Andrew Leigh

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC CANBERRA MORNINGS

THURSDAY, 7 FEBRUARY 2019

SUBJECTS: Closing unsustainable tax loopholes, Tim Wilson’s conflicts of interest.

ADAM SHIRLEY: Andrew Leigh is the Member for Fenner and Shadow Assistant Treasurer. He's with us on Mornings. Dr Leigh, really appreciate your time. Many people, especially self-funded retirees, have planned to support themselves in part with franking credits. Is it unfair that Labor removes future funds that these people have budgeted for?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning, Adam. Great to be with you and your listeners. I think it's unfair that the Tax Office is currently writing checks to a group of people who are overwhelmingly in the top part of the wealth distribution. Most Australians think of the Tax Office as someone you pay - you make a contribution to the Tax Office so government can deliver public services. But for a small group of Australians - 8 per cent of Australians - the Tax Office is an organisation that sends you cheques. Refundable dividend imputation is not something any other country in the world does. It's not something we do with any other tax concession. Half of the benefits are going to people with more than two and a half million dollars superannuation accounts. And if we don't close this loophole, we won't be able to extend early childhood to 3 year olds, we won’t be able to give $14 billion more to public schools, we won’t be able to reduce those emergency and elective surgery waiting lists.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC CANBERRA DRIVE

TUESDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2019

SUBJECTS: The Banking Royal Commission.

ANNA VIDOT: On the line now, Labor's Andrew Leigh - Of course, Dr Andrew Leigh, MP here in the ACT - for the other side of things and also an economist. So with that hat on as well. Dr Andrew Leigh, welcome to ABC Radio Canberra.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Thanks, Anna. Great to be with you too. 

VIDOT: You too. What does parliament need to do most urgently to try to bring the recommendations of the Royal Commission to life and start this, this process towards rebuilding trust in Australia's financial institutions?

LEIGH: I think the first thing would be to sit for as many days as necessary to deal with the Royal Commission's recommendations. What's extraordinary is the government has the Parliament sitting for only 10 days the first half of this year. And given the seismic nature of this royal commission's findings, I think it's absolutely incumbent upon the government to ensure that Parliament sits for as long as it needs to to implement the recommendations.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

5AA MORNINGS

THURSDAY, 31 JANUARY 2019

SUBJECT: Labor's plans to empower consumer and small business advocacy groups.

LEON BYNER: It just so happens that the Federal Opposition - who according to the polls are going to win government, you can never be sure, but that's what the polls say – have said that when we get into office, we’re going to make these laws much tougher. And so much so that what they are saying is that if a business is dealing with - a big business caught putting unfair terms into contracts with suppliers, they could face fines of up to $10 million. And this plan, Labor says, will help smaller businesses break into concentrated markets. Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer. Andrew, is this going to be properly enforced? Because so often we have laws which are there but we don’t use them.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Absolutely, Leon. We’ve said that we’ll increase the budget of the litigation department of the competition watchdog, so it’s able to go after more anti-competitive and anti-consumer conduct. Competition is terrific for consumers, but it’s got to work well and as you said, there have been too many instances recently where that hasn’t happened. We’ve had Nurofen selling different kinds of pain medications which only differ in the colour of the box. We had Dulux sell us cooling paint that doesn’t cool, Uncle Toby’s sold us protein oats that didn’t have any protein in them. The list of companies which have been reprimanded by the ACCC for anti-consumer conduct reads like a who’s who of the top end of town. So we need to get that balance right. That’s why we’re saying a Shorten Labor Government would ban unfair contract terms. We’d also create a supercomplaints power, so that consumer organisations and bodies like CHOICE could bring forward systematically concerns over consumers being ripped off.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC MELBOURNE DRIVE

WEDNESDAY, 30 JANUARY 2019

SUBJECTS: The Coalition’s policy paralysis on energy, dividend imputation reform, Labor’s plan to level the playing field for first home buyers, Liberals being challenged by former Liberals.

RAF EPSTEIN: Joining us from Brisbane is Senator Bridget McKenzie. She's the Deputy Leader of the Nationals and she is the Minister for Regional Services for Local Governance and Decentralisation - she fits it all on her card somehow. She's in Brisbane. Senator, welcome.

SENATOR BRIDGET MCKENZIE: Great to be with you, Raf. You forgot the most important one - I'm senator for our great state of Victoria.

EPSTEIN: I did too. Sorry. Andrew Leigh joins us. He is the ALP Member for Fenner in the ACT – half of Canberra, I think. He is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer and right now a very big thank you to the Pulse FM community radio station in Geelong. That is where Andrew Leigh is. There is a seat or two, especially the Liberal Sarah Henderson’s seat, that I'm sure Labor's keen to pick up. Andrew, thanks for joining us.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Great to be with you, Raf. And it’s been great to be in Geelong with Libby Coker, our Labor candidate for Corangamite.

EPSTEIN: Just say the name as many times as possible.

LEIGH: Libby Coker, Libby Coker, Libby Coker. Thanks again.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

TV INTERVIEW

SKY NEWS AM AGENDA

MONDAY, 28 JANUARY 2019

SUBJECTS: Labor’s positive policies for the economy, Tony Abbott and Warringah, Labor’s plan to level the playing field for first home buyers, Coalition resignations, political parenting.

KIERAN GILBERT:  Joining us now is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh. Andrew Leigh, thanks so much for your time.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Pleasure, Kieran.

GILBERT: Well, no secrets as to what the government's main argument will be not just this week, but after the budget and right up until the election in May.

LEIGH: Well, their main argument will be that they're not Labor. That seems to be their entire focus these days.

Cuts to penalty rates add up - it can cost someone who typically already earns less than the average worker up to $1,400 a year.

That’s why, in our first 100 days in government, a Shorten Labor Government would restore Sunday and public holiday penalty rates for 700,000 workers.

Inequality is at a 75-year high with wages growing three times as fast for the top 10th as for the bottom 10th.

Can we still call Australia a fair country when we have so much wealth moving from the battlers to the billionaires?

The private jet market has doubled over the past decade, while legroom on commercial flights has shrunk.

Less cash shouldn't mean poor treatment.

Inequality, monopoly and beer - they have more in common than you think.

You might not have expected to find inequality in people’s smiles, but it’s there.