Andrew Leigh

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
MONDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: March for Australia protests, Labor’s productivity agenda

ROSS SOLLY: So, Dr Andrew Leigh is the Member for Fenner. He's also the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury and he joins us on the program this morning. Dr Leigh, good morning to you.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Ross, great to be with you.

ROSS SOLLY: And you as well. What did you make of the rallies around Australia yesterday?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, I think it was really troubling Ross, to see these Neo-Nazis standing up on platforms decrying Australian multiculturalism and missing the fact that except for Indigenous Australians, all of us are either migrants or the children of migrants. Migrants aren't just mouths to feed, they're muscles to build and minds to inspire. And successive generations of migrants have greatly enriched Australia, which is one of the world's most well-functioning multicultural democracies.

ROSS SOLLY: Yeah. And that point has been made by a number of listeners this morning that in fact nearly all of us are indeed migrants. The fact though, Andrew Leigh, that there were thousands marching and they were small, spread right around the country. Yes, it's easy to say, well they're Neo-Nazis or they're racist, but at the heart of it, does it identify a bigger problem?

ANDREW LEIGH: We've always had anti-migrant sentiments bubbling as an undercurrent in Australia. You think back to the Lambing Flat riots or the Cronulla riots. These things have happened in the past in Australia. But you know, it's always disappointing to see people demonising some of the most vulnerable in Australia. I was really pained to hear interviews with migrants who felt personally at risk from those demonstrations. And of course, we saw the direct attacks on police officers. Now the fact is Ross, migration has been a great benefit to Australia. You think about Victor Chang, the heart surgeon, Karl Kruszelnicki, the Swedish born science communicator or biologist Gus Nossal.

ROSS SOLLY: Yeah, for sure.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP PRESS CONFERENCE
DICKSON SQUARE, ACT
MONDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Albanese Government cracking down on shrinkflation at the checkout, March for Australia protests, 5 per cent deposits for all first home buyers, age assurance technology trial

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, good morning everyone and welcome to Canberra on the first day of Spring. My name is Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Competition.

When your chocolate bar loses two squares but keeps the same price, that's not magic - that's shrinkflation. And Australians are feeling the effect of shrinkflation in their regular shop. We've seen shrinkflation in chips, we've seen it in chocolate, we've even seen it in toilet paper and detergents. The Albanese Government is cracking down on shrinkflation at the checkout with a review of the Unit Pricing Code that kicks off today.

As part of that review, we're investigating a range of potential reforms that might include extending the number of retailers covered by the Unit Pricing Code of Conduct. It might include ensuring better display on the shelf. It could include ensuring that we have the same measures being compared across products - not one product per 100 grams and another product per kilogram. It might include putting penalties on the Unit Pricing Code of Conduct. The Albanese Government wants shoppers to get a fair deal at the checkout.

We're holding the supermarkets to account. We've already given an additional $30 million to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in order to allow them to do their important work in keeping the supermarkets to account. We've held the first major review of supermarket competition in more than 15 years, and we've increased the penalties for anti-competitive conduct.

The Albanese Government recognises that in Australia we have a very concentrated supermarket sector, with the two majors holding significant market share. And even despite the entry of Aldi into the market a couple of decades ago, we've still seen the market share of the majors holding the same. As they say in Spider-Man, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’, and our big two supermarkets have great power. So, with that we're cracking down on the Unit Pricing Code of Conduct, ensuring that Australians don't suffer shrinkflation at the checkout and that the supermarkets can't pull the wool over our eyes. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: So, what makes this different to the review that we saw in March from the ACCC?

ANDREW LEIGH: The ACCC recommended that we crack down on shrinkflation, and this is one of our one of the ways we're implementing that review. This consultation, which kicks off today and wraps up in a couple of weeks, is about implementing the ACCC’s recommendation to crack down on shrinkflation and get shoppers a better deal at the checkout.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, SATURDAY BREAKFAST WITH EMMA BICKLEY
SATURDAY, 30 AUGUST 2025

SUBJECTS: Albanese Government cracking down on shrinkflation at the checkout

EMMA BICKLEY: The federal government is currently looking at ways for shoppers to more easily compare prices on supermarket shelves. I don't know about you, but I love unit pricing. You know, I can compare apples with apples. But also, I want to know when brands are short-changing me. Andrew Leigh is Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. Welcome to the program.

ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks Emma, great to be with you.

EMMA BICKLEY: Thanks. Now Assistant Minister, shoppers are really feeling the pinch when they're at the supermarket. What measures would you be looking at in this new consultation to make it easier for people to spot when they're being short-changed or when shrinkflation is playing a part?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well Emma, I share your love for unit pricing. It makes it a whole lot easier when you're a shopper, and one of the things we've seen in recent years is a lot of these instances of companies which have downsized their products but kept the price the same. We've seen it with Freddo Frogs. We've seen it with Smith's chips. We've seen it with Pringles. We've even seen it with toilet paper. Kimberly-Clark admitted to shortening the length of each square of toilet paper from 11 centimetres to 10 centimetres.

EMMA BICKLEY: I mean, I thought Freddo Frog got a little bit skinnier, but I assumed he was just taking better care of himself? Are you saying he's actually getting smaller?!

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO SYDNEY, SATURDAY BREAKFAST WITH DOM KNIGHT
SATURDAY, 30 AUGUST 2025

SUBJECTS: Sydney Marathon, Albanese Government cracking down on shrinkflation at the checkout

DOM KNIGHT: Now, I wonder whether you've ever had an experience my family had on Monday night. Got a little after dinner treat - a box of mini ice creams from a well-known supplier, and open up the mini ice creams. We thought, ‘Have these gotten more mini? Smaller than they used to be!’ Now look, maybe I at least probably benefit from that in terms of waistline, but it's not necessarily great in terms of value. This is a thing called ‘shrinkflation’. I'm not sure if they were smaller. They just seem smaller. But this is something that's been happening for years. The price cost the same, but the items get smaller. The federal government wants to do something about it. They're going to strengthen the so-called Unit Pricing Code, and there's a plan to name and shame brands that do this; reduce the size but keep the price the same. Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. Good morning Assistant Minister.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Dom, how are you?

DOM KNIGHT: I'm very well thank you. Now, before we get into this, I hear you're running the marathon tomorrow?

ANDREW: I am! I’m looking forward to lining up. It'll be my fourth Sydney Marathon, so always a wonderful race over the bridge at the start, finishing at the Opera House and a good 42 kilometres in between.

DOM KNIGHT: Well, it's the first time it’s an official majors, so it's an exciting day for marathon fans?

ANDREW LEIGH: It's fabulous, yes. So, it'll be a good run. It's been a little bit more competitive. It used to be anyone could just get an entry but these days you've got to get lucky in the ballot.

DOM KNIGHT: You're doing pretty well when you've got a room for 35,000 people and you're turning people away. Anyway, look all the best with that tomorrow. But let's get on to this question of shrinkflation. What are you planning to change to try and get this well, at least more transparent, even it doesn't stop it?

ANDREW LEIGH: Dom I thought your example of the ice creamwas a perfect one. And we're seeing this in all kinds of different products. Freddo Frogs have shrunk in size. Pringles have shrunk in size. Used to be most beers were 375ml - a lot of them are dropping down to 330ml. Now, wine makers are sometimes selling in 700ml bottles, rather than the usual 750ml. Pippa Malmgren, a US economist has dubbed it shrinkflation when the size goes down, but the price goes the same. So, we want to make sure that consumers have the information they need in order to make informed decisions at the checkout, and that means knowing when shrinkflation is going on in front of you.

The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

Cracking down on shrinkflation at the checkout

30 August 2025

The Albanese Government is cracking down on shrinkflation and working to make it easier for Australians to compare grocery prices by strengthening the Unit Pricing Code.

To help inform next steps, the Albanese Government will release a consultation paper on Monday outlining options to help shoppers make more informed choices and realise the full benefits of unit pricing.

We are seeking community and stakeholder views on options, including:

• Introducing a new shrinkflation notification regime
• Improving unit price display requirements (including readability and prominence)
• Expanding the scope of retailers covered by the Unit Pricing Code
• Addressing inconsistency in units of measure to improve in-store and cross-retailer price comparisons
• How to introduce civil penalties for non-compliance

This consultation is part of our election commitment and series of actions to help Australian consumers get a better deal at the checkout. These include providing the ACCC with over $30 million to address harmful or misleading conduct in the supermarket and retail sectors, funding CHOICE to give shoppers more information on supermarket prices, increasing penalties for breaches of the competition and consumer law, and making supermarket price gouging illegal.

