Andrew Leigh MP: Speeches & Conversations

Small-L Liberalism and the Labor Tradition

Keynote Address - Second Annual History and the Hill Conference - Australian Policy and History

Launching John Quiggin's 'Economics in Two Lessons'. 

Because one-lesson economics only tells half the story.

For more information on John's book - Economics in Two Lessons - Why Markets Work So Well, and Why They Can Fail So Badly - click here.

Announcing Labor's Tax Inspectors without Borders policy, I spoke at the ANU Devpolicy Centre about how tax havens hurt other developing countries, and what we can do about it.

As a part of Per Capita's reform series, and on the first day of the federal Election campaign, I set out Labor's centrist economic agenda for fairness and opportunity.

As a part of the ANU 'Meet the Author' series, i was In Conversation with Rebecca Huntley about polling, focus groups and the character of Australian democracy.

Rebecca's Quarterly Essay, Australia Fair, is out now.

I spoke with award winning author Judith Brett as a part of ANU's In Conversation program. Judith's new book From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage, gives a landmark account of the character of Australian democracy. We spoke about the peculiarly Australian aspects of our democratic system and the effects our innovations have had on elections here and on voting practices around the world.

Reflecting on heat waves and high stakes, I set out the urgent climate challenge we all need to face up to. 

The full text of the speech is also available here.  

Building a better feedback loop: Labor to establish an Evaluator General

Increasingly, policymakers in other nations are testing programs through randomised trials, with the same kind of control group used to evaluate new pharmaceuticals in clinical drug trials.

When Australian policymakers develop programs in early childhood, health, crime and employment, we often look to those overseas randomised trials.

Presenting one of the keynote address to 2018 Conference of the Australia Indonesia Business Council, I recalled my childhood in Aceh and celebrated the connections Labor has been forging with this major trading partner and our region more broadly.

On 31 October, i presented the Lionel Murphy Lecture at the ANU, reflecting on Lionel Murphy's legacy and the challenge of framing competition laws that could help reduce inequality.

Australia has a competition problem: there is not enough of it. Our industries are concentrated. Our markets show signs of weak competition. 

There is a strong progressive case for repositioning how we think about competition. Focusing more on the competitive process, the structure of markets and the incentives those structures create for firms will play an important role in reducing inequality.