ABC Canberra with Adam Shirley - Transcript
SUBJECTS: HOUSING; NEGATIVE GEARING
ADAM SHIRLEY (HOST): Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury and federal member for Fenner. I presumed when I caught up with him just before 8.30am, that he would have a degree of knowledge of whether Treasury has actually been asked to model potential changes to capital gains and negative gearing arrangements. It seems clear, and I'm presuming you'll be able to confirm this, that Treasury has been asked, at least by someone or multiple people in government, to look at options for negative gearing and capital gains tax change. Yes or no?
ANDREW LEIGH: Adam, I'm not across everything the Treasury is looking at, they will be looking at tax changes from time to time. Our housing policy is absolutely clear and doesn't include that change.
SHIRLEY: Yeah, but you are the Assistant Minister to the Treasury and it seems obvious. In fact, it's been reported by Labor insiders this is exactly what Treasury has been asked. Have they been at least asked to see what permutation options are available?
LEIGH: Adam, it's a big department that routinely conducts work on a range of policy issues, as you'd expect.
SHIRLEY: You know, this is one of the biggest political issues potentially one way or the other though, surely someone's told you or surely you've asked.
LEIGH: Well we've been very clear with our housing agenda, Adam, and our focus is around getting more housing supply out there. Right now we have measures stuck in the Senate being blocked by a coalition of the Liberals and the Greens. We want to build, they want to block. That's our housing agenda. And there's also much more that we've got on and done. Collaborating with the states in order to get more housing rolling out for more Australians - targeting 1.2 million homes over five years. That's an ambitious policy because we understand the importance of housing to so many Australians.
Read moreAlbanese government continues to hold supermarkets to account - Media Release
The second Albanese Government initiated CHOICE quarterly report into supermarket prices has been released today, giving consumers facts about where to get cheaper prices.
Funded for three years by the Albanese Labor Government, the CHOICE report gives Australians accurate data on how to get the cheapest groceries.
To compile the report CHOICE visited 104 stores across Australia including Aldi, Coles, Woolworths and IGA.
Read moreABC Canberra with Ross Solly 23 September
SUBJECTS: ACCC; FOOD AND GROCERY CODE; DIVESTITURE; FOOD RELIEF CHARITIES
ROSS SOLLY (HOST): Doctor Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition and joins us this afternoon. Doctor Leigh, thank you for your time.
ANDREW LEIGH: Pleasure, Ross. Great to be with you.
SOLLY: So, the ACCC obviously believes that Woolworths and Coles have been acting in a pretty unscrupulous fashion. What's your reaction to it, to its findings today?
LEIGH: Well, they're just extraordinary allegations that are being made here, Ross. I mean, suggestions that involve some 266 Woolworths products and 245 Coles products. And to give your listeners some flavour of what the ACCC is alleging, they give an example in their media release of Oreos, which were being sold at Woolworths for $3.50 and then Woolworths increased the price to $5 for a very short period, put it back down to $4.50 and advertised them with a ‘prices dropped’ promotion. That doesn't seem like a reasonable special to me. The allegation that is being made by the ACCC is that this was misleading consumers. Obviously, when I wouldn't comment on the specifics of the allegation, but if they're proven, then this would be pretty outrageous for the many Australians who shop at Coles and Woolies and would have spent millions of dollars collectively on these products.
Read moreABC Melbourne with Ali Moore - Transcript
SUBJECTS: ACCC; FOOD AND GROCERY CODE
ALI MOORE (HOST): Dr Andrew Leigh is Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. Minister, welcome.
ANDREW LEIGH: G'day, Ali.
MOORE: First, before we get to the draft mandatory code, your response to the ACCC legal action launched today?
LEIGH: These are incredibly serious allegations, Ali. I mean, we're talking about 266 Woolies products, 245 Coles products, consumers would have paid millions of dollars for these products and if the specials are false specials, as the ACCC is claiming, then that's incredibly serious for what it means for consumers.
You know, just to give you one sort of concrete example, which is in the ACCC's media release, they talk about Oreos being sold at $3.50 a pack for about a year, then temporarily spiked up to $5 a pack, dropped down to $4.50, which was then advertised as ‘price dropped’. That doesn't look like a real special to me. So, obviously this will be tested before the courts, but if it's found that Coles and Woolies have breached the law, then they deserve every penalty that's thrown at them. Australians are under cost-of-living pressures they deserve to get specials that are real specials.
Read moreABC Radio National Drive with Andy Park - Transcript
SUBJECTS: ACCC; FOOD AND GROCERY CODE
ANDY PARK (HOST): Well, the big supermarkets are lacing up their gloves for fights from both sides of the ring. Today, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced legal action against Coles and Woolworths and the government unveiled its mandatory Food and Grocery Code. The new draft code sets out to improve the way suppliers are treated by the big retailers and also aims to prevent retribution against those who complain. But will this Code see the supermarkets on the ropes? Bad behaviour or simply ducking and weaving the penalties? Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition Charities and Treasury. Welcome to Drive
ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks, Andy. Great to be with you.