One party delivered ‘back in black’ mugs. The other party delivered surpluses

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

House of Representatives

Thursday 28 August

ANDREW LEIGH: This is a mug. Don't be afraid. Don't be scared. It's a mug.

OPPOSITION MEMBERS: Prop!

DEPUTY SPEAKER: If Members want to shout at me as they leave the chamber, it will be regarded as highly disorderly. Assistant Minister, I didn't see that but I saw it at the tail end, and you aren't to have props at the despatch box. Member for Goldstein, you can sit down now. I'm assuming that's what your point of order was. Let's start again with a little less heat, and that includes interjections. Let's try it again.

ANDREW LEIGH: You talk about mugs and suddenly there's the member for Goldstein! The fact is those opposite...

DEPUTY SPEAKER: A point of order from the Member for Cowper.

DEPUTY SPEAKER: I did not hear. My apologies.

[INTERJECTING]

DEPUTY SPEAKER: Excuse me! Would you like to challenge my reading of the situation? If so, get into your seat and make a proper point of order, or leave the chamber quietly and respectfully, please. Member for Cowper, you've raised a point of order. Assistant Minister, I did not hear, but if there was something unparliamentary, or a reflection, could you please withdraw for the assistance of the House?

ANDREW LEIGH: I withdraw.

DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you.

ANDREW LEIGH: As we talk about glass jaws, the fact is those opposite printed the mugs. They're pretty embarrassed about it. That's why they're jumping to their feet the moment anyone mentions it. They never delivered a surplus. Labor has delivered two back-to-back surpluses. We've kept average real spending growth to 1.7 per cent. What about their average real spending growth? It was 4.1 per cent. We have found more than $100 billion in savings since coming to government. Those opposite talk about hard choices. What was the hard choice that they came to the last election with? A $600 billion nuclear plan, delivering less than 4 per cent of Australia's electricity needs, in decades. They took a plan to the last election that would not have turned on a light for 20 years. It would have pushed up energy bills by $1,200 a year and would have involved spending more.

They took another policy to the last election - their long lunches for bosses policy. Who remembers that wonderful policy? A policy they were so proud of that by the end of the campaign they weren't talking about it. If every eligible business had claimed the maximum, the cost would have been more than $10 billion. What would it have done for productivity? It would have driven productivity down. That's what happens when you take long lunches. So, we're taking no lectures from those opposite about budget sustainability and about productivity.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

Canberra Behavioural Lab Launch

ONLINE ADDRESS

Thursday, 28 August 2025

Parliament is sitting at present, but it’s a pleasure to be joining you virtually for the launch of the Canberra Behavioural Lab. And joining you by video is proof that the framing effect works even when the frame is a TV screen.

First, let me congratulate Uwe Dulleck, Ryan Payne, and Rebekah Russell-Bennett on making “CanBE” a reality. It’s a terrific achievement, and I’m delighted to help mark the occasion.

I also want to note my delight that Vice-Chancellor Bill Shorten unveiling the plaque today. Back in 2013, I urged then Minister Shorten to give a speech on behavioural economics and public policy. He didn’t take up the idea then, so I’m delighted that 12 years later, Bill has the chance to express his love for behavioural economics in this new capacity.

Behavioural economics matters because it gives us a richer picture of human decision-making – one that recognises our biases, habits and heuristics. It blends the insights of psychology and economics, and in doing so, it helps policymakers design choices that work better in the real world.

One well-known example is setting the default option. In retirement savings, for instance, we know that people are more likely to contribute if enrolment is automatic, with the option to opt out. Another is simplifying the way we present information – making forms shorter, letters clearer, and choices easier to compare.

Productivity Roundtables, Abundance and the ANU Indonesia Project

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

House of Representatives

Wednesday 27 August

It's a real pleasure to rise to speak in the address-in-reply debate following a remarkable election victory for the Albanese Government. The Prime Minister spoke during the election campaign about the importance of kindness and about looking after the most vulnerable. That message resonated with the Australian community, and the number of seats that Labor now holds in the House of Representatives is higher than at any time in Australian history. The share of the seats is higher than at any time since 1943.

I was really honoured in my own electorate of Fenner to receive a 6.4 per cent swing, with 53.8 per cent of the primary vote and 72.1 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. I want to acknowledge the other candidates who ran in that election—Bola