Boomers will leave their kids $5.4 trillion. This minister thinks we should give it away instead

April 21, 2026 — 4:03pm

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Honestly, Andrew Leigh has always seemed like a sensible bloke to me. Calm, well-read, not a Labor Party factional warrior.

Now it turns out that he wants me to give my money away.

Not to my children, who are my absolute No.1 priority, slightly being jostled for top spot by my grandchildren. He wants me to give my money to charities. To complete strangers. And who knows what they’ll do with it? Also, I have a pretty clear picture of what children and grandchildren will do with any money that comes their way. Housing, anyone?

The good news is that the government will soon make it much easier to give your money to causes you think really matter. The Productivity Commission made excellent recommendations in 2024 when it was examining the charity sector. Those changes will be implemented as soon as the government lines up the dollars, says Leigh. Yippee! The current system, as the PC report pointed out, “creates inefficient, inconsistent and unfair outcomes”.

Leigh’s push comes in the middle of a cost-of-giving crisis. In the United States, there is a backlash led by billionaires. Members of the billionaire boys’ club in the US are........

© The Age