Andrew Leigh

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC CANBERRA DRIVE WITH ROSS SOLLY
THURSDAY, 14 MARCH 2024

SUBJECTS: Proposals to ban TikTok; benefits of four-year terms; John Howard’s belated backflip; case for fixed terms; teen mental health and social media.

ROSS SOLLY, HOST: Andrew Leigh is the member for Fenner and he joins us on the program this afternoon. Andrew Leigh, good to have you on the show.

​ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES, COMPETITION, TREASURY AND EMPLOYMENT ANDREW LEIGH: Great to be with you, Ross.

TAX TREATY EXPANSION CONSULTATIONS OPEN

The Albanese Government is working to expand Australia’s global relationships with consultations opening on the expansion of Australia’s tax treaties network.

The Government is entering into new tax treaty negotiations with Brazil, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden and Ukraine as part an expansion of Australia’s tax treaty network. Submissions are sought on the key outcomes Australia should seek in negotiating these tax treaties and other issues related to Australia’s tax treaty network.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
MORNINGS ABC BRISBANE WITH STEVE AUSTIN
FRIDAY, 8 MARCH 2024

SUBJECTS: Pressure on Charitable Organisations; Employer Underpayments; Doubling Philanthropy; Competition Reform; Extraordinary Women in Economics.

STEVE AUSTIN, HOST: Well, as we heard in the news headlines, at a time when charitable organisations are facing unprecedented demand, some community service charities are closing their programs across the south east. You’ve heard the news today that one in particular has to repay $9 million in what turned out to be underpaid wages to current and former workers. Mercy Community estimates that 1,700 current and former staff have been affected by the underpayment.

Now, you’d be aware that here in Queensland it’s a criminal offence where you could face jail if you are found to have underpaid employees. As a result, they have to pay the former staff and current staff what they’re owed. To do that, they need to close their residential care, their transition services, their foster and kinship care, supported independent living services and an asylum seeker centre. You heard the details on the news.

As fate would have it, Australia’s Assistant Minister for Charities, Employment, Competition and Treasury is Andrew Leigh. He’s in Brisbane. Thanks for joining me in the studio.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES, COMPETITION, TREASURY AND EMPLOYMENT ANDREW LEIGH: A real pleasure, Steve. Great to be with you and your listeners.

AUSTIN: There seems to be an issue with not just this charity but others – Uniting Care here in Brisbane announced the sacking of 350 workers yesterday. Are charities under financial pressure at the moment?

LEIGH: Certainly charities are feeling the squeeze of the cost of living crisis, Steve. We’ve seen this particularly with food bank charities, which is why we gave an additional top-up funding to those food bank charities to get them through the year. Many Australians are feeling the pinch and for low and middle-income Australians often they’ll turn to charities for assistance.

We’re doing what we can both through the increases to the income support system in last year’s budget, the tax cuts which we’ve adjusted and so every taxpayer will get a tax cut on the 1st of July, and then supporting charities. The former government had an attitude of declaring a war on charities. The Albanese government wants to work with charities and engage with them to reduce the reporting challenges that they face and ensure that they’re able to thrive and grow.

But obviously, as you’ve said today with Mercy Community closing a number of services, paying your staff isn’t optional. Charities, like businesses, need to get that right. Mercy Community has a storied history in Brisbane going back to 1861. They’ll remain an important part of the social fabric here, and they’ve done the right thing in making sure they repay those staff who were underpaid.

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TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWSDAY WITH KIERAN GILBERT
THURSDAY, 29 FEBRUARY 2024

SUBJECTS: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry into supermarkets; impact of Albanese Government’s bigger tax cuts for more Australians.

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Assistant Minister for Competition and Treasury, Andrew Leigh. Great to see you. This stunt yesterday by Andrew Wilkie and Bob Katter. They're calling for a divestment by the two major supermarkets. Is that possible? Can you force that?

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES, COMPETITION, TREASURY AND EMPLOYMENT ANDREW LEIGH: We're not looking at divestment powers, Kieran. Where they exist in other countries, they're very rarely used. They're not one of the major tools you use for getting better prices for consumers. Instead, we're kicking off this supermarkets inquiry through the ACCC; the first such inquiry to be conducted in 16 years. The ACCC has just put out its issues paper looking at issues ranging from shrinkflation to discounting…

FRESH AND FAIR COMPETITION

National Farmers’ Federation Horticulture Council Roundtable

Wednesday, 28 February 2024

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, on whose lands we meet today, and pay respects to all First Nations people present.

Australia’s agriculture sector has hung its hat on technology to deliver a strong productivity performance over the past 20 years (Treasury 2023 p84).

As Australia’s third largest agricultural industry, horticulture is a significant part of the innovation story (DAFF n.d).

We are now seeing overhead cameras and artificial intelligence speeding up processing times by detecting and accurately determining the size of up to 5,000 pieces of fruit in the back of an open-top truck (AUSVEG 2023).

