Andrew Leigh

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC PERTH DRIVE WITH JO TRILLING
MONDAY, 24 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS:  Supermarket Code of Conduct, Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, Government funded CHOICE reports to help Australian shoppers, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry into supermarkets, Government’s plan to reform Australian merger laws.

JO TRILLING, HOST: The major supermarkets could cop fines in the billions of dollars as part of a suite of recommendations in a new report examining the power and behaviour of Coles, Woolies, Aldi and Metcash, which runs many IGA's. The review into the grocery chains' conduct was led by former Labor MP Craig Emerson, and today, the Federal Government announced it will implement all of his recommendations. So, what's set to change, and what does it mean for you at the checkout? Doctor Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition. Good afternoon.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon, Joanna. Great to be with you and your listeners.

TRILLING: Let's start with the Grocery Code of Conduct. It's been voluntary, I think, for about a decade. It's now set to be mandatory. What sorts of things will that ensure?

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RADIO INTERVIEW
6PR PERTH MORNINGS WITH JO MCMANUS
MONDAY, 24 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Food and Grocery Code of Conduct Review, Government funded CHOICE reports to help Australian shoppers.

JO MCMANUS: Well, supermarkets are under the spotlight yet again. Last week, you'll recall, CHOICE released the first of ongoing reports on price monitoring. And you may remember that, surprise, surprise, Coles and Woolies' basket of goods was basically the same price. We know Aldi was a lot cheaper, we know IGA was a bit more expensive, but the two big ones basically exactly the same. So, today the Government announced that what was a voluntary code of conduct for the supermarkets will become mandatory. And that means they could be fined billions, I'm not saying millions, billions with a B for Bobby, of dollars if they breach the code. Interested to know what it all means, whether it's going to make any difference to the prices that you pay each week, which is, I think, what we all actually care about. So, Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and it's with that hat on that he joins me this morning. Good morning, Andrew.

​ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning, Jo. Great to be with you and your listeners.

​MCMANUS: Yeah, thank you very much. Look, first of all, can you tell us what this mandatory code will do - what it means, how it works?

LEIGH: Australia's supermarket sector is one of the most concentrated in the world. The big three have a 75 per cent market share and the risk when you've got large firms is that they can squeeze their consumers, and they can also squeeze their suppliers. The Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, set up nearly a decade ago, has been a voluntary code and many farmers have been telling us it's just not working. Suppliers are scared to make complaints because they're scared of being dropped by the majors. So, we asked Craig Emerson, the former Competition Minister, to review the Food and Grocery Code and he's come back with a recommendation to make it mandatory, which the Government's announced we're accepting today. Now, that means that it'll be a code with teeth, not a toothless tiger like was set up by the Liberals and Nationals, but a code which ensures that there are significant penalties, as you said in your introduction.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC MELBOURNE DRIVE WITH CHARLIE PICKERING
MONDAY, 24 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Food and Grocery Code of Conduct Review 2023–24, Government funded CHOICE reports to help Australian shoppers.

CHARLIE PICKERING, HOST: Australia's supermarket giants could be fined billions of dollars if they breach a revamped and mandatory code of conduct designed to fix the imbalance of bargaining power between major grocery chains and small suppliers. Woolworths would face maximum penalties of $5 billion, Coles up to $3.8 billion, and Aldi, around a billion dollars, which shakes out at the end of the day to around 10 per cent of each company's annual turnover. That's the recommendation of a major review tasked with strengthening the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct and making it a mandatory code of conduct. The report also recommends stronger protections against retribution for suppliers who make complaints. What do you think? Is that going to make a difference? 1300 222 774 is the number to call. Or are consumers always going to end up paying for whatever extra costs the supermarkets face? Well, to talk about the report, the code and where to from here, I'm joined by Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. Andrew, welcome to ABC Drive on 774.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks, Charlie. Great to be with you.

PICKERING: Now, Andrew, what are these measures meant to achieve?

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TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AGENDA WITH KIERAN GILBERT
MONDAY, 24 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Mandatory Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, Government-funded CHOICE reports to help Australian shoppers, Appointment of Matt Kean as Chair of Climate Change Authority.

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Let's return now to politics here in Canberra. We've got a lot to talk about with the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh. You've released this review into the Code of Conduct and into supermarkets. It's going to be made a compulsory code of conduct with some massive fines if the major players breach the rules here, do you think those fines are likely or will the supermarkets change their behaviour?

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Well, these are huge firms, Kieran. Woolworths's estimated revenue this year is $50 billion and so it does make sense that there's significant penalties associated with the industry code. We've got a very concentrated grocery sector, as you well know – the top three have a 75 per cent share. So, it's appropriate that we have a mandatory code of conduct governing their relationship.

JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE
Senator Murray Watt
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Minister for Emergency Management

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DOORSTOP
DICKSON SHOPS, CANBERRA
MONDAY, 24 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Review of Food and Grocery Code of Conduct to deliver a better deal for Australian farmers and consumers; Avian flu; Support for live sheep export industry.

