It’s an opportune time: Dr Andrew Leigh MP on why it’s a great time to be doing business in Canberra
Andrew Leigh (photographer: Hilary Wardhaugh)
Campus Plus CEO and cofounder Nick McNaughton interviewed Canberra politician, Dr Andrew Leigh MP, about his views on the prospects for Canberra’s business community.
Nick McNaughton: Dr Leigh, could you please share your observations about where Canberra is in the world at this point in economic history?
Dr Andrew Leigh: From the standpoint of the businesses and people who are interested in high-wage, high-tech jobs in Canberra, the outlook is excellent. It is an opportune time. The Government is strongly committed to moving Australia up the global value chain. We recognise that Australia has moved out of low-wage, low-skill jobs. We’re not going to back to an Australia that has a large share of the workforce making kid's pyjamas.
“We’re not going to back to an Australia that has a large share of the workforce making kid’s pyjamas ”
But the ability to tap into global value chains is extremely strong, and we’re looking to do this in several ways.
Firstly, through the resumption of international engagement in our region. Several diplomatic and trading networks have been left to languish. Partly this is due to the problems in the China relationship, but there was also underinvestment in our relationship with countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. We are strengthening those relationships. For instance, Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones led an investment delegation to Indonesia and Singapore last year.
“The Government wants to ensure Australia is growing more new firms, especially new ‘scrappy upstarts’ ”
Secondly, this Government is making a huge commitment to education. The ACT has always outperformed the other states and territories in terms of our tertiary sector. We are committed to boosting the number of university and TAFE places in the ACT. And what we have in the ACT is a lot of brilliant people and systems to make the most of brilliant entrepreneurs.
Thirdly, our commitment to growing more new businesses. We’ve seen over recent decades the share of startups and the economy declining just as we’ve seen an increase in market concentration. The Government wants to ensure Australia is growing more new firms, especially new ‘scrappy upstarts’ that are taking on the established insiders. And that’s pretty much been what the ACT has done, which has grown a whole lot of fresh firms through E29, then the Canberra Innovation Network and other informal networks.
Nick McNaughton: Your book Innovation + Equality (co-written with Joshua Gans) provides a segway into themes about Australia moving up the global value chain. What themes from your book would you like to share with MSJ readers?
Andrew Leigh: Too often economists suggest we have to choose between growth and fairness, and that if we want to have more innovation we can’t have egalitarianism. As (co-author) Joshua and I argue in Innovation + Equality, that’s fundamentally wrong. There are many areas where there are sweet spot policies, such as finding more opportunities for would-be entrepreneurs in disadvantaged circumstances, improving competition laws so that new firms can challenge established insiders, or extending educational opportunities so they enable more people to get more human capital. And this will all help to boost GDP, but at the same time, we are also disproportionately advancing the most vulnerable. Accordingly, an egalitarian agenda and an innovation agenda can work powerfully together.
“An egalitarian agenda and an innovation agenda can work powerfully together”
Nick McNaughton: The Government views science as the core of the evolution of the Australian economy. Could you give your summary on the National Reconstruction Fund and the University Accord?
Andrew Leigh: The National Reconstruction Fund is about ensuring we’re making the most of opportunities in manufacturing. There is a range of areas in which Australia contributes to manufacturing in the ACT. We have defence manufacturing contractors, for instance.
The Australian Universities Accord comes off the back of a decade of coalition inaction and cuts to university budgets, which was made worse through the COVID pandemic when universities languished due to the loss in international student revenue. We recognise the value education brings to thousands of students every year. We also recognise the Australian economy benefits from research that flows from universities. And yet we've been slow as a nation to commercialise much of that research. So, part of the accord with universities building a closer connection between the business and tertiary sectors in Australia.
Nick McNaughton: I’d like you to put your ACT hat on and talk about the initiatives you would like to see put in place here to enhance and accelerate this evolution of commercialising good ideas, discoveries and inventions.
Andrew Leigh: It’s partly a change in mindset, not the public sector. And ours is a jurisdiction that has a whole range of very innovative startups. I loved the late Peter Dawson's book, Creative Capital, which told stories of successful Canberra businesses that ranged from people working on innovation on solar panels, to defence innovation and right across the spectrum. We need to do a better job as a capital of telling the stories of how Canberrans don't just run good government services, we also start great companies.
Nick McNaughton: We have a Government term that is constrained and short. Yet the programs that we're talking about in this interview are multi-decade-long programs. For instance, the Canberra Innovation Network has taken a decade to evolve. How can we as a nation be more bipartisan so these long-term initiatives can endure, persist and be funded for the long haul?
Andrew Leigh: I believe my Coalition colleagues have the same sorts of objectives when it comes to successful startups. There’s a recognition that not everything that is seed-funded will succeed, but that it's in the national interest to encourage more startup businesses. There’s also a recognition that Government can play a role in brokering information and providing firms with the resources they need. For instance, the Australian Small Business – Family Enterprise Ombudsman provides information and support on a range of domestic issues. And Austrade has support networks for those who are seeking to export. There are great benefits from plugging firms into networks with other like-minded entities.
Nick McNaughton: I’d like to draw us back to your views on egalitarianism. Over the winter months, every day I would walk past a poor homeless man who was sleeping out cold on the pavement. How we can help our most disadvantaged have a better life through this transition to a higher tech-based community?
Andrew Leigh: The Government needs to address both the short and long-term challenges for businesses. In the short term, we need to make sure income support is appropriate. We've set up an Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, which will advise the Treasurer on the level of the job seeker payment in advance of the coming budget, and we've put in place a range of measures to investigate this. In sustainable housing, we recently introduced legislation to the Parliament to set up the investment in public housing that's languished. And then in the long term, we need to make sure that every school is a great school, and that every kid is getting a world-class education. By providing individuals with the skills, they need to compete in the modern economy, we're going to hopefully create a situation where everyone is able to access the good jobs of the future.
Dr Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury and Federal Member for Fenner (ACT). Prior to being elected in 2010, he was a Professor of Economics at the Australian National University. He is the author of ten books including his most recent book, Fair Game: Lessons From Sport for a Fairer Society and a Stronger Economy.
