Andrew Leigh

Royal Australian Mint – Reflection: 50 Years of the Australian Honours System

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

Royal Australian Mint, Canberra

26 May 2025 

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather today — the Ngunnawal people, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present.

We have a number of distinguished guests present today - Your Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, Governor-General of Australia, Ms Emily Martin, acting Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Australian Mint, Dr Suzette Searle, President of the Wattle Day Association, Meredith Trinko, Exhibition Curator, Kiri Northam, Exhibition Designer, Adam Ball & Matt Frawley, the Honours Coin design team, invited guests and our beloved Mint staff - the minties. Not to be confused with the chewy kind, though both are known for sticking around.

I’m chuffed to be reappointed as Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, and to continue responsibility for the Royal Australian Mint. In that capacity, it’s my pleasure to welcome you here to the Royal Australian Mint for the opening of this new exhibition – Reflection: 50 Years of the Australian Honours System.

This exhibition is a celebration — of national pride, remarkable individuals, and the enduring partnership between the Royal Australian Mint and Government House.

For half a century, the Australian Honours System has recognised courage, service and achievement across our wide and diverse nation.

And today, through coins, medals and stories, we reflect on the history and craftsmanship behind these honours — and those who wear them.

Reflection brings together extraordinary objects from the National Coin Collection, many never before displayed to the public.

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO BRISBANE

FRIDAY, 23 MAY 2025

SUBJECTS: Inequality, Albanese Labor Government’s productivity agenda, keeping unemployment low, Fee-Free TAFE, housing supply, construction sector productivity

ELLEN FANNING: We're sort of at a crossroads in Australia, aren't we? Economically, Australia could fall into US style inequality within a generation. That's a warning from Andrew Leigh. He's a former Economics Professor. He's now the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. He actually went to Harvard University, which is interesting because we see in the news now that that might be impossible for foreigners in future. Well, not only is he a former Economics Professor - as I say, he's right now in the front benches of the Albanese Government. He wrote his doctoral thesis at Harvard on the topic of poverty and inequality. I spoke to him yesterday, and I wanted to talk about this concept he's got about the risk of US style inequality. It's to do with housing, training and access to opportunity, and he talked about Australia having to be engaged in a race to the top to become a more productive economy. Have a listen. 

ANDREW LEIGH: If we look at Australia and the US - since the 1980 both countries have doubled their top 1% share, and we've ended up where they started off. So, if you fast forward that movie another 50 years, then we could have the same level of inequality as the United States. That would sit fundamentally at odds with a country where we don't have private areas in the beaches, we prefer the word ‘mate’ to ‘sir’ and many of us sit in the front seat of a taxi. That egalitarian character is really important to Australia, and I think it's one reason why we've tended to be more equal than the United States. It's been good for our growth trajectory, because we've worked together in times of challenge.

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
ABC, THE BUSINESS

THURSDAY, 22 MAY 2025

SUBJECTS: Albanese Labor Government’s competition reforms, boosting productivity

ALICIA BARRY: Retail and industrial conglomerate Wesfarmers has held its investor day, spruiking growth opportunities in its big brands like Kmart, OfficeWorks and Bunnings. CEO Rob Scott had a long-standing commitment to appear on this program, but when we indicated we would include questions about Bunnings and its market dominance, the interview was cancelled. The hardware giant was recently the subject of the ABC's ‘Four Corners’ program, which aired allegations of anti-competitive behaviour and unfair treatment of suppliers. Competition is a key part of Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh's portfolio. He joined me earlier. Andrew Leigh, welcome to ‘The Business’.

ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks, Alicia. Great to be with you.

ALICIA BARRY: Bunnings says it has 17% market share. Experts say it's much more. How concerned is the government about Bunnings market dominance?

ANDREW LEIGH: Bunnings is clearly the big kahuna in the hardware market, and that's happened through a steady process of growth and acquisition. It started off with just one store 30 years ago and now has hundreds of stores and billions in turnover and employs tens of thousands of people. So, Australians will see Bunnings in a whole lot of communities in a way that I guess in decades gone past, you'd see more Mitre 10s and Nock & Kirbys and the like.

