Andrew Leigh

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RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC RN DRIVE

WEDNESDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2016

SUBJECT/S: Senator Dastyari’s resignation;  the lack of women in the Liberal Party; political donations; Australia’s weak GDP growth and decline in living standards since 2013.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Andrew Leigh joins us now. Thanks for your time.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: It’s a pleasure Patricia.

KARVELAS: You've seen that he just stood down. Shouldn't he have done that a few days ago?

LEIGH: Sam wasn't guilty of lying, cheating or stealing. He made an error of judgement. A mistake for which he has now paid the price. I think he's shown his ability to put the team ahead of himself with his statement that he didn't want to be the reason that the Turnbull Government escaped proper scrutiny. And there are plenty of things we need to be scrutinising them over. From the mucking up of the Census to the decline in living standards that were reported today. From their ongoing attempts to cut Medicare to their failure to act on multinational taxation in the G20. We need to be an effective opposition and Sam's statement today recognised the primacy of that role for the Opposition.

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RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC NEWSRADIO

WEDNESDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2016

SUBJECT/S: G20 meeting; Growth targets; Trade policy; Superannuation; Sam Dastyari.

MARIUS BENSON: Andrew Leigh can I begin by asking you about the G20 meeting which has concluded in China. The message was the same from the G20 leaders; free trade is good, more free trade is better. But that seems to ignore a couple of things. One is that the same message has not been matched by the promised growth for some years. And the other is there has been a shift in world opinion, you can see it with Donald Trump, you can see it with Brexit, you can see it with Pauline Hanson advocating protectionist measures here. But that protectionist view, that change in world opinion ignored by world leaders. Is that a problem?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Marius, you've gone to one of the biggest concerns about where the global economy is going which is that we need to confront those protectionist views head on. In recent years we've seen trade barriers come down around the world and that's put thousands of dollars into the pockets of the typical Australian household and benefited people around the world. But the rise of protectionism does demand that we have a strong social safety net. I've always thought that you can't be a free trader unless you're also committed to a strong social safety net because trade adds to the total pie but the benefits don't flow evenly. We need to make sure that we have the fairness measures in place in order to make trade work.

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DOORSTOP

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA

WEDNESDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2016

SUBJECT/S: Malcolm Turnbull’s failure on multinational tax avoidance at the G20 summit.

ANDREW LEIGH SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning. My name is Andrew Leigh, the Shadow Assistant Treasurer. The G20 meeting has just wrapped up and again we have a disappointing statement coming out of one of the world's premier economic bodies. Back in 2014 the G20 committed to 2 per cent more growth and we now see Australia with 2.5 percent less growth. So too, the latest communiqué on multinational tax is disappointing. The language simply refers to what's being done elsewhere. It doesn't demand further action from the world's governments on multinational tax avoidance. 

One of the challenges for Australia is that unlike any other country at the G20, we are led by a Prime Minister who has a significant share of his own personal investments in tax havens. We know that Malcolm Turnbull was a director of a British Virgin Islands based firm which was named in the Mossack Fonseca papers. We know that he has chosen to invest in the Cayman Islands, a jurisdiction which has been classified as a tax haven by the Tax Commissioner.

Now why do tax havens matter? Well they matter because the very existence of tax havens makes it harder for us as a country to make sure that firms pay their fair share. The existence of tax havens is the reason that firms work so hard in order to try and move profits offshore. We need to shut down tax havens, but we can't do that when we're led by somebody who is himself a significant investor in tax havens. Malcolm Turnbull should divest from tax havens so Australia can take a stronger stance on tax havens. 

We need stronger domestic laws. Every time Labor stands up calling for loopholes to be closed, we have Malcolm Turnbull saying that those loopholes are defensible. Saying for example, that Labor's proposals to reduce debt shifting by multinational firms are going to be a risk to the economy. Frankly the only thing that's a risk to our tax base is a Government which is always on the side of the multinationals rather than middle-class Australians. 

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RADIO INTERVIEW

FIVEAA MORNINGS WITH LEON BYNER

MONDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 2016

SUBJECT/S: 2016 Census

LEON BYNER: We've got a bloke who's got his finger on the pulse on all this. He's the Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Dr Andrew Leigh. Andrew, what do you make of where we're at now with all this?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning, Leon. Good morning to your listeners. I think – a couple of weeks on from Census night – it's still a bit of a shemozzle. Of the 17 Censuses that have been carried out in Australia since Federation, this is clearly the worst. The Turnbull Government should be able to get the basic things right, and running a Census is just one of the basic aspects of government. We've been doing them for about 2,500 years and you'd think they could manage to organise things so they were of minimal hassle to Australians. That the website worked, that the response rate was good, that people were engaged in the process – and none of that has happened in this Census.

Today’s effects test announcement shows the extent to which Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison have sacrificed good economic policy in order to keep the National Party on side.

As a member of the Abbott Government, Malcolm Turnbull opposed an effects test in Cabinet. So did Julie Bishop and George Brandis.

The only reason the Turnbull Government is announcing an effects test today is that it was a condition of the secret agreement between the Liberals and Nationals for Mr Turnbull to become Prime Minister.

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TV INTERVIEW

SKY AM AGENDA

MONDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 2016

SUBJECTS: G20; Multinational taxation; Foreign political donations; Negative gearing; Superannuation reform; Inequality.

TOM CONNELL: You're watching AM Agenda, joining me now in the studio is Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Andrew Leigh. Andrew thanks for your time this morning.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Pleasure, Tom.

