The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO
TUESDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2026
SUBJECTS: More than 4,000 GPs now fully Medicare Bulk Billing practices; Consultants; EU Free Trade Agreement
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Alright. Time to talk politics with the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, and the Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, have you got a Melbourne Cup tip for us?
ANDREW LEIGH: I was going for Trustyourinstinct, Stephen. He's won the Curragh Cup, he's got a good trainer and, you know, apart from his barriers, I think number two's got a chance.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Seriously Andrew, is that a good horse for you to pick, given that the Government's on the nose in the polls. Trust your instincts – is that really the message you want out there at the moment?
ANDREW LEIGH: Absolutely Stephen. I think I've got strong instincts, and those are for policy over politics. Polls will come and go, but good reform lasts forever.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Yeah okay. Alright, well let's talk about one of the reforms. Four thousand GP practices apparently are bulk-billing all patients now. Not here in the ACT, they're not?
ANDREW LEIGH: We're seeing a big increase in the ACT, but we are still the lowest bulk-billing rate in the nation and that's something that the Albanese Government's very concerned about. We've been doing a lot in order to support GPs here; the increased individual payment, the practice payment and also specific funding GP fully bulk-billing practices in Tuggeranong, Gungahlin, and in the centre of Canberra. So, that's tripled the number of fully bulk-billing practices in my electorate and we're seeing an increase in bulk-billing across Canberra. Still a ways to go, but encouraging signs.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: But how is this not inflationary, though? Because, I mean, this isn't free. We're all paying for it?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, this is about helping families with the cost of living challenge. I think many Australians demand the right to be able to go to their GP and show just their Medicare card. And now we have a situation where 5 out of 10 practices are fully bulk-billing, compared to 3 out of 10 when we came to office. That's a huge change over the course of the Albanese Government, and we’re increasing…
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Sure, but how does that help the cost of living when it's inflationary and that's what the problem is? I mean, government spending is why we are experiencing the inflation we are at the moment. Everybody except the government seems to acknowledge that?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, it helps the cost of living because money that you don't spend in the GP is money you've got to spend elsewhere. That's important for many Canberra families who are feeling the pinch…
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: But Andrew, you're an economist. Surely you understand that government spending is inflationary and it pushes the price of everything else up. So saving money at the GP is taking money out of one pocket and putting it in another?
ANDREW LEIGH: Stephen, I think access to bulk-billing is fundamental to what Australians believe in the social compact. What we're doing is restoring the right of Australians to go and see a GP. I think many of your listeners feeling cost of living pressure would love to be saving money at the GP, and we're ensuring that can happen more often. So, we make no apology…
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Yeah, but they'd love to be saving money elsewhere if inflation wasn't so high?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, we make no apology for making it easier for people to see a bulk-billing GP doctor. Likewise for increasing the number of aged care home care packages since we've come to office. But we've also cracked down on some of the spending we didn't think was appropriate. Excessive spending on consultants and contractors, the sports rorts, the car park rorts that were in place under the former government. We've been…
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Here we go. So, I thought you said policy over politics?
ANDREW LEIGH: No, this is policy. This is a policy in which we're putting bulk billing ahead of car park rorts. That was something that we deliberately announced in 2022 and which we've delivered in government. Huge increase in bulk-billing practices, going up from 2,300 fully bulk-billed practices across Australia to now more than 4,000. That is just another indication of what we're doing to deliver for Australians.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: You mentioned cracking down on consultants. Consultancy fees are higher than they've ever been?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, what consultants charge their clients is up to them. But what we've done as a federal government is made less use of consultants and contractors.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: But that's not what the figures show?
ANDREW LEIGH: It certainly is. Spending on consultants and contractors is down dramatically since the Morrison Government. We have made a deliberate decision to insource a whole lot of functions, and that's had benefits, for example, in reducing the wait time for veterans having their claims processed. There was a huge backlog in processing veterans' claims when we came to office. We've significantly reduced that, along with decreasing wait times for callers calling Medicare or Centrelink.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: I reckon the phones are going to light up with veterans. Now, let's talk about this Free Trade Agreement. I am always skeptical about all of the free trade agreements we enter into because they always help the other side rather than us?
ANDREW LEIGH: This is a free trade agreement that helps both sides, as past free trade agreements have done. Negotiations were started under the Liberals. Malcolm Turnbull described it as a great day as when negotiations kicked off, with Steve Ciobo by his side. We've delivered an agreement which has tens of thousands of additional tonnes of red meat going into Europe, which will see ultimately 98 per cent of our exports to the European Union go in tariff-free. It's an agreement that is very much in the spirit of what Prime Minister Turnbull kicked off, which is why former Prime Minister Turnbull has so strongly urged his Coalition colleagues to back it.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Okay. I'm not sure that Malcolm Turnbull is a barometer of good policy, but what are you…
ANDREW LEIGH: What about the 17 business groups that are backing it? BCA, MCA, ACCI, Australian Industry Group. I mean, this is an agreement which has…
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: But BCA. Let's not forget BCA is the mob that thinks that the ACT is one of the best places to do business in the country. So, I don't know that their credibility is very high at the moment. But where does it stand at the moment?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, it normally comes before the relevant Committee for scrutiny and then that will be laid before the Parliament for ratification. I'm hoping that the Coalition will see sense on this. The Coalition in the past brought home free trade agreements which Labor backed, such as the China Free Trade Agreement or the India Free Trade Agreement. So, in supporting this free trade agreement, the Coalition would simply be giving voice to the values that they say animate them. They'd be backing business, they'd be backing farmers and they would be backing Australians who want to get cheaper prices for the products they buy from Europe. This is a deal that's great for our exporters, but also great for Aussie consumers.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Andrew, good to talk to you. We'll catch up again in a couple of weeks.
ANDREW LEIGH: Likewise. Thanks Stephen.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Dr Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, and the Member for Fenner.
ENDS