. When did this happen?

LEIGH: [laughter] Like almost everyone, I appreciate Google and make good use of their products, but I think they might have overreached in this case. This is simply an ask for a trillion dollar company to make a small contribution to keeping the news media going. And as you know, Leon-

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 24 AUGUST 2020

From 2006 to 2016, the number of journalists in Australia fell by nine per cent. Health reporting is down by 30 per cent, and science reporting is down by 42 per cent. In the past decade, more than 100 local or regional newspapers have closed, and the Liberals, in pursuit of their petty culture war, are cutting the ABC.

Never has the Australian media been under more pressure, and never have we needed quality journalism more.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 24 AUGUST 2020

Nothing I have done in my life has been as rewarding as being the dad to three little boys. Spending time with them, reading and playing games, is one of my true delights in life. But it's hard too. That's just dealing with one or two or sometimes all three of them. When I look at early educators and the work that they do every day, I do so with huge respect. This isn't babysitting; this is education.

As we learn more and more about neuroscience, we get the sense as to the importance of quality early education. That's why when Labor was last in government we pursued both a quantity and a quality agenda, ensuring that early childhood education was more broadly accessible but also raising the standards and the qualifications and ensuring that the ratios were right. That's vital not just for now but also in the future.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS
MONDAY, 24 AUGUST 2020

SUBJECTS: Treasury figures; JobSeeker and JobKeeper; Costume designers turning to mask making after the arts sector misses out on JobKeeper payments.

PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Now joining me live is the Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury and Charities, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us. So I just want to get your reaction to some of those new figures that have been released by Josh Frydenberg this morning, New South Wales seems to be leading the recovery – 69 per cent of people who lost their jobs a few months ago have returned in some capacity. So it's now eight and a half per cent unemployment. Are you encouraged by that?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: It’s all about jobs right now, and that's going to be the story for the next few years. We're talking about an effective unemployment rate of 13 per cent, which is one of the highest we’ve seen in Australian history. And every time we think about an unemployment rate, we've got to think about the number of lives that are blighted by that. The families that are hurt, their sense of self confidence, the scarring for young people entering the labour market in which it's near impossible to find a job. We've got about 13 job seekers for every vacancy right now, so it's an incredibly tough labour market and every focus in policy needs to be on creating jobs.

WHY ARE THE CANBERRA LIBERALS SO EXTREME?

CityNews, 18 August 2020

When the marriage equality vote was held in 2017, the Prime Minister supported it. Every premier and chief minister backed it. Every opposition leader – federal, state or territory – voted for marriage equality.

Except one. In the ACT, Canberra Liberal leader Alistair Coe opposed marriage equality. Three out of four Canberrans voted yes to marriage equality, the highest share in Australia. Yet Canberra was the only place where a major party leader voted no.

Marriage equality isn’t just an isolated incident. On a broad swath of issues, the Canberra Liberals have shown themselves not just to be more conservative than the typical Canberran, but to be the most conservative Liberal branch in Australia.

SUBJECTS: The Liberal Party hosting fundraisers in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century; charities facing falling donations; stranded Canberrans returning home from the NSW/Victoria border. 

LISH FEJER, HOST: In a couple of weeks, parliament will be sitting and already there are MPs and their staff quarantining here in Canberra. But there are preparations being made for three proposed Liberal Party fundraising dinners to make the most of the time with politicians back in town. Ben Morton, who represents the WA seat of Tangney, said the events were not being organised by his office but by the Tangney campaign, which is part of the WA division. A spokeswoman for Ben Morton and the Tangney campaign told The Guardian that the Australian Government advice is that Australians should comply with the relevant advice in the state or territory where they're located, as appropriate. These very small events, said the spokeswoman, will only go ahead if they strictly comply with the relevant COVID safe rules that apply for venues in the ACT.  Dr Andrew Leigh is the ALP Member for Fenner and former professor of economics, and joins us this morning. Hello.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: G’day, Lish. G’day, Adam.

FEJER: So, what have they done wrong here? You're taking them to task.

LEIGH: Yes. We've had a lot of parliamentary sitting days cancelled. Now that parliament is finally getting together, all politicians’ focus should be on the main game. And that shouldn't be on raising money for the Liberal Party. It should be on doing the work that our constituents want us to be doing. We need to be very careful and cautious about the spread of coronavirus. I know all politicians are being judicious in terms the number of face to face meetings they take. Our office is still doing phone calls and zoom where that works, just as a safer way of making sure we reduce any chance of the spread of the virus. I just don't think it passes the pub test to have a two and a half thousand dollar fundraiser at the moment.

SUBJECT: Stranded Canberrans returning home from the NSW/Victoria border. 

ROBBIE BUCK, HOST: It’s to do with those hundred or so Canberrans who was stuck at the Victorian border, and it appears after that conversation yesterday there's been some movement at the station. Dr Andrew Leigh is the federal Member for Fenner in the ACT. Morning, Andrew.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Good morning, Robbie. How are you?

BUCK: Very well. Things moved quite quickly yesterday.

WENDY HARMER, HOST: Yeah, you know we’re claiming credit for this one, don’t you Andrew?

LEIGH: I think we all should. It's a great result. It should have happened to week earlier, but the fact that finally the New South Wales Government saw sense is just terrific.  And for those hundred Canberrans at the border, they will be very relieved to be back home and starting their two weeks of self isolation.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC SYDNEY BREAKFAST

WEDNESDAY, 12 AUGUST 2020

SUBJECT: Canberrans stuck at the NSW/Victoria border. 

ROBBIE BUCK, HOST: We’re going to take you to the New South Wales/Victoria border now. We have been talking about New South Wales travellers being stuck in Victoria, Wendy - a caller or texted - her tale of making a mercy dash because her mum was dying and then not being able to get back into New South Wales we’ve spoken about. But spare thought for a lot of the ACT residents who are stuck on the New South Wales/Victorian border, and they've been there for the last six days. They've been caught up in this rule change by the state government, requiring people traveling from Victoria to fly through the Sydney Airport before going to self funded quarantine. And Dr Andrew Leigh, who's the federal Member for Fenner in the ACT, happens to be one of those stuck there. Morning, Andrew.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: G’day, Robbie. Just to correct you, I’m not stuck there. I'm just trying to get my constituents back here.

WENDY HARMER, HOST: There's about 100 of them, I believe, Andrew.

LEIGH: It's a huge number, Wendy, and they're stuck in a sort of Kafka-esque nightmare where the ACT Government would be happy to go to the border with a couple of police cars and escort everyone back. It’s a three and a half hour drive, no one needs to stop, just a full tank of fuel and they’d go straight through. And what the New South Wales Government is saying instead is they should drive to Melbourne airport, abandon their cars, fly to Sydney, go into quarantine and then make their way back to Canberra. They’d endanger themselves and it'd come at a huge expense. Instead, they can come through New South Wales - endangering absolutely no one - and be back home. I just can't see what the New South Wales Government's problem is.