The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
NEWS24 AFTERNOON AGENDA, WITH TOM CONNELL
WEDNESDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2026
SUBJECTS: Housing; Property Prices; National Accounts; Interest Rates; Albanese Government making it easier for small businesses to lease and expand across Australia
TOM CONNELL: Joining me live now is Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. I think that's all of his titles. Andrew Leigh, thanks for your time.
ANDREW LEIGH: Pleasure Tom, great to be with you.
TOM CONNELL: Housing correction? Would you call it a correction?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well correction has got a technical meaning but what we're seeing is a small reduction in house prices, taking us back to where prices were in November last year. You’ve got to remember Tom, we've had an average 6 per cent house price growth since 2000 and the modelling in the budget was that the budget reforms would see about 2 per cent lower house price growth. In other words, they take about four months house price growth out of the market. Obviously, interest rates are the biggest driver and tax plays a part on top of that.
TOM CONNELL: Well, there’s modelling though, but budget modelling is never perfect is it? It's often quite inaccurate. Are you finding what's happened since, and sentiment is such a big thing in our property market, that it's become a watch? That if it falls quite quickly, the amount people have tied up in their houses, the amount of the economy it’s sort of linked to – it could be problematic?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well as I’ve said Tom, if you're buying an asset for 30 to 50 years then having house prices to go back with where they were in November of last year shouldn't be an issue that keeps you awake at night. What I am noticing is young home buyers are finding opportunities that they just didn't have before the budget changes. Opportunities to get in and get a home of their own, beating out someone who might have otherwise been buying their fourth or their fifth house. That opportunity was central to our budget. It was about intergenerational fairness, and we're seeing some of the dividends of that already.
TOM CONNELL: Fourth or fifth is pretty rare. I mean, I think 70 something per cent of investor's have one, so fourth or fifth is pretty rare isn't it – in terms of that example?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, the point is that young Australians have increasingly found it harder and harder to break in the market. We've seen….
TOM CONNELL: First home buyers are down since the budget?
ANDREW LEIGH: We’ve seen…
TOM CONNELL: Total number is down.
ANDREW LEIGH: We've seen increasingly over the last generation, lower home ownership rates among young people. Since the budget, we're seeing more people buying a home. We've also got these numbers…
TOM CONNELL: But first home buyers are down since the budget?
ANDREW LEIGH: We've seen a substantial increase in the number of opportunities given to first home buyers. Opportunities that they just didn't have before…
TOM CONNELL: Well, hang on. But you're saying the numbers of them have decreased – you're saying the opportunities have increased?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, obviously there's a change in the mix and a change in the numbers. As the prices have come off a bit, there have been fewer sales. The share of the sales as I understand – we're seeing an increased share of sales going to first home buyers.
TOM CONNELL: Okay, you’re hanging your hat on per cent of first home buyers up – but the total number is down?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, what we’re talking about is the opportunities. The chances that first home buyers have to get into the market.
TOM CONNELL: But the chance they will beat out someone else?
ANDREW LEIGH: Absolutely. The chance they have beaten out someone else at an auction will go up. Obviously as prices moderate very slightly, there will be moments in which sellers will be reluctant to conclude and then as the market settles, you see that change again. But the opportunities for first home buyers are better now than they've been in a generation.
TOM CONNELL: The Hawke-Keating Government reversed changes. Is it fair to say it would take something pretty drastic? 10% drop, 15%, Labor still wouldn't blink?
ANDREW LEIGH: These are changes that have been called for by experts, by the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Grattan Institute, e61. These are the changes that we need in order to rebalance the home market in favour of…
TOM CONNELL: But is there a point at which the size of the correction becomes problematic, do you think?
ANDREW LEIGH: What we're seeing at the moment is home prices going back to where they were in November last year. We've had house prices this decade rising at more than 8% a year. I've talked to young home buyers who just say, ‘We nearly had the deposit and then the prices just soared out of reach’. That frustration is common among many Australians who feel like not just housing, but this is symbolic of them not getting a fair deal in the economy.
TOM CONNELL: Some of the housing bodies have said one particular change; banning self-managed super funds buying houses could be problematic because they often buy into big apartment developments and if you don't pre-sell enough of them, they don't get built. Is that a watch? Are you cognisant of that?
ANDREW LEIGH: We're obviously monitoring all developments in the market. Self-managed super funds also have an obligation to have a balanced portfolio of assets, and so that is an important thing that they need to bear in mind. That super is ultimately for retirement and having diversified assets is an important principle for them.
TOM CONNELL: Okay. GDP still growing, it's kind of no man's land because it's not an economy that's growing well is it? But this much growth means another rate rise might happen?
ANDREW LEIGH: It's above market expectations. If we compare ourselves with the major advanced economies, we're doing as well or better than all of them. We're seeing significant growth in investment. We're seeing investment in renewables projects and in aircraft. We've got important numbers that have come out around dwelling investment and building approvals – all of that is really strong.
TOM CONNELL: Okay.
ANDREW LEIGH: So, this is a good market in terms of increasing housing supply which really is the key thing in the housing debate.
TOM CONNELL: Yeah. That will be one that is still watched on. It's been below since the promise of 1.2 million. I did want to ask you about small business leasing though. Constant complaints about small business around red tape. Can you sum up what can change here? What you can actually help people with on small business leasing?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, this is a another important part of our national competition reforms, which together, are modelled to be able to put thousands of dollars in the pockets of the typical Australian household. By reforming retail tenancies across the country, we make it easier for small businesses to grow and expand to work across borders. That national competition reform agenda turbocharged productivity in the 1990s, and at a time that's been challenging for productivity, it is a priority for the government.
TOM CONNELL: Simplify state differences – this sort of stuff?
ANDREW LEIGH: Absolutely. National consistency. Better rules for small business. Less paperwork and more growth.
TOM CONNELL: Andrew Leigh, appreciate your time. Thank you.
ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks Tom.
ENDS