Andrew Leigh

WILL CANBERRA LOSE THE SHRINKING AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF SPORT FOR GOOD?

The Canberra Times, 9 June 2017

One-hundred-and-eighty athletes represented Australia at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Not one of them returned with a gold medal. It was the first time in 40 years Australia had failed to top the world in a single sporting contest.

Even before the Olympics ended, athletes were blaming the government. When prime minister Malcolm Fraser visited the Montreal Olympic village, team members told him "they were unable to keep up with the rest of the world because of poor facilities, a shortage of qualified coaches and inadequate administration". As our Olympians returned, the front page of The Canberra Times bemoaned "Short-sighted sport attitudes".

From humiliation on the world stage, a national institution was born. The Australian Institute of Sport opened its doors in 1981. Among the athletes that benefited from its elite sporting preparation are Petria Thomas, Anna Meares and Michael Milton. When Australia ranked fourth on the medal tally in the Sydney Olympics, many felt the institute deserved a share of the credit.

Yet the institute now faces a crisis of neglect. Over the past decade, the number of Canberra-based staff fell from 173 to 140. The number of athletes in residence dropped from 237 to 140.

THE FUTURE WON’T WAIT FOR MALCOLM TURNBULL’S COPPER

The RiotAct, 8 June 2017

Optic fibre is a beautiful communications medium.

The light beams glow down the fibres, and it is almost infinitely upgradeable. As compression algorithms are refined and improved, information can be carried faster and more cheaply.

When Federal Labor announced the National Broadband Network, our plan was to connect fibre directly to more than nine out of ten premises. In our view, fibre was the world’s best technology – so it was only just good enough for Australians.

Copper is… less attractive. It is a dull red-brown. The physics of copper mean that the technology is not infinitely upgradeable.

But a copper connection to their home from the node at the end of their street – whose defining feature will be an inferior, limited signal – is all Malcolm Turnbull has promised the Australian people. As theshovel.com.au has noted, ‘Nothing evokes the concept of speed quite like five hundred meters of copper wire connected to your home.’

On this website last year, I noted that under the Liberals, Australia has fallen from 30th to 60th in the global internet speed rankings. I pointed out that copper is to fibre as dirt roads are to concrete highways.

E&EO TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC 720

THURSDAY, 8 JUNE 2017

Subjects: Competition law, wage growth

PETER BELL: So you're at the Bottle-O and you're having a look at the huge number of beers that are on display and you decide, you know what? I'm going to support the little guy. I'm going to choose the craft beer over there with the curious label and I'm going to do my bit and support someone who's trying to make their way in business. Well credit to you for making that decision, but just bear in mind that there isn't much choice at all when it comes to beer, apparently. Ninety percent of the market is controlled by just four companies. Have a think about that for a moment - 90 percent controlled by just four companies. And it begs the question, are too many of Australia's industries controlled by too few?

That question is being contemplated by federal Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Andrew Leigh, while in Perth this week. He's using the beer sector as an example of market concentration leading to higher prices at the tap for you and for me. Andrew Leigh, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning Peter, how are you?

BELL: Well, thank you. How much of a problem is market concentration in Australia?

LEIGH: Well, I think it's pretty serious and one of the examples of course is the beer industry. Western Australia has that great story of the creation of Matilda Bay, Phil Sexton taking on the big guys, who tried to squeeze him out from various pubs, eventually starting his own pub in order to sell his craft beer. But then ending up having to sell his beer off to what's now the biggest brewer in the world, Anheuser-Busch InBev. So that's just one of the craft beers that’s now owned by one of the big companies. Little Creatures, Kosciusko, Knappstein, the list goes on - faux craft beers that are actually owned by large mega-corporations.

A FEW BIG FIRMS

SIR WALTER MURDOCH SCHOOL POLICY SEMINAR

MURDOCH UNIVERSITY 

WEDNESDAY, 7 JUNE 2017

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land, the Whadjuk people, and thank Benjamin Reilly and the Sir Walter Murdoch School of Public Policy and International Affairs for inviting me to speak here today.

