The biggest settlement in Australian tax history - Transcript, FIVEaa
LEON BYNER, HOST: The Australian Government has welcomed the settlement reached between the ATO and Rio Tinto, which will pay approximately - listen to this - $1 billion, in one of the largest tax settlements in our tax history in this country. Now this represents, as I understand it, quite a drawn out - and we're talking here drawn out in years - hard work by the Tax Office. It's a significant win for everybody, because the community will ultimately benefit in terms of lower taxes. But that's a lot of money. $1 billion. Let's talk to a bloke who is, I think, one of the most qualified economics experts in the Australian Parliament. Highly revered, both by universities and economics experts. I'm talking about the federal Assistant Minister for Treasury, Dr Andrew Leigh. Andrew, thank you for coming on today.
ANDREW LEIGH, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY: Pleasure, Leon. Great to be with you.
Tackling multinational tax avoidance a matter of fairness - Transcript, Sky News
PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Rio Tinto has settled running disputes with the Australian Tax Office, agreeing to pay another lump sum. Almost a billion dollars has been paid, money the ATO claims the mining giant owed. Settlements include a dispute over whether the company should have deducted interest payments from money borrowed from itself to pay its UK arm and an argument over alleged transfer pricing through its controversial Singapore hub. Rio Tinto has paid 78 per cent of the total load. The ATO says it's a good outcome for the Australian tax system. And joining us live now is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh. Good morning, Andrew. Good to see you. That’s quite the amount to cough up.
ANDREW LEIGH, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY: It certainly is. And it's a testament to the corporate tax inquiry headed by Labor Senators in 2015, which first flagged the issue of marketing hubs. I think it was pretty odd that you have resources companies digging up resources in Australia, selling them to a second country, and yet the payments are being routed through a third country. Four years ago, BHP reached a half billion dollar settlement. And this billion dollar settlement from Rio doesn't just cover past tax payments, but also says that going forward taxes on Australian commodities be paid in Australia, which is the way it should be.
Paying tax not an optional extra - Transcript, ABC News Radio
THOMAS ORITI, HOST: First this half hour, the multinational mining giant Rio Tinto has settled a decade long tax dispute with the Australian Tax Office. It’s handed over almost a billion dollars in unpaid taxes after an investigation of its Singapore marketing hub. The settlement’s one of the largest in Australian tax history, with the mining giant following in the path of other multinationals forced to pay up. Let's get more on this now. We're joined by the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh. Andrew, good morning to you.
ANDREW LEIGH, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY: Morning, Tom. Great to be with you.
Government helping drive down costs for car owners - Transcript, Doorstop
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
QUEANBEYAN
THURSDAY, 30 JUNE 2022
SUBJECT: Government helping drive down costs for car owners.
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY ANDREW LEIGH: My name is Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. I'd like to thank Clem Camage Motors - Craig and his team - for having us here today for an enormously exciting announcement.
Modern cars are computers on wheels, and yet independent mechanics have struggled to get the digital files and codes they need to fix your car. When independent mechanics can't get access to the data they need, consumers pay more and don't have the choice that they require. We’re about to go into school holidays and many Australians will be taking that road trip, going up the coast maybe. And if you break down on a road trip, you might not find that there's a dealer nearby who specialises in the vehicle you're driving. But you'll probably find an independent mechanic round the corner. If that independent mechanic can get access to the digital files they need, they can get you back out on the road and enjoying your school holidays.
Read moreMulticulturalism makes us more dynamic, interesting, and affluent nation - Transcript, ABC Radio Brisbane
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC BRISBANE DRIVE
WEDNESDAY, 29 JUNE 2022
SUBJECT: Census.
STEVE AUSTIN, HOST: What is an Australian today? What do we look like? What do we present as, given the census data? I want to do this with my guest who is, as a result of the federal election, now an Assistant Minister. Andrew Leigh is Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. That's not the real reason why I wanted to speak with him. He's also a prolific writer of honest and interesting books, and most recently wrote the book ‘What's the Worst That Could Happen? Existential Risk and Extreme Politics’. Andrew, thanks for joining me today. Have any of your scenarios in that book come true yet?
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY ANDREW LEIGH: Pleasure, Steve. It’s fortunate to say that the world has not ended yet, and long may that continue.
AUSTIN: Give me your just general overview, first of all. What stands out to you? What do you think, Andrew Leigh, as someone who's got a PhD in economics and writes prolific, as a prolific book writer, what stands out to you in the census data about who we are?