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, 20 MAY 2025

SUBJECTS: Labor’s ambitious productivity agenda, making superannuation fairer

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

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

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: You too. Productivity is a new one in your title, is that right?

ANDREW LEIGH: It is indeed. It’s a big priority for the government. I'm really pleased to have that title and to be helping out Jim Chalmers and the economic team on turning around Australia's big productivity challenge. That decade to 2020 was the worst productivity decade in 60 years and we know that productivity is at the heart of living standards, so we've got to do better.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: But it hasn't been a focus over the last three years, and one of the criticisms that a lot of industry groups have made of this government is the focus on increasing wages without focusing on productivity. And nobody begrudges lower paid workers getting you few more quid here, but there's got to be some quid pro quo, pardon the pun.

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY

MONDAY, 19 MAY 2025

SUBJECTS: Gender quotas, Labor’s productivity agenda, renewable energy

ROSS SOLLY: Well Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fenner has hung on to his portfolio of Competition, Charities and Treasury, and he's also added Productivity to his workload in this term of the Parliament. Dr Andrew Leigh joins us on the Breakfast Show - Andrew Leigh, good morning to you.

ANDREW LEIGH: Morning Ross, great to be with you. Those numbers you were asking about…

ROSS SOLLY: Yes please!

ANDREW LEIGH: We're expecting that the House of Representatives will be 46 per cent women, and the Senate will be 60 per cent women. Obviously not every seat is nailed down, but I think they’re the figures we’ll go into.

ROSS SOLLY: Okay.

ANDREW LEIGH: And the Labor caucus overall will be 57 per cent women, up from 53 per cent women in the last term.

Launching 'A Retiree’s Odyssey - from the MCG to the SCG', by Prabodh Malhotra and Anand Kulkarni

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

Bradman Pavilion, Manuka Oval,
Canberra

8 May 2025

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people on whose lands we meet on today.

I want to acknowledge too at the outset, the terrorist attacks that have taken place recently in India, and offer my condolences and those of the Australian Government.

We have a range of VIPs here today, His Excellency the Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay, Chennupati Jagdish, Sam Murthi, Arun Venkatesha OAM, Adrienne Francis – our wonderful MC, and representatives from the McGrath Foundation.

Then of course, we have the authors Dr Prabodh Malhotra and Dr Anand Kulkarni on ‘A Retiree’s Odyssey - from the MCG to Manuka Oval’ – whoops - from the MCG to the SCG, although he did come via Manuka Oval the first time.

This is a book which tells the story of an extraordinary bloke. You get the story of Prabodh growing up in Punjab in a family of eight children, from a father who ran a grocery store and was also, we find out, a politician.

We read in the book, stories of generosity on Indian busses and local community. Stories that very much reminded me of my experiences of the generosity of everyday people when I backpacked for a month in India in the year 2000 - an experience that I'm really looking forward to sharing with my children when we visit India in December. It will be their first visit to India, and I’m really looking forward to introducing them to the grace and the decency of Indian hospitality.

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

TUESDAY, 6 MAY 2025

SUBJECTS: Labor’s election win, ACT bulk-billing, Climate 200 spending, Liberal Party extremism, delivering on Labor’s election promises

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: The Member for Fenner, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Dr Andrew Leigh. Good morning Andrew.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Stephen, good to be with you.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: The factional situation in the Labor Party is a lot more formalised and a lot more disciplined, but you fall outside of that. How do you negotiate that?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, the ACT has always had a tradition of having non-factional members, going back to people like Bob McMullan. Alicia Payne and I are outside the factional system, and it just means you need to have more friends, hang out with more people and get to know a broad cross section of the party. Now, I've got a lot of respect for many people within the left and the right, but the pre-selectors that chose me wanted someone who's non-aligned, and that's the way I chose.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: From the perspective of Cabinet – because there’s reports around this morning suggesting that the left faction have now got more members in the Caucus than they previously had, so that will entitle them to more seats at the Cabinet table, and I understand that system but if you're non-factional how do you get to the Cabinet table?

