Andrew Leigh

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
6PR PERTH LIVE
TUESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2020
 
SUBJECT: JobKeeper payments.

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

OLIVER PETERSON, HOST: You have named and shamed some businesses which appear to be rorting the JobKeeper scheme.

LEIGH: JobKeeper was designed in order to keep battlers in work, not keep billionaires in champagne. What I've been concerned about is the small number of firms that seem to be using taxpayer subsidies in order to pad profits, and to pay executive salaries and dividends.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

TV INTERVIEW

THE PROJECT

TUESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2020

Subject: JobKeeper.

CARRIE BICKMORE: Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury Andrew Leigh isn't a fan of JobKeeper as it is, and he joins us now. Andrew, executive salaries are quite complex. A lot of them earn the bulk of their pay through bonuses. It is a bit simplistic to say that they should just go without?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: JobKeeper was designed as a program to keep battlers in work, not to top up the salaries of millionaires and billionaires. Firms ought to recognise they have a social obligation to spend this money on looking after their workforce.

BENJAMIN LAW: That said, Andrew, if a company has landed themselves in serious trouble and has since turned that around, shouldn't they be entitled to enjoy the benefits of that success?

LEIGH: This is taxpayer money we’re talking about. It was given to firms for one specific purpose: to make sure that the unemployment rate didn't skyrocket as much as it would otherwise have done. I don't remember any member of parliament standing up when we were debating JobKeeper and saying, ‘this will be great because it will be used to pad profits and pay highly paid CEOs even more.' Indeed, you’ve seen a New Zealand company Mainfreight saying, ‘we don't deserve this money‘, and giving it back to the New Zealand taxpayer. If only we had a few Aussie firms that took that approach.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC NORTH QUEENSLAND DRIVE
TUESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2020

SUBJECT: JobKeeper payments.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: JobKeeper was designed for battlers, not billionaires. It was designed to keep people in work during the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Wage subsidy schemes like this have worked well around the world, and most firms have done the right thing. But there's a small number of firms who have taken the taxpayer handouts and used them to fund bonuses for executives. I think that fundamentally breaks the social contract between firms and the rest of the community. 

ADAM STEPHEN, HOST: How did you work out that some of the companies that had taken JobKeeper subsidies, wage subsidies for their workforce, had subsequently either paid out executive bonuses or given dividends to shareholders? 

LEIGH: Yeah, it's interesting question. If you're an unlisted company, no one knows whether or not you’re getting JobKeeper. But if you're a listed firm, then ASIC’s asked people to disclose to the share market the amount of JobKeeper they're receiving. So as we're now in the annual reporting season, a range of firms are reporting that they received taxpayer handouts and that they’ve paid executive bonuses.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
5AA MORNINGS
TUESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2020

SUBJECTS: JobKeeper payments; unemployment; Scott Morrison playing ‘whack a premier’.

LEON BYNER, HOST: This is a story that really needed to be out there because, as you know, the recession - and we've got one – has hit a lot of people hard. But a scheme that was designed to reduce inequality and help people out, according to my next guest, has been misused by a small number of firms who are channelling executive bonuses. Now, I would have thought that this ought to be illegal, but they've named - I'll give you some examples. Star casino. They got $64 million in JobKeeper and gave their CEO an equity bonus of $800,000. SeaLink received $8 million in JobKeeper, and gave the CEO a $500,000 bonus. Now look, there's a whole raft of companies that have done this. So let's talk to a bloke who is an expert in economics, but he speaks plain English, which is always a good thing. The Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury and Charities, Dr Andrew Leigh. Andrew, good morning. How can this happen?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: G’day, Leon. Great to be with you. Saying that I think economics and talk English is the kindest compliment!

This is one of those instances in which firms have done the wrong thing. Not most firms, but a few firms. The fact is, if you're putting your hand out for taxpayer support, which is absolutely the right the right thing to do in order to keep people in work, then you can’t then turn around and use that money to subsidise people in the executive suites. People already on seven figure salaries shouldn't have their salaries topped up using taxpayer handouts. It's as simple as that.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1 SEPTEMBER 2020

When the coronavirus recession hit, most firms recognised there's a social contract: get a wage subsidy from the taxpayer and do right for workers. But some companies didn't understood that JobKeeper was designed to keep people in work, not pad corporate profits.