LEIGH: Two big things, Steve. One is that almost half of Australians have a parent born overseas, and it really does speak to the multicultural success story that is modern Australia. The other is the significant decline in the share of Australians expressing a religious affiliation. There's now almost as many people who profess to having no religion as there are Christians in Australia. So a big change in the way in which the nation engages with religion.
Read moreCanberra tops country in population growth - Transcript, ABC Radio Canberra
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC CANBERRA MORNINGS
WEDNESDAY, 29 JUNE 2022
SUBJECTS: Census; Canberra’s population and political representation; Staffing.
ADAM SHIRLEY, HOST: A day after his self-described Christmas, Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh is with us on Mornings. He is the Member for Fenner, and Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. Dr Leigh, a very good morning to you.
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning to you, Adam. Great to be with you and your listeners.
SHIRLEY: How was Christmas and the unwrapping of all your presents?
LEIGH: It's fascinating to get a bit of a picture of the ACT, to get a sense that we're volunteering at higher rates than the national average. An 18 per cent volunteering rate here in the ACT compared to 14 per cent nationally. It reminded me too what a strong Defence community we have here in the ACT, something maybe we don't talk about very much. Canberrans are five times as likely as the average Australian to be currently serving, and much more likely to be veterans. And that veteran community is a really vital part of Canberra.
Read moreThe census and social capital - Transcript, 2GB Afternoons
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2GB AFTERNOONS
TUESDAY, 28 JUNE 2022
SUBJECT: Census.
JOE HILDEBRAND, HOST: Dr Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Treasury, but more importantly he is the minister in charge of the census. Minister, welcome to Afternoons.
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY ANDREW LEIGH: G’day, Joe. Great to be with you-
HILDEBRAND: Great to be with you.
LEIGH: I’m feeling tickety-boo like you.
HILDEBRAND: [laughter] I can't stop thinking about it now. Golly gosh, gee whiz.
LEIGH: It’s such a good phrase.
Read moreWhat Will the New Census Tell Us? - Speech, Census Launch
LAUNCH OF THE 2021 CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING DATA
TUESDAY, 28 JUNE 2022
Good morning to you all and thank you Wally for the warm Welcome to Country. I too wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on, the Ngunnawal people. I acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the region, and I pay my respects to their elders, past and present.
It is an honour to be here today to officially launch the 2021 Census of Population and Housing data as the Assistant Minister with responsibility for the Australian Bureau of Statistics. I do so with enormous respect for the ABS, and for Census data, as it inspires deeper conversations about the social health of the nation.
Prior to joining politics, I was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. During this time, I learnt to appreciate how much Census data is relied upon by governments, businesses and community organisations to help understand what we as a country need now and into the future. I’ve used the cross-tabulations, the microdata, and the community profiles to research everything from income inequality to whether child gender affects divorce.
Read moreGag clauses gone under Labor - Transcript, ABC Canberra Drive
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC CANBERRA DRIVE
MONDAY, 20 JUNE 2022
SUBJECT: Labor’s plans to support the charities sector.
ADRIENNE FRANCIS, HOST: Andrew Leigh is Assistant Minister for Charities, and also Member for the Federal ACT seat of Fenner, and he joins us on ABC Radio Canberra. Yuma. Good evening, Andrew Leigh. Thanks for being with us.
ANDREW LEIGH, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY: Good afternoon, Adrienne. Great to be back with you.
FRANCIS: Why did you fight to get this charities portfolio?
LEIGH: Oh look, I love charities and the work they do in the community. And I thought it was just beautiful the way you talked about Margaret and Paul McGrath, and what they do with Ngunnawal Street Pantries really is remarkable. I remember when I was out there, they were telling me the story of a time when people had been lined up to receive support and someone had mentioned that she had been the victim of family violence. Somebody else in the queue just quietly said, ‘I went through the same experience a couple of years ago, if you'd like somebody to come with you to the support counselling services I can’. And they said that was what was really special about it - they weren't just providing food and clothes and essential living provisions, but they're also connecting people up into a broader community. I've had the charities portfolio since Labor went into opposition in 2013 and spent those nine years engaging with charities - even wrote a book about some of their ideas for building community - and really had a chance to get a sense as to the problems that were being caused by the coalition's adversarial approach to charities.
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