CONNELL: We're at the G20 in China this time around, a couple of years ago it was Brisbane we had that 2 per cent growth target that now we're hearing from the IMF has pretty much failed. How big a role could you really argue Australia had in that pretty small proportion of the economy?

LEIGH: Well there were some pretty big promises made back then by the Coalition, Tom. A promise of 2 per cent above expectations. I went back last week and had a look at how we're tracking on that, we're not 2 per cent ahead, we're 2.5 per cent behind where we were forecast to be at that stage. So the Government's achievements on growth are exactly the opposite of what they pledged. That's why I'm sceptical that not much is going to come out of this G20 from a Government that has been so much on the side of multinational tax avoiders rather than on the side of the Australian middle class.

This weekend the Coalition will again schlep off to the G20 summit without a strong plan for confronting the global epidemic of tax avoidance by multinational companies.

In the aftermath of the decision taken by the European Union against Apple’s international tax liabilities, as well as the revelations within the Panama Papers, now is the time for an effective Australian multinational tax strategy.

But on this critical budget problem, like so many others, Malcolm Turnbull and his government are compromised, in chaos and making it impossible for Australia to provide moral or legislative leadership.

CHRIS BOWEN MP

SHADOW TREASURER

MEMBER FOR MCMAHON

ANDREW LEIGH MP

SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER

SHADOW MINISTER FOR COMPETITION AND PRODUCTIVITY

SHADOW MINISTER FOR CHARITIES AND NOT-FOR-PROFITS

SHADOW MINISTER FOR TRADE IN SERVICES

MEMBER FOR FENNER

Government legislation today confirms that the benefits of income tax cuts scheduled for 1 July 2016 won’t be fully implemented until after Australian taxpayers complete their tax return after 1 July 2017.

This comes in a week where the Treasurer has been shown that he had a $107 million black hole in his omnibus legislation, got rolled in Cabinet with the PM on negative gearing reform, and continues to delay legislating the Government’s superannuation package. 

GIVING THE CONSUMER WATCHDOG MORE TEETH - PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION SUBMISSION

At the election, the Turnbull Government made no commitments to strengthen consumer protections or to clamp down on scammers and shonks.

Shorten-led Labor took a comprehensive suite of policies giving the consumer watchdog more teeth.

The re-elected Government has no Minister for Competition or Consumer Affairs.

Labor has a Shadow Minister for both.

Below is my submission on behalf of the Australian Labor Party to the Productivity Commission's Inquiry into Consumer Law Enforcement and Administration.

Labor is committed to protecting consumers.

A PDF version is available HERE.

PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION SUBMISSION - AUGUST 2016

Statement

The Australian Labor Party welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into the enforcement and administration of the Australian Consumer Law.

The Labor Party is the party of the Trade Practices Act 1974, the National Competition Policy, the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and the criminalisation of cartels.

The ACL is a vital piece of legislation that protects consumers from things like unconscionable conduct, unfair contracts, unsafe products, misleading conduct and scams. The ACL has brought together State, Territory and Federal governments, and was implemented by the previous Labor Government.

Ensuring the ACL operates as intended, and to address opportunities for improvements in administration and enforcement, is considerably important.

In the 2016 federal election, the Australian Labor party announced a suite of policy measures regarding the ACL. That policy suite is designed to deter and punish anti-competitive and anti-consumer conduct by increasing penalties, using some of the increased revenue from these penalties to increase the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) litigation budget, and give the ACCC formal powers to conduct market studies in the public interest.

This submission details the implications of that policy suite for enhancing the enforcement and administration of the Australian Consumer Law as per the Productivity Commission’s terms of reference.

The Case for Action

There is a broad public concern about the lack of competition and anti-consumer conduct in Australian markets. This concern is not limited to banks, supermarkets and petrol retailers. Many people are worried that Australia’s markets are not sufficiently competitive or consumer friendly in a range of areas.

At the same time, penalties for engaging in anti-competitive and anti-consumer conduct and for breaching the rights of consumers are inadequate. Penalties are too small to act as a deterrent, are low by international standards and are seen by transgressors as a mere “cost of doing business” according to the Federal Court[i]^,[ii], the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission[iii], and consumer advocates[iv]. This clearly has implications for the efficacy of administration and enforcement of the Australian Consumer Law.

For example, the ACCC has appealed the $1.7 million penalty imposed on Reckitt Benckiser for misleading or deceptive conduct regarding Nurofen products. The penalty was small relative to company turnover and the profits made on the products, and is unlikely to have a deterrence effect[v].

ACT JEWISH COMMUNITY GALA DINNER AND CAMPAIGN LAUNCH 

OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE

CANBERRA

TUESDAY, 30 AUGUST 2016

***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY*** 

Thank you David Reiner, for the honour to address you all tonight. Can I too acknowledge that we’re meeting on the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal people, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

I want to acknowledge some of the dignitaries in the room, including but not limited to Yael Cass, Jillian Segal, Alon Meltzer, my parliamentary colleagues Mark Dreyfus, Mike Kelly, Julian Leeser, Michael Danby and ACT Leader, Andrew Barr.

As you’ve just heard, the contribution of Jewish Australians to this nation began with European settlement, with at least eight Jewish convicts transported on the First Fleet. The first Jewish wedding in Australia is thought to have been held in 1832. The first synagogues in Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide were founded in the 1840s.