The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO SYDNEY, DRIVE WITH SARAH DINGLE
THURSDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2026
SUBJECTS: Latest ATO corporate tax transparency report; Scrapping card surcharges
SARAH DINGLE: Dr Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. He advocated for better transparency in corporate tax and saw through the passing of new tax disclosure laws. He joins us now. Welcome to Drive, Dr Leigh.
ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks Sarah, great to be with you.
SARAH DINGLE: So, what were your thoughts on this latest report from the ATO?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, there's legitimate reasons for a business not paying tax but there's no reason for failing to pay tax that's due. We've made big changes – significant reforms to legislate a 15 per cent global and domestic minimum tax, world-leading transparency requirements and tightening the rules around debt deductions, which is one way that big corporates were reducing their tax bill. And so, we've now had the lowest level of corporates paying zero tax since transparency reporting began, an initiative which began under a Labor Government.
SARAH DINGLE: But why would almost 30 per cent of large companies not be paying tax? It includes names like the Microsoft Data Centre Operations, Singtel – which is of course the parent company of Optus, Sony Australia, Starbucks I believe, and many more. Why aren't they paying tax?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, the standard reason is they're not making a profit. So, the tax is paid on profit rather than being on revenue. And we've sought to make sure that firms are transparently reporting other jurisdictions where they've got tax paid. That…
SARAH DINGLE: Do you believe that Starbucks is not making a profit?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, I'm not at liberty to talk about the affairs of particular taxpayers. That's a job for the ATO. But it is important to recognise that our government has had world-leading reforms in cracking down on multinationals and ensuring that they pay their fair share of tax.
We have worked extensively to make sure that the regime is world-leading in terms of the tax that is required to pay and world-leading in terms of the transparency that we impose on big firms. There's been a bit of pushback, but we believe it's the right thing to do to have this country-by-country reporting system which is coming in.
SARAH DINGLE: These new tax disclosure laws have tightened the system. But doesn't the fact that almost 30 per cent of large companies pay no tax suggest there are further reforms to make?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, there'll always be firms that aren't making a profit. That's an inevitable feature of a capitalist economy. What we've done is ensure that we have rigid systems in place that strengthen the rules, lift transparency and close loopholes. That's what Australians expect.
We have an ATO which is on the job, which is better resourced than ever and which has announced today that one of their focuses is going to be on non-compliance by large multinationals in the digital space. I think that's really appropriate. It is potentially easier to move the location of production around to a low tax country when you're talking about bits and bytes rather than physical products. And so, it's right that the ATO focus on that misbehaviour.
SARAH DINGLE: Do you understand though, how people. I mean, this is landing at a really kind of sensitive point in time. Everyone's worried about AI, everyone's worried about data centre operations expanding into communities and using up resources. And then we get news like this report from the ATO that the Microsoft Data Centre operations are not paying any tax?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, this is a good news story. The share of large corporates paying no income tax is at a record low. We have $87 billion in income tax paid during the 2024-25 financial year, which is what the reporting relates to. We have the second highest contribution from oil and oil and gas companies and we've got a big rise in petroleum resource rent tax payable, that's gone up 26 per cent. So, there's a lot to like about this report, which comes on the back of some significant Labor reforms to ensure big firms pay their fair share.
SARAH DINGLE: Big firms of course, have many highly paid lawyers and financial advisers who, you know, give them advice on how best to structure their companies. We've got a text from Alison in Narara saying, ‘As a sole trader, I'm going backwards due to endless tax bills. I don't have the nous to wipe out tax. I happily pay tax and contribute to funding services. But fair's fair’. What would you say to someone like Alison?
ANDREW LEIGH: Yeah, one of the reasons we've been so focused on multinational tax compliance is we don't want Australian firms competing with one hand tied behind their back. They don't have the opportunity to shift profits to the Cayman Islands, so Labor has been concerned about making sure that we close down those loopholes. A fairer corporate tax system doesn't just increase the overall tax take, it also ensures that companies are competing basically on who's offering the best product and service, not who's finding the sneakiest loophole.
SARAH DINGLE: Andrew Leigh, while we've got you, we of course are celebrating, if you want to choose that word, today the day where there are no more surcharges on credit cards and debit cards. But as we've been discovering here on 702 Drive today, that doesn't apply to taxis who still get to charge up to 5 per cent surcharge and many of them do the full whack. Do you think taxis deserve an exemption from this rule which the RBA has instituted for the entire country?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, the Reserve Bank is bringing this reform in order to ensure that you get transparent pricing right across the economy. This is something that they're administering, and I think it will be a really welcome reform to Australian consumers.
They're also reducing the interchange fee, which is the amount that is charged by credit and debit card companies to merchants. Those fees come down quite considerably – more than halved in the case of credit cards. And that's going to save around $900 million a year to businesses, to particularly small businesses. So, this is a good transparency reform. It ensures that the price you see is the price you pay.
SARAH DINGLE: A lot of people have been calling and texting in today though, going my local coffee shop, for instance, has increased prices today as a result of the surcharges being removed because they've got to, you know, make ends meet somehow. Jerome Laxale, who we had on the show yesterday, did say it would take some time for all of this to shake out. Do you expect a period of weeks of, you know, transition and some people paying more for some goods and services?
ANDREW LEIGH: It'll be up to individual businesses how they reflect that. But the price on the menu will be the price you pay at the checkout. And that additional fee is lower as a result of the interchange fees coming down more than halved in the case of credit cards. There's been significant guidance been put out through ASBFEO – the small business ombudsman, through the Australian Competition Consumer Commission and through the Reserve Bank that's leading this reform. So, there is guidance that's out there and I think it'll be up to firms to do the right thing. 84 per cent of firms currently don't charge a surcharge. And so this will mean again, a more level playing field with them as other firms are brought into line.
SARAH DINGLE: Dr Andrew Leigh, thank you for joining us here on 702 Drive.
ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks so much, Sarah.
SARAH DINGLE: Andrew Leigh there, who is Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury.
ENDS