Half the shares in Australia are owned by the top fifth of the population, so converting JobKeeper into 'DividendKeeper' takes a program designed to reduce inequality and uses it to increase inequality.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC CANBERRA BREAKFAST
TUESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2020

SUBJECTS: JobKeeper and JobSeeker; foreign affairs and Australia’s national interest; China; Scott Morrison playing ‘whack a premier’ to pass the buck on aged care; charities facing perfect storm of falling donations and increased demand.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, HOST: Joining us, as they will. on a Tuesday is our political panel. The Labor Member for Fenner and Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury and Charities Andrew Leigh joins us for the first time. G’day, Andrew.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND CHARITIES: G’day, Stephen.

CENATIEMPO: And Zed Seselja, the ACT Liberal Senator and Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters. You guys are actually head to head in more than one way today.

ZED SESELJA, LIBERAL SENATOR: Good morning, Stephen. Morning. Andrew. How are you?

LEIGH: Wonderfully well. Yes, it's a nice coincidence to have two people concerned about charities from the ACT, isn’t it Stephen?

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 31 AUGUST 2020

Recessions hit the poor hardest, which is why Australia followed many countries around the world in implementing a wage subsidy scheme.

But a scheme designed to reduce inequality is being misused by a small number of firms, who are channelling it to executive bonuses.

Accent Group received $13 million in JobKeeper and gave CEO Daniel Agostinelli a $1.2 million bonus.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 31 AUGUST 2020

'Big-sky beauty, breezy civic pride and a decidedly hipster underbelly' is how The New York Times described Canberra, home to a slew of national institutions that the Gray Lady has called 'excellent'.

As a Canberra local this praise comes as no surprise. I'm lucky enough to live in the same city as Old Parliament House and to be able to take my boys to the National Portrait Gallery when we have a free afternoon. When you flip through the Lonely Planet's guide to the top activities in Canberra, the list is littered with national institutions. That iconic travel guide states:

Some of the nation's best art galleries are here, and there's plenty of history too, both past and in the making – visitors can see Australian democracy in action at Parliament House before exploring its bygone days at some of the city's many museums.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 31 AUGUST 2020

Biologist Edward O Wilson once talked about the idea of biophilia: the notion that humans have an innate desire to connect with nature and other forms of life. Biophilia is being understood now in terms of the importance of mental health and spending time in the environment. I started today in the Canberra bush doing hill sprints on one of the hills near my house. Part of the joy of that is not just the physical exercise; it's the connection with the country around you—spending time with the kangaroos, the kookaburras and the galahs amidst the eucalyptus.

So many Australians see the natural environment as being critical to who we are, and so many international visitors come to Australia to see our natural environment. They want to see Uluru. They want to the Great Barrier Reef. The environment is fundamental to who we are and who we stand for in the world.

Yet, under the Coalition, we have seen the greatest travesty in their inability to deal with unchecked climate change.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 27 AUGUST 2020

The history of superannuation in Australia is pretty simple: it is introduced by Labor; the Liberals oppose it; people like Bronwyn Bishop speak out against it; John Howard then goes to the 1996 election promising to continue with the scheduled rate of superannuation increase, but he doesn't tell the truth and freezes the superannuation guarantee; Tony Abbott goes to the 2013 election promising to increase the superannuation contribution, but he breaks his promise and doesn't continue with the scheduled increases; and Prime Minister Scott Morrison goes to the 2019 election saying that he has pledged to continue with the legislated pattern of superannuation increases—a promise he now appears to be set to break. His own superannuation minister appears not to mind much either way, whether the government sticks with its promise, sticks with the legislation, or does the wrong thing by the Australian working people. It's a bit like Medicare. It's a bit like climate change.

These are issues which matter deeply in our hearts to those of us on this side of politics. Those on the other side know that they matter to the Australian people, and so they mouth the platitudes at election time, but when it comes to action, when it comes to doing the right thing, they don't stand up for working people.