PARK: Before we talk about the draft mandatory Code, what was your reaction to the ACCC's announcement that it would be taking Coles and Woolworths to court over anti competitive behaviour, or allegations thereof this morning?
LEIGH: These are incredibly serious allegations, Andy. The allegations involve 266 Woolworths products, 245 Coles products. The ACCC is alleging similar conduct from both of them. That they had a product price that was running for a long time, they then spiked the price, dropped it down a little bit, and then put a ‘prices dropped’ or a ‘down, down’ label on it. The ACCC's media release talks about one example from Woolworths, where it was selling Oreos for about a year at $3.50, spiked the price up briefly to $5, dropped it down to $4.50 and then put a ‘prices dropped’ promotion on it. Now, that's just one of the many products that they're making this allegations on. Obviously they're going to be tested in court, but if true, I mean, we’re talking about millions of dollars. And at a time when Australians are feeling the cost of living the squeeze, they need to know they're getting real specials at the supermarket, not fake ones.
Read moreConsultations open on mandatory Food and Grocery code of conduct
The Albanese Government is committed to supporting a competitive and sustainable food and grocery sector that works for Australian families and farmers.
Today we are releasing an exposure draft of the new mandatory Food and Grocery Code (Code) and an exposure draft of amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 for consultation.
The new Code will see Aldi, Coles, Woolworths and Metcash subject to multi-million-dollar penalties for serious breaches.
Read moreClosing the door on multinational tax avoidance - Media Release
The Albanese Government is making sure that the world’s largest multinationals pay their fair share of tax, continuing our ongoing commitment to multinational tax reform, by signing a Statement of Support for the OECD’s ‘Subject to Tax Rule’.
The ‘Subject to Tax Rule’ allows developing countries to apply ‘top-up tax’ when certain types of income have not been taxed at a minimum rate.
Read moreOfficial Re-opening of the Royal Australian Mint Gallery - Speech
17 September 2024 - Royal Australian Mint, Deakin
I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, and extend my thanks to Cheyne Halloran and Joel Bulger for their Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony.
Welcome to Her Excellency The Honourable Sam Mostyn, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.
A big thank you to the Royal Australian Mint and Leigh Gordon for hosting this wonderful event, and to all of you – coin collectors, Canberrans and curious visitors alike – for being here today.
In the 1960s, Harold Holt, as Commonwealth Treasurer, pushed for Canberra’s Mint to "occupy a place of pride in ... that exclusive territory in the national capital reserved for its more noteworthy buildings". However, despite Treasurer Holt’s vision, his Cabinet colleagues opposed this plan; refusing to have a 'factory' in the prestigious Parliamentary Triangle.
Instead it was sent to the “outback”, by which they meant Deakin.
Read more2CC Canberra Breakfast with Stephen Cenatiempo - 17 September 2024 - Transcript
SUBJECTS: Social media age limits, Food and Grocery Code of Conduct review, Supermarket Competition, National Competition Policy
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO (Host): All right, time to talk federal politics with the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury and Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh. Good morning, Andrew
ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning, Stephen.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: I want to talk ‑ a question without notice, the social media ban that's being promoted by the Government, and from what I understand the Coalition is on the same page here, you're one of the more intelligent people in Parliament so I want to talk to you about this. You've all got it wrong. You're not listening to the right people and not listening to the experts who actually can fix the problem now without legislation and protect kids right across the country, like they're doing right across the world. And there are Australian companies that are world leaders in this, and for some reason our politicians don't want to talk to them.
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, Stephen, I'm not sure what solution you'd put in place that would not involve the social media companies. Everything I've seen ‑‑
Read moreAppointments to the Australian Competition Tribunal - Media Release
MEDIA RELEASE
APPOINTMENTS TO THE AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION TRIBUNAL
The Albanese Government has appointed Professor David Byrne, Associate Professor Katharine Kemp and Professor Flavio Menezes as part-time members of the Australian Competition Tribunal (the Tribunal) for a five-year period.
Professor Byrne is a Professor of Economics at the University of Melbourne. He undertakes empirical research in industrial organisation and behavioural economics, focusing on energy and resource markets. He was awarded the Young Economist Award by the Economic Society of Australia in 2023.
Associate Professor Kemp is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law and Justice at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney and leads the UNSW Public Interest Law and Tech Initiative. Her research focuses on competition, data privacy and consumer protection regulation. She has also practised as a commercial lawyer at Allens and as a barrister in Melbourne.
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