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Member for Fenner

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY

MONDAY, 5 MAY 2025

SUBJECTS: ACT Labor campaign, Climate 200 spending

ROSS SOLLY: Dr Andrew Leigh also got a nice little boost on the weekend - a positive swing. He didn't need it. He was comfortable enough already, but he got even more of a swing on the weekend. Andrew Leigh, I guess when you wake up on a Sunday morning, it's better to have that than the opposite, and what do you take away from that? Good morning to you.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Ross. Yes, just a sense of being really grateful to the people of Canberra for the support that we received. Really humbled by the chance to get back into the job of making life better for Australians and for Canberrans, and also just really relieved that those attacks on Canberra were so resoundingly rejected at the ballot box.

ROSS SOLLY: Yeah, I want to talk a little bit more about what we can read into some of the Canberra results in a moment. But Andrew Leigh nationally, it was such a rejection of what the Liberal Party stood for in this election. What was it in the end? I mean when you were out and about, when you were listening to people what was it that people hated about what the Liberal Party was offering?

ANDREW LEIGH: I think there really was a sense that the Liberal Party was too much echoing what was going on elsewhere.

ROSS SOLLY: Too Trumpian? Too Trumpian do you think?

ANDREW LEIGH: That sort of imported right wing culture war. I think the attacks on Welcome to Country ceremonies that Peter Dutton engaged in just contrasted with Anthony Albanese focusing on bulk-billing, on the energy transition, on the important resourcing of our schools, and on the work we're doing around competition reform. All of that is practical work that people can see in their everyday lives. I think people didn't want that sort of the nasty punching down that was being offered by the Liberal Party.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Member for Fenner

1 May 2025

Labor Government To Invest In ACT’s Multicultural Community Programs

Federal Member for Fenner Andew Leigh today announced that a re-elected Labor Government will support the Federation of Indian Associations of ACT (FINACT) in delivering community programs and events in 2026, strengthening Canberra’s vibrant multicultural community.

This $50,000 election commitment will support FINACT in their vital role celebrating diversity, promoting social inclusion, and building stronger, healthier communities.

It will help support key initiatives such as the AusIndia Fair, Chetna Community Champions Program, Sakhi Women’s Day, Yuva Gala, and community sports tournaments. It will make a meaningful difference in the lives of people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds across Canberra.

All these programs help to support vulnerable groups, including migrants, seniors, and international students, by connecting them with services and support.

Consistent with past practice, election commitments will be delivered in line with Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles.

Quotes attributable to Andrew Leigh MP:

"The Indian-Australian presence on Canberra’s northside brings people together across generations and backgrounds. Through initiatives like the Chetna program supporting families, Sakhi Women's Day celebrating women’s leadership, youth engagement through the Yuva Gala, and community-wide events like the AusIndia Fair and sports tournaments, FINACT helps create a more connected Canberra.

“This funding recognises the real impact of their work - fostering inclusion, encouraging participation, and strengthening social ties."

Quotes attributable to FINACT President, Roshan Menon:

“The funding is very welcome and will help boost our activities and build the programs we are developing to connect people, and also identify early help-seeking behaviours, to prevent crises, and reduce barriers to participate in the community for CALD individuals and families.” 

ENDS

Review of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Abundance

Andrew Leigh

Published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age

30 April, 2025

In the 1930s, the US built the Empire State building in 13 months. In the 1940s, the Pentagon, headquarters of the US Department of Defence, was constructed in 16 months. In the 1950s, developers in Levittown, Pennsylvania boasted that they could produce a house every 16 minutes.

Yet today, construction has become slower and more expensive. Recent subway extensions in New York have cost billions of dollars per mile. A public toilet in San Francisco cost over a million dollars. US homebuilding has fallen behind population demand, with construction costs largely to blame.

‘Why can’t America build like we used to?’ is the central question at the heart of Abundance, a new book by New York Times podcast host Ezra Klein and Atlantic commentator Derek Thompson, which argues that a central focus for progressives should be on raising wellbeing by creating more for everyone.

The book opens with a heady vision of an abundant society in 2050: clean energy so cheap it’s barely worth metering, shorter working hours, longer holidays, better medicines, quicker commutes, and more affordable homes.

The obstacle to these goals, the authors argue, is an abundance of good intentions. They call it ‘Everything Bagel Liberalism’: too many good things make a bad result. The metaphor lands best with those of us who find the Everything Bagel a confused mess, rather than a culinary marvel.