It’s great to be here on the left coast of Australia – particularly now that your state’s politics and geography are once again in alignment.

And it’s terrific to be in Perth, the city that the New York Times recently called ‘Hipster Heaven’.

It’s fitting that I’m giving this speech in Hipster Heaven because, although they may not realise it, hipsters play an important but often underappreciated role in competition policy.

The reason for this is simple. Hipsters don’t like the mainstream. They’re not happy unless their clothes are vintage, their bikes are fixies, and their flat whites are served in avocados. If it is mass-produced by a multinational, they won’t touch it.

WHO SUPPORTS LABOR’S PLAN FOR A DIRECTOR IDENTIFICATION NUMBER, TO CRACK DOWN ON PHOENIX COMPANIES?

The list of organisations that support Labor’s proposed Director Identification Number continues to grow, with the Tax Justice Network signalling its support for this important measure to help catch dodgy directors of fraudulent phoenix companies. 

Supporters of a Director Identification Number now include:

• Australian Institute of Company Directors
• Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman
• Productivity Commission
• Tax Justice Network
• Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Master Builders Australia
• Australian Council of Trade Unions
• Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association
• Phoenix Project, comprising experts from Melbourne University Law School and Monash University Business School

CHINA STORY YEARBOOK LAUNCH

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

MONDAY, 5 JUNE 2017 

Let me start by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners of the lands on which we meet today, recognising ANU’s Centre on China in the World for inviting me to speak here today, and thanking Shirley Leitch, Benjamin Penny, Jane Golley and the expert panellists for their thoughtful words.

When I look around Gerald Szeto’s beautiful China and the World building I am reminded of the explosion of modern architecture in China - or as President Xi Jinping calls them: ‘weird buildings’.

These are dotted across the country. They include the big pants, the space eggs, the big boxer shorts, the giant teapot and an assortment of buildings shaped like pianos, violins, lotus flowers, space caterpillars, doughnuts and mobile phones.

They make Canberra’s Shine Dome, Belconnen owl and Garema Place sheep look almost tame by comparison.

President Xi complained about this increase in ‘weird buildings’ in a speech not that long ago where he said that there are too many ‘big pants’ on the horizon. But funky architecture continues to proliferate, suggesting that even Xi Jinping can’t control everything.

LABOR RECOGNISES OUTGOING CHARITIES COMMISSION HEAD SUSAN PASCOE

Labor acknowledges the service of the head of the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission, Susan Pascoe, who has not been reappointed by the Turnbull Government.

The charities commission was created by the Gillard Government in 2011, following numerous independent inquiries that called for such a body. Ms Pascoe was announced as its inaugural commissioner the following year.

In 2007, Ms Pascoe was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for service to education through a range of executive roles. She has won a number of significant awards, including the Outstanding Contribution in Public Administration Award last year. Ms Pascoe has been praised by the public service and charities alike. As advisory board chair Tony Stuart put it, under her leadership, the charities commission has ‘not only survived – but thrived’.

From 2011 to March 2016, the Coalition was committed to abolishing the charities commission. Despite the fact that the commission was established to reduce the reporting burden on charities, the Coalition used their first ‘red tape repeal day’ to attempt to abolish it. The Coalition even introduced legislation to parliament in an attempt to scrap the charities commission.

Surveys consistently show that four out of five charities support the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission. The body provides transparency for taxpayers, efficiency for charities and accountability for donors. Yet it took a concerted campaign, including a letter from more than 40 major charities, before the Coalition finally withdrew their legislation to scrap the charities commission. That uncertainty placed considerable stress on the organisation, which experienced up to 25 percent annual staff turnover during the time that it was slated for abolition.

