The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
NEWS24, WEEKEND FIRST EDITION WITH ALEX THOMAS
SATURDAY, 1 AUGUST 2026
SUBJECTS: Luke Gosling; Angus Taylor; ABC; Australia’s world leading social media minimum age laws; inflation; fuel; Labor’s cost of living relief
ALEX THOMAS: Let's speak to Assistant Minister for Productivity Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh. He joins us live now. Good morning to you.
ANDREW LEIGH: G’day Alex.
ALEX THOMAS: We've got lots to get through, but let's just deal with that Luke Gosling issue. As we heard from Matt Cunningham's report there, there are restrictions on his movements now, these embarrassing and shocking allegations about him elbowing David Connolly in the ribs. Surely it's the right time for him just to stand aside as Special Envoy while he deals with these allegations?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well Alex, I'm acutely aware of the principle of the separation of powers, and it's simply not appropriate for politicians to be commenting on matters that are before the courts at the moment. The courts will do their job. And like everybody else, Luke's entitled to the presumption of innocence.
ALEX THOMAS: Okay Andrew, what do you make of the leaked tape of Opposition Leader Angus Taylor over the last 24 hours or so telling a business breakfast that migrants get access to the housing deposit scheme as soon as they land here?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, we simply know that Angus Taylor is loose with the facts and he's been following Pauline Hanson on immigration. I'd say to Angus Taylor, you can't out Hanson, Hanson when it comes to immigration. The Coalition has a long history of supporting a bipartisan, skilled migration policy. What we're seeing now is Angus Taylor attempting to chase Pauline Hanson's votes. He should instead recognise that migrants aren't just mouths to feed, but muscles to build and minds to inspire.
More than half our doctors are born overseas and a quarter of our construction workers. Migrants make a big contribution to this country and it's time Angus Taylor recognised that.
ALEX THOMAS: The national broadcaster – the ABC is yet to apologise for a segment that talks about assaulting Gina Rinehart. She has now taken legal action. Why can't the ABC simply say sorry?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, that's a matter for the independent ABC. Again, you're asking me about things that are outside what politicians should be going into. I very much respect the ABC.
ALEX THOMAS: Do you think it's right that any broadcaster should talk about sticking a stick up someone's backside and, you know, churning their guts up?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, I thought this statement was quite inappropriate, but how the ABC handles it is a matter for them.
ALEX THOMAS: Okay, fair enough. Listen, we've got this new data out about the social media ban. Figures saying 8 in 10 Australian teenagers still using social media three months after that world-leading ban came into effect. How concerned are you about that?
ANDREW LEIGH: We've had millions of accounts shut down. It's been an important game changer in the conversation among parents. The Australian Government has taken the lead and a giant piece that Jonathan Haidt recently wrote emphasised the way in which other countries are now following suit. We never expected that this would have 100% compliance. We don't get 100% compliance out of minimum drinking age laws, but it's still appropriate that we have that law on the books. In this, we're making more power to parents hands, allowing parents to encourage kids to get out there and be active ‘IRL’, as they say – which is so important to a rich childhood.
ALEX THOMAS: As a parent myself, I know it's difficult – where does the balance lie between the onus on social media companies just stopping kids getting on these apps versus us as parents keeping a closer eye on what our kids are doing?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look Alex, I think it's both. And I'm sure you found in your discussions with your own children that having this minimum age sets the norm that parents are then able to work to enforce. In our household, there's the rule that you don't get a phone until you turn 15, which means my kids are invariably the last in their social group to get a phone.
But they also get to see what it's like to enjoy getting around in the world without a phone and I think that's a really important skill to have. This is changing the conversation among parents. It is not normal to encourage your kids to get a social media account before 16. And now parents know that norm and are able to enforce it among one another.
ALEX THOMAS: I mean, listen, I take my hat off to stop the phones until 15. You’re doing very well there indeed!
ANDREW LEIGH: What's the age in your household?
ALEX THOMAS: We started doing it when they started going to school on their own and we felt like just from a security point of view that was needed then. But listen, you're right. Every parent has to make…
ANDREW LEIGH: One of the pushbacks we had on our kids is the fact that you can use any payphone now as a free phone to call a mobile or to call a landline and we encourage our kids to use payphones where they can. Remembering that both my wife and I did plenty fine as kids without mobile phones as we were getting to and from school.
ALEX THOMAS: Oh look, it was a different age then, wasn't it? And the minute you go down that road, it gets very tricky. Listen, I want to bring about more to sort of your personal portfolio, because we're less than two weeks out from this next interest rate decision. We've got, obviously, ongoing concerns from most of us here about cost of living and obviously not the only country to suffer that.
Do you think there's going to be a change in the rate based on how the economy is tracking? And what would you say to those Australians who are worried about this end of tax relief on fuel, as we see petrol and diesel prices rise again because the situation in the Middle East just isn't getting resolved?
ANDREW LEIGH: Yeah look, your listeners may have heard a dog bark in the background. I want to make clear I'm not going to be shouting at that dog for barking there Alex. The inflation data that came out this week was welcome. It shows moderation in inflation. Clearly, what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz is going to be an important driver of inflation; the most important driver this year. We're doing all we can in terms of fiscal restraint and making sure we provide responsible cost of living support.
Every working Australian got a tax cut on 1 July, and initiatives like six months of paid parental leave help out with cost of living too. But those pressures are certainly around. We are in an economy in which the unemployment rate is historically low, the lowest continuous run of unemployment at this rate we've seen in half a century. That's good in terms of more people having jobs and we're working on a lot of fronts to bring those supply side pressures down because that's been a driver of inflation in the post Covid era.
ALEX THOMAS: Okay Andrew Leigh, really appreciate your time as always here on News24. Thank you.
ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks so much Alex.
ENDS