Dear Friend

Welcome to the May Leigh Report, my monthly political rundown.

Policies for the 51%

As recently as the late-1970s, there were no women in the House of Representatives. Today, 48 percent of the Labor caucus are women. It’s easy to see the results of this in policymaking. Recently, Tanya Plibersek and I announced that we will provide the Australian Bureau of Statistics with extra resources to reinstate the time use survey, a vital resource for measuring unpaid work. Along with Catherine King, Chris Bowen and Bill Shorten, we’ve announced that we’ll remove the GST from tampons and pads – replacing the revenue by removing the exemption for natural therapies that aren’t backed by sound science. And after the government hands down its budget, Labor will release a Women’s Budget Statement, showing the gender impact of the government’s announcements. These are all sensible, mainstream policies, but they reverse mistaken decisions that were made by male-dominated cabinets and partyrooms. You’re more likely to get policy right when you have a party room that looks like the nation as a whole.

Aotearoa Engagement

Australians have a tendency to overlook New Zealand (some call it the ‘little brother’ or ‘little sister’ syndrome), so I was pleased recently to be invited by Presbyterian Support Northern to be their first speaker in a new series of talks on child wellbeing, discussing with politicians and policymakers in New Zealand the shared challenges our nations are facing.

Speaking in Auckland on what our two countries can learn from each other about reducing inequality, I argued that Australia can learn from New Zealand’s use of data, its focus on child poverty (their budget will soon report on progress in reducing child poverty), and the way New Zealanders honour and celebrate their original inhabitants. In Wellington, I delved into a different theme: how randomised experiments can help fight inequality, an issue that I also explored in an interview on Radio New Zealand. Both New Zealand speeches are available on my ‘Speeches and Conversations’ podcast (podbean, iTunes).

The Fairness Test for Budget 2018

We’re now on the cusp of the federal budget, and Labor leader Bill Shorten has said he wants to see more investment in aged care and regional infrastructure. To pass the fairness test, the government should drop its cuts to hospitals and Medicare, put back the $17 billion that has been cut from schools, abandon cuts that have no hope of passing parliament, and drop its big business corporate tax cut.

There’s many reasons to drop the big business tax cut. As of budget night, the ten-year cost will rise to $80 billion. As in the US, there’s scant evidence that firms which pay less tax create more jobs. Indeed, a new survey of Australian firms asked managers what they’d do with a corporate tax cut. Only 7 percent said that they would grow employment, while just 4 percent said they would increase wages.

Dropping the corporate tax cut would be a backflip from the Turnbull Government, but not their first. Just as they eventually abandoned their opposition to a banking Royal Commission and scrapped their proposal to raise income taxes on middle Australia, we live in hope that the Liberals will dump their corporate tax cut.

To get Labor’s response to the budget, don’t miss Bill Shorten’s budget reply speech, televised live at 7.30pm this coming Thursday.

Charities, Connections and the China Story

In recent weeks, we’ve also had the welcome news of a bipartisan committee report criticising the Turnbull Government’s attempt to muzzle charities and not-for-profits. The bill was supposed to be about banning foreign political donations, but as parliamentarians from all parties noted, it needs significant changes to ensure that it doesn’t shut our charities out of the democratic conversation.

Continuing the theme of community, Julie Owens and I recently co-hosted the 11th Reconnected forum, bringing together Parramatta charities to discuss new ideas to build civil society. And my Chronicle column is on building connections in local citizenship ceremonies.

At the Australian National University, I was pleased to speak at the launch of Hugh Mackay’s latest book, Australia Reimagined, and launch the latest China Story Yearbook, produced by the Centre on China in the World.

Upcoming Events

We’ll shortly be holding Reconnected forums in Sydney and The Entrance, so drop me an email if you’re a charity leader who’d like to attend. In addition, I’ll be speaking about my new book Randomistas in Sydney (in conversation with Dr Karl Kruszelnicki) on Monday 14 May at 5.30pm (RSVP) and in Canberra on Friday 15 June at 11am (RSVP).

Lastly, my weekly podcast has featured some exceptional guests: investigative journalist Kate McClymont, former hostage Terry Waite, sociology star Dalton Conley and exercise expert Alex Hutchinson. The podcast is called The Good Life: Andrew Leigh in Conversation, and you can get it via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and Podbean.

Warm wishes,

Andrew Leigh

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