Vale Jayson Hinder

1 June, 2017

At the end of April, Canberra lost one of its great community activists, and briefly a parliamentarian in the ACT Legislative Assembly, Jayson Hinder. Jayson was a true son of Canberra. His family were the second to live in the Woden Valley, the first being Doug Anthony and his family. He had a tough childhood. When his father died in the 1970s, the family lost their home. But, as he grew up, he came to be a man who gave a great deal back to the community.

At his funeral service, many of his mates recalled his willingness to help out with fixing things. He was always there offering a hand and he loved his machines. He loved his cars and he loved his bikes. He loved fixing his own and he loved fixing the cars and bikes of friends. One friend of Jayson's described him as 'Toad of Toad Hall' for his love of feeling the wind in his hair. When he was profiled by Fairfax in 2015, Jayson owned a Ducati Monster, two BMWs, a 1973 Honda and a Renault Alpine.

Matter of Public Importance 

Wednesday 31 May, 2017

Last week we saw an orgy of self-congratulation as the Liberal Party of Australia recognised the 75th anniversary of Robert Menzies's 'The forgotten people' speech. But, sadly, those opposite appear to have forgotten to read the speech, because in that speech the founder of their party says: 'The rich can look after themselves.' Those that Sir Robert Menzies was concerned about were 'salary-earners, shopkeepers, skilled artisans, professional men and women, farmers and so on.' They have forgotten the forgotten people speech.

I do not have time today to refer to issues such as the fact that the party that once talked about homeownership is now the party of housing investors or that the party of schools and universities is now the party that brings down a budget cutting them. Let us just look at how Robert Menzies's forgotten people are being treated under the tax plans of those opposite. A member of parliament, who, according to the tax office's most recent statistics, earns an average of $215,000, will receive a $700 tax cut, but a flower-grower on $32,540 will receive a $162 tax rise. A cardiologist on $408,000 receives a $4,571 tax cut, but a fitness centre manager on $50,500 receives a $252 tax rise. A gastroenterologist on $380,000 receives a $4,000 tax cut, but a kindergarten teacher on $47,000 gets a $230 tax rise. A surgeon on $330,000 receives a $3,000 tax cut, but a nurse on $44,000 gets a $220 tax rise. While a magistrate on $250,000 receives a $1,400 tax cut, a hospital pharmacist on $68,000 gets a $344 tax rise.

Treasury Laws Amendment (Accelerated Depreciation For Small Business Entities) Bill 2017

Wednesday 31 May, 2017

In 1936, John Maynard Keynes published The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, and one of the key insights of that book was to draw a distinction between the short run and the long run. In the short run, Keynes pointed out that it was important to have policies that would get the economy out of a temporary slump, such as that the world was in the mid-1930s. It could either be monetary policy or fiscal policy, but where it was fiscal policy he urged that it might be important to put in place temporary measures that encouraged businesses to invest over the short term to get the economy out of a hole. Keynes distinguished this from measures that might be put in place to boost long-run aggregate demand. Those measures would seek to be stable and predictable; they would not have sudden death thresholds.

Today, the House is facing a measure which, frankly, would be better crafted to get the economy out of a temporary slump than to feed long-term demand. In its policy on accelerated depreciation, the government has chopped and changed over the years. In office, Labor put in place a higher level of instant write-off, increasing the threshold from $1,000 to $6,500—a stable and sustainable level which we felt would do a great deal to encourage investments by firms. Accelerated depreciation has good economic insights behind it. By acceleration depreciation schedules firms have a greater incentive to purchase fixed assets for their businesses. Under the expenditure tax laws in place in Australia, the GST allows you to write off inputs in the same year as you pay the tax, further up the chain. But, in the case of company tax or personal tax, the items are depreciated over succeeding years. Accelerated depreciation tips the hand of a business owner towards putting in place investment that they might not otherwise have done. It is, in the view of many economists, a more efficient way of incentivising investment than changing the corporate rate.