The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY
FRIDAY, 27 MARCH 2026
SUBJECTS: Middle East conflict; President Trump comments; social media ban; latest CHOICE quarterly grocery basket survey; Albanese Government cracking down on supermarkets; Bulk billing GP Clinics for the ACT
ROSS SOLLY: Dr Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fenner and Assistant Minister for Competition is with us this morning. Dr Leigh, good morning to you.
ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Ross, great to be with you.
ROSS SOLLY: And with you as well. Got a lot to get through, so let's rattle through a few things straight up. Donald Trump overnight singling out Australia, saying he was disappointed that Australia wasn't more forthcoming in helping what's going on in Iran. Has he got a right to be disappointed, do you think?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, I'm not going to run a running commentary on Donald Trump's comments Ross, but we've not been a party to this conflict. We weren't informed before it started. Our view is that the US' objectives have broadly been achieved and it's time to bring the war to an end. It's clearly having a huge impact around the world economically as well, of course, as the human toll that it's having in Iran. So, we've urged the US and Israel to engage in peace talks that would wrap up that conflict, given the main aim was to reduce Iran's ability to get a nuclear weapon.
ROSS SOLLY: He's obviously applying the full court press, though, Andrew Leigh, to the EU, to, you know, Japan, China and to us to join up. Can we afford to be in his bad books?
ANDREW LEIGH: We've engaged constructively with the United States on a whole range of issues and you saw the Australian Prime Minister had a really good meeting in the White House last year. We'll continue to engage constructively in a whole range of things.
ROSS SOLLY: A year's such a long time in US politics though, isn't it? I don't know that Donald Trump still feels that 'bonhomie' that maybe he felt 12 months ago?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, in the case of this conflict, we've sent assets over in order to protect Australians in the region. You've got 24,000 Australians in the UAE and so the wedgetail plane sent over there and the 85 personnel that have accompanied it are about protecting Australians in the region from Iranian attacks. Whereas…
ROSS SOLLY: Do you think, Andrew Leigh, that most Australians would support your decision and Anthony Albanese’s decision not to send a naval vessel there to help with the situation?
ANDREW LEIGH: Yes, I think that's the case and I think it's also the absolute right thing to do. We have set about protecting Australians in the region, but we do believe that it's time for the conflict to be brought to an end.
ROSS SOLLY: On the ruling in Los Angeles yesterday on the social media apps – the ruling was that apps like Instagram and YouTube are indeed addictive, no surprises there. But I guess the more significant thing, Andrew Leigh, was that they have deliberately engineered the apps that way. Obviously, this has got huge ramifications globally. What do you think the ramifications are here in Australia where we've already got a ban on under 16s?
We hear this morning that there are people who are sounding out lawyers to see whether there can be mass actions taken here in Australia. Would you encourage that, given that you've been a long time campaigner against some of these social media sites – would you encourage some forms of legal action now against some of these social media giants?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, social media is clearly doing social harm, which is why we put in place the world’s first social media minimum age of 16. We've seen 4.7 million accounts deactivated as a result of that. We've also had other world-leading initiatives such as the news media bargaining code, such as the work that the ACCC has done around digital competition. And we're working to introduce a digital duty of care that'll put the onus on tech companies to put children's safety first.
ROSS SOLLY: Would you support though people taking care of some sort of legal action now there's this precedent? Would you support someone in Australia taking similar sort of action?
ANDREW LEIGH: I think there's going to be a whole range of legal actions that take place. As a member of the Federal Government, my role is thinking about what the federal government does and in our case we are taking firm action against the tech companies to ensure that they're not harming Australian kids and try and minimise the impact that they're having on sectors like the news media, which has really been hollowed out by the way in which the classified business has been unbundled effectively from the news business - taking away the largest source of revenue historically for Australian newspapers that have been so crucial to our democratic system.
ROSS SOLLY: It's a quarter to nine on the Breakfast Show. All clear on the roads by the way. If anyone comes across any problems, do let us know, won't you? CHOICE has just released its latest supermarket survey. This is where they go around and they pick out a basket full of usual everyday goods that people might buy to determine who's got the best deals at the moment. Can you tell us, Andrew Leigh, this morning who's come out on top?
ANDREW LEIGH: So Aldi's again come out on top with the cheapest basket of groceries. The Aldi basket of groceries, $75.98 followed by the Woolies basket, $89.08, Coles basket $90.09, the IGA basket at $99.10. That ranking probably doesn't surprise people but the gap might. It's quite a significant gap between Aldi and Coles and Woolies. I know a lot of people engage in what they call split basket shopping where they'll do some of their shopping and some of their shopping at Coles and Woolies. And this CHOICE report again shows that there's quite big savings to be made.
ROSS SOLLY: Yeah, so $75.98 – that's for Aldi and Coles at $90.90. That's a significant. Does it surprise you, Andrew Leigh, that the gap is so large?
ANDREW LEIGH: Yeah it's a significant gap and I think it does illustrate both the strategy that many Australians engage in – in doing part of their shopping at Aldi and also the strategy that Aldi engages in. Almost every Aldi is within 500 metres of a Coles or a Woolies, so effectively their business model is couched around that idea that you'll do your major shop at Aldi and then do a top up at Coles and Woolies.
Those two big supermarkets have between them two thirds of the market. It's a bigger market share than in many other countries and so we have set about holding them to account. We'll have price gouging laws kicking in shortly and our work around shrinkflation. We've increased the penalties for anti-competitive conduct and we've ramped up the Food and Grocery Code to look after farmers. And make sure that there's multi-million dollar penalties for supermarkets who do the wrong thing by farmers and suppliers.
ROSS SOLLY: I know you and your Labor colleagues, federal colleagues will be giving an update later on today about the three new bulk billing GP clinics. I understand you're also going to be making an announcement regarding the future of the former Interchange Health Co-Op at Tuggeranong. Can you give us some idea? I mean, have you guaranteed its future? What are you doing? What are you doing to keep it operating?
ANDREW LEIGH: Yeah. So, the interchange supported around 5,000 patients with complex health needs in south Canberra and now those patients will have certainty with the services secured for the Tuggeranong Family Medical Centre. That…
ROSS SOLLY: For how long? I mean, how big? I mean what form of support are you providing here?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, it'll continue to bulk bill for its services so patients who need affordable care will be able to go to the Tuggeranong Family Medical Centre. Bulk billing rates have been lower in the ACT than any other state and territory. So, as well as the increased bulk billing rebates for patients as well as the practice incentives, we've got specific initiatives here for the ACT, including a $10.5 million bulk billing GP attraction initiative.
There'll be three new bulk billing clinics that the federal government's funding specifically in the ACT: Macquarie General Practice in Gungahlin, Next Practice Deakin which will have a clinic in south Tuggeranong and Ochre Health which will have a clinic in Molonglo. And all of them will be up-and-running by the end of June.
ROSS SOLLY: End of June. Okay wow, that's soon. Andrew Leigh, good to chat with you this morning, appreciate your time.
ANDREW LEIGH: Likewise, thanks Ross.
ROSS SOLLY: That's Dr Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fenner and Assistant Minister for Competition.
ENDS