Researchers are testing drones – and the turbulent downdraft they create – as a possible way to pollinate glasshouse-grown strawberries and tomatoes (Jadhav 2023).

Growers are maximising their output by taking tonnes of otherwise wasted vegetables and turning them into nutrient-dense powders for supplements and our morning smoothies (AUSVEG 2023).

Governments are joining forces with industry to revamp pest-management datasets to further strengthen our arm at the trade negotiating table (Watt 2023).

GROCERY PRICES

Matter of Public Importance, House of Representatives
Wednesday, 28 February 2024

,It is a great thing in this House to be discussing the important issue of competition, and for that I thank the member for Kennedy for bringing forward this matter of public importance.

If you're a sports fan in Australia you have plenty of choices. If you're an AFL fan you've got 18 teams to choose from. If you're a fan of the Women's Big Bash League you've got eight teams to choose from. If you're a fan of the Australian Ice Hockey League you have 10 teams to choose from including the Canberra Brave, the Central Coast Rhinos, the Melbourne Mustangs and the Sydney Ice Dogs. If you're an A-League fan you have 12 teams to choose from. The fact is that many of these leagues are also growing new teams, so we've had the GWS Giants and the Tasmanian JackJumpers.

Competition And Consumer Amendment (Fair Go For Consumers And Small Business) Bill 2024
Summing Up Speech
House of Representatives, Wednesday 28 February 2024

At the outset I would like to thank those members who have contributed to the debate on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Fair Go for Consumers and Small Business) Bill 2024, including the members for Mayo, Moreton, Wentworth, Werriwa, Warringah, Lyons and Hume.

Competition policy has been front and centre in the public debate over recent months. The Albanese government has been concerned to ensure that our competition settings are fit for purpose. Competition reform is vital to boosting productivity. In the early 1990s, reforms kicked off by Prime Minister Paul Keating and competition expert Fred Hilmer led to cooperation with the states and territories which ultimately boosted living standards, producing a permanent 2½ per cent lift in GDP. That translates to something in the order of $5,000 for the typical Australian household in today's terms. So competition reform is a big deal. Getting competition right is good for consumers, it's good for employees and it's good for innovation.

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TV INTERVIEW
AFTERNOON BRIEFING
WEDNESDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2024

SUBJECTS: Bigger, better, fairer tax cuts for more Australians; monthly inflation figures; Government’s cost-of-living relief; non-compete clauses hurting wages and innovation.

GREG JENNETT, HOST: Treasury Portfolio Minister Andrew Leigh is Assistant Minister for Competition and he joins us in the studio. Welcome back to the programme.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES, TREASURY AND EMPLOYMENT ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks, Greg.

JENNETT: Andrew, tempted to ask if you've given any thought to what you'll do with your tax cuts, but I imagine it's something mundane like the rest of us. The Government, though tactically seems a bit disappointed it sailed through so quickly. The Prime Minister and others have been baying in the House of Reps, where you are for rapid passage all week. And then they got it last night. No delay, no examination. Is that a good thing or a bad thing from your point of view?

LEIGH: I’m delighted to see the strong support in the parliament for our bigger, better fairer tax cuts. Greg. We want Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn. The Coalition, when we first announced our package, said that they'd roll it back, they said we should have an election and then eventually they voted for it. That's all to the good. That means every Australian will get a tax cut and it's particularly good for young Australians, 98% of whom will be better off under this package.

JENNETT: No voter gratitude to speak of as these things are tracked by at least two opinion polls, news poll and resolve this week, there's not much to measure. And surely that was a part of the original intention, particularly timed around the Dunkley by election.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC SYDNEY DRIVE WITH RICHARD GLOVER
TUESDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 2024

SUBJECTS: Boosting competition in the supermarket sector.

RICHARD GLOVER: Well, there's been a lot of discussion, hasn't there, especially in the last couple of weeks since that Four Corners program about adequate market competition in Australia. Do we have a serious problem when you can refer to a majority of the supermarket industry with the portmanteau term, Colesworth?

Well, the Assistant Minister for Competition, Andrew Leigh, says we may be becoming the land of the duopoly, and the solution must be reached through the cooperation of federal, state and local governments. And Andrew Leigh joins us here on Drive.

Good afternoon.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES, TREASURY AND EMPLOYMENT ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon, Richard. Great to be with you and your listeners.

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN MINT’S NEW EXHIBITION CELEBRATES CHANGE IN ALL ITS FORMS

The Royal Australian Mint (the Mint) and the Cultural Facilities Corporation (CFC) are excited to announce that the Mint’s highly-popular coin shop and exclusive new off-site exhibition, Change in your Pocket, are now open at Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) in Civic Square.

The Mint’s temporary new inner-city location and gift shop enables its many thousands of annual visitors to continue enjoying its exhibition and education programs and to buy coins and other souvenirs in a brand new setting while the Mint’s Deakin building undergoes extensive refurbishment.