Andrew Leigh

BUDGET 2021: BIG DOLLARS, SMALL AMBITION

CANBERRA BUSINESS CHAMBER AND INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS BUDGET BREAKFAST

WEDNESDAY, 12 MAY 2021

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It’s a pleasure to be speaking again to you at today’s budget breakfast. This is the eighth Liberal budget I’ve discussed at this breakfast. They’ve been quite a rollercoaster.

In 2014, the Liberals were going to introduce a Medicare co-payment, change pension indexation from wages to prices, and cut the CSIRO.

In subsequent years, budgets from Treasurer Scott Morrison saw billions ripped out of the ABC, hospitals, schools and aged care.

Last year, the budget’s centrepiece was the JobMaker program. Forecast to create 450,000 jobs, it fell just short. 449,000 jobs short, to be precise.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2SM MARCUS PAUL IN THE MORNING

TUESDAY, 11 MAY 2021

SUBJECTS: Three tests for the Budget; Government’s failures on quarantine, vaccines, aged care, housing and ambition.

MARCUS PAUL, HOST: Look, it's a cash cow of a budget, and the jackpot will be in the billions of dollars. Certainly, austerity is dead, buried and cremated. Let's have a chat about it with Andrew Leigh MP. G'day, Andrew. How are you, mate?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Terrific, Marcus. How are you?

PAUL: Yeah, not bad. Now, you say the budget must meet three tests. What are they, first of all?

LEIGH: Well, first of all, I think it needs to fix the problems in our vaccine rollout and quarantine schemes. We know that's been bungled and we know it's key to opening up the economy. We were promised to be at the front of the queue but we're way down the back, and without vaccinating Australia things don't come back to normal. Secondly, I think it's got to meet the test of fairness. We've got a childcare package announced which helps some families, but only a quarter as many as the package that Anthony Albanese announced last year in his budget reply. Fairness has to involve actually doing things. Last year's budget centrepiece, the JobMaker program, promised to help 450,000 people and ended up falling 449,000 short of that target.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
6PR MORNINGS WITH LIAM BARTLETT

THURSDAY, 6 MAY 2021

SUBJECTS: JobKeeper rorts.

LIAM BARTLETT, HOST: Now, the discount retailer Best&Less is in the frame. Best&Less had millions of dollars go to it with JobKeeper, and one of the politicians who have been calling on that particular group to give the money back is Andrew Leigh. Andrew is the Federal Labor MP, the Member for Fenner in the ACT. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Good morning Liam. Great to be with you and your listeners.

BARTLETT: And thank you for joining us. How much do you want Best&Lless to give back, Andrew?

LEIGH: $42.6 million, which is the amount that they received from taxpayers, despite seeing their profits go up last year. JobKeeper was designed to be a program that kept businesses afloat and kept people in work, not to pad the profits of private equity firms.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
5AA MORNINGS WITH LEON BYNER
WEDNESDAY, 5 MAY 2021

SUBJECT: JobKeeper rorts.

LEON BYNER, HOST: There are some very smart cookies in the parliament. I know there are some that you'd probably think less of, but this bloke is not one of them. He's the Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury, Dr Andrew Leigh, and he's got some very valuable information about JobKeeper payments, remember, which are designed to keep companies employing and in touch with their employees, and tax avoidance. Dr Leigh is on the line. Andrew, it's good to talk to you.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Great to be back with you, Leon.

BYNER: What have you got for us?

LEIGH: We now know that one dollar in five of JobKeeper went to firms whose profits increased in 2020 over 2019. Now that's pretty extraordinary. This is a scheme that was meant to help out firms whose revenues were cratering, and in fact a fifth of it, some $15-20 billion, was snaffled up by firms with growing profits. That means hundreds of dollars for each and every one of your listeners was wasted on firms that just didn't need it.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2SM MARCUS PAUL IN THE MORNING

TUESDAY, 4 MAY 2021

SUBJECTS: Housing affordability; Morrison Government’s failure to seek JobKeeper repayments; Multinational tax avoidance; Australians stranded in India; Morrison Government’s quarantine failures; Port of Darwin.

MARCUS PAUL, HOST: 40 years ago the average house cost around twice the annual average income. Now, it is seven times and growing. We’ve got to stop blaming young Australians. They aren’t lazy, and they’re not eating too many smashed avocados. Homes are just way more expensive than a generation ago. If we don’t address this many young Australians will be permanently locked out of housing market. 

[CLIP BEGINS]

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: If only getting a real house was this easy. Sadly, this may be as close as some Australians ever get.

Australia’s home ownership rate is now at a 60-year low, and that’s no surprise when you look at how much it costs to get on to the property ladder. In 1980, average house prices were twice average incomes. Now, houses cost more than seven times average income. Too many young families-

[CLIP ENDS]

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2GB MONEY NEWS WITH BROOKE CORTE
MONDAY, 3 MAY 2021

SUBJECTS: Multinational tax avoidance; Government’s failure to seek JobKeeper repayments.

BROOKE CORTE, HOST: Andrew Leigh's the Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury. He joins us on Money News this evening. Andrew Leigh, welcome to the show again.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: G'day, Brooke. Great to be with you.