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning everyone thanks very much for coming along on a beautiful Canberra morning. My name is Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Competition. Australia's supermarket sector is one of the most concentrated in the world. The top three supermarkets control three quarters of the market. With great power comes a responsibility to do the right thing by consumers. Last week, the Albanese government announced price monitoring which we will fund CHOICE to do grocery price comparisons every quarter. That grocery price comparison is appropriate in order to ensure that shoppers get the very best deal. We've tasked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to do a deep dive into supermarket pricing, to make sure that supermarkets provide a fair deal. We've heard from many suppliers or supermarkets that they feel left out in the cold. And that's why we've asked Craig Emerson one of Australia's best economic policy brain's, a former competition minister, to look at the Food and Grocery. I'm here today with Murray Watt, the Agriculture Minister, and Craig Emerson, who has conducted this important review, to announce the Albanese Government will be accepting all of Craig Emerson's recommendations. That means that a Code set up by the Liberals and Nationals to be voluntary, without appropriate penalties attached, will now have substantial penalties associated with breaches. We know that large firms don't just squeeze their consumers they squeeze their suppliers too. We've heard too many stories about the suppliers not getting a fair deal. This is about a fair deal for families and a fair deal for farmers. The Albanese Government is committed to a more competitive and dynamic economy. We understand the benefits that competition brings to the economy. And I'm really pleased now to hand over to Craig Emerson to talk about his important reporting. And then to Murray Watt to wrap up.

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TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AGENDA WITH KIERAN GILBERT
THURSDAY, 20 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Government funded CHOICE reports to help Australian shoppers, ACCC inquiry into supermarkets, Government’s cost-of-living measures, Reducing inflation, Reliable renewables versus risky reactors.

KIERAN GILBERT, SKY: Aldi has the cheapest prices for groceries nationwide according to a report on supermarket prices. The survey conducted by CHOICE, it found Aldi was 25 per cent cheaper compared to Coles and Woolies. Basket of the same 14 items, you can see there, totalled more than $51 at Aldi, $68 plus at Coles, and $69 up - $69.33 at Woolies. The report was commissioned by the Albanese Government in response to national frustration over growing costs. Let's bring in the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh. What did you make of the findings? I don't think a lot of people would be surprised by those numbers.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: I think people weren't surprised that Aldi was the cheapest, but many were surprised by the magnitude of the difference. 25 per cent is really significant. And you've also got non-trivial differences between Coles and Woolworths. Woolworths is cheaper in Sydney, Coles is cheaper in Melbourne. That's also important information for shoppers to have. Information is power, and we're trying to put that information in the hands of consumers by funding CHOICE to do its grocery price comparisons not every two years but every three months, with the next one coming out in September. We want to make sure that shoppers have power to go down the road and get the best deal. That puts competitive pressure on a sector which has pretty high levels of market concentration compared to other countries.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC BRISBANE MORNINGS WITH ELLEN FANNING
THURSDAY, 20 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Randomised policy trials and the Australian Centre for Evaluation.

ELLEN FANNING, HOST: Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Treasurer, a former professor of economics, no less, and earlier this week, he gave a stirring speech calling for a bit of evidence before we, well, let's say, threaten parents with the suspension of welfare payments if they don't get their kids to school. Or we make our surly teenagers sit through healthy living lectures. And why? Because although these programs seem like, well, they would work, Andrew Leigh reckons they probably don't. He joins me now. Dr Leigh, thank you so much for joining us.

​ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Real pleasure, Ellen, thanks for having me on.

FANNING: Yes, I have enjoyed watching your passions over the years for research and they are undimmed in office. I love the start of this speech where you sort of list four things that would seem to be, as the Americans would say, self-evident. Cut the welfare if they won't send the kids to school. Literacy tests always are a fair representation of student ability. And let's just stick to one more if you lecture the adolescents about risky behaviour, they'll undertake less risky behaviour. That's all obviously true, isn't it, Andrew?

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DOORSTOP
PARLIAMENT HOUSE
THURSDAY, 20 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Government funded CHOICE reports to help Australian shoppers, Inquiry into the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Well, good morning everyone. Thank you very much for coming along on a beautiful crisp Canberra morning. My name is Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment.

Information is power and the Albanese Government is putting that power in the hands of consumers. With today's CHOICE price monitoring report on the cheapest supermarket prices. We know many Australians are facing cost-of-living pressure. And we know that CHOICE has a strong track record of carrying out these price monitoring surveys. But in the past, the surveys have done been done every two years, and some of the information has been behind the paywall, available to CHOICE subscribers only. What's different about the report being released today is that it's available to everyone and will be carried out every three months, with the next report coming down before the end of September.

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC SYDNEY MORNINGS WITH FRAN KELLY
THURSDAY, 20 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Government funded CHOICE reports to help Australian shoppers, ACCC inquiry into supermarkets, Nuclear power.

FRAN KELLY, HOST: Aldi is cheaper than the two major supermarket chains. Fans, did you get that? Aldi is the cheapest, cheaper than Coles, cheaper than Woolies. The first comprehensive survey by CHOICE, commissioned by the Federal Government as part of its inquiry into competition within the supermarket sector, or the lack of it, has confirmed that Aldi is the cheapest by a whopping 25 per cent. Mind you, in many suburbs across Sydney, there is no Aldi within cooee, of course. So, that leaves you with Coles and Woolies and CHOICE found that their basket of goods was about a dollar apart. Andrew Leigh is the Federal Assistant Minister for Competition. Andrew Leigh, welcome to Mornings.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks, Fran. Great to be with you.

KELLY: Andrew Leigh, I could have told you Aldi was cheaper than the Coles and Woolies, but what do you take from this first CHOICE quarterly report?

LEIGH: You could have told me they were cheaper, but could you tell me they were 25 per cent cheaper? That for many people has been one of the surprising factors out of the CHOICE price monitoring report. The other factor is some of the differences across jurisdictions. In Sydney, for example, Woolworths is the cheapest supermarket, in Melbourne, it's Coles and so that's also useful information for consumers.