Andrew Leigh

“As big data gets bigger, artificial intelligence and machine learning will increasingly feature in public policy conversations. But frontier technologies come with questions we don’t necessarily have answers to, in languages we aren’t familiar with. That’s why it’s vital that we engage now with questions of control, security and privacy; drawing together the best ethical and technical experts to ensure that humanity makes the most of the coming wave of exciting innovations.”

Twitter: @ALeighMP

Andrew Leigh

Member for Fenner, ACT

Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury and Charities, and Federal. Member for Fenner in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in Arts and Law. Andrew is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, and a past recipient of the 'Young Economist Award', a prize given every two years by the Economics Society of Australia to the best economist under 40.

His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires (2013), The Economics of Just About Everything (2014), The Luck of Politics (2015), Choosing Openness: Why Global Engagement is Best for Australia (2017), Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018) and Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator (with Joshua Gans) (2019). Andrew is a keen marathon runner, and hosts a podcast titled "The Good Life: Andrew Leigh in Conversation", which is available on Apple Podcasts.

Andrew is the father of three sons - Sebastian, Theodore and Zachary, and lives with his wife Gweneth in Canberra. He has been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1991.