CORTE: The multinational anti avoidance legislation actually came into effect five years ago. Has it done anything?

LEIGH: Well, it's done less than the Coalition promised. They were planning that that would be the be-all and end-all to multinational tax avoidance, but you can see the debate moving on well beyond what the Government's done in the conversations at the OECD and the G20. There's a key steering group there. Australia used to be a part of it, but we no longer are. We're not part of those big conversations about how laws need to update to stay in pace with the tech giants. As production's become more and more weightless, it's become easier to move it around different countries. Netflix booking its Australian revenue through the Netherlands looks pretty dodgy to me. A billion dollars in revenue, $550,000 in company tax - that doesn't seem fair.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC CANBERRA LIVE WITH LEON DELANEY
MONDAY, 3 MAY 2021

SUBJECTS: Government’s failure to seek JobKeeper repayments; Australians stranded in India.

LEON DELANEY, HOST: On 2CC, federal Greens leader Adam Bandt has called for companies that made a profit while receiving JobKeeper to pay the money back. In fact, he says he's going to attempt to amend the federal budget next week to force companies to do exactly that. But if this sounds like a familiar story, I can tell you that there's a reason for that - our local member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh, has been banging this drum for quite some time, and he's on the phone now. Good afternoon.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Good afternoon, Leon. Great to be with you.

DELANEY: Thanks for joining us. You have been banging this drum for a while now. Do you think you're getting more allies, or is Adam Bandt trying to steal your thunder?

LEIGH: Well, it's beaut to have the Greens getting on board with this. I think it's an important campaign, and since last September I've been calling on many of these firms to pay the money back. We've had more than $200 million so far committed in repayments, but given that one estimate is that there is $15-$20 billion which went to firms whose profits rose last year, we're still yet to see the lion's share of the money.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2SM MARCUS PAUL IN THE MORNING
TUESDAY, 27 APRIL 2021

SUBJECTS: Funding for Brisbane Games; IOC ban on racial protests; anniversary of Port Arthur massacre.

MARCUS PAUL, HOST: The International Olympic Committee are punishing racial protests at the Olympics this time round. Let's talk about it. Andrew Leigh MP, Member for Fenner - hello, Andrew. How are you, mate?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: G'day, Marcus. Great to be with you.

PAUL: Yeah, you too. Just before we get into this issue, the Prime Minister announced late last night that the Federal Government will be supporting the Palaszczuk Government in Queensland's bid for the 2032 games. Is this the right move? I mean, the IOC need to ensure that financially we can afford to pay for the Games, so the Prime Minister has jumped on board, saying 'yes, the Federal Government will ensure the money is there.' Is this the right move?

LEIGH: Absolutely. As I understand it's a 50/50 split of costs there, and I think it's the right thing to do for what will be a great celebration for all Australians. The idea that Australia gets to have the Olympics twice in a lifetime - three times in a lifetime for those who were alive for the Melbourne Games - just speaks to Australia's prowess as a sporting nation and our ability to host a big event like this. It's a huge tribute to Anastasia Palaszczuk for bringing home the Games, and Scott Morrison stepping up to 50/50 funding is terrific.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2SM MARCUS PAUL IN THE MORNING
TUESDAY, 20 APRIL 2021

SUBJECTS: Banks charging excessive credit card interest; Impact of Government’s delays to vaccination rollout.

MARCUS PAUL, HOST: Andrew Leigh MP joins us each and every Tuesday. Morning, Andrew.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: Good morning, Marcus. Great to be with you.

PAUL: Now, you've been quizzing bank chief executive officers, challenging them on why they have credit cards charging 20 percent interest when the RBA official rate sits, well, not much above zero.

LEIGH: That's right, Marcus. The RBA cash rate’s now 0.1 percent, and yet there's credit cards out there from some of the major banks that are charging 20 percent interest. They're charging 200 times the Reserve Bank cash rate.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC CANBERRA LIVE WITH LEON DELANEY
TUESDAY, 13 APRIL 2021

SUBJECTS: Economic reconstruction; JobKeeper rorts; vaccine delays; Scott Morrison’s cuts to the NDIS.

LEON DELANEY, HOST: Our federal MPs today met with local business leaders to talk about economic recovery following the long list of unfortunate events, I guess is one way of putting it: bushfires, hailstorms, and of course the pandemic. It has thrown the economy, not only around Australia but here in the ACT into a, well, near-cataclysmic event. The roundtable discussion could be the first step towards recognising the needs of Canberra's business community as many still struggle with the end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme. The roundtable was organised and coordinated by the Labor Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh, who is on the phone. Good afternoon.

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

DELANEY: Thanks for joining us today. So, obviously it's a good idea to listen to the constituents. Did they have a message for you?

LEIGH: Yes, we got a strong picture of the importance of the vibrancy of Canberra's business sector. I think a lot of people don't realise, but two-thirds of people in the ACT work for a private sector employer. The public sector in Canberra isn't the majority employer, they're a large minority employer, and so it's really important that our small businesses do well. We learned there's only 36 businesses in Canberra that employ more than 200 people, so it's not just a majority business town, but it's majority smaller business town, and keeping that vibrancy of the business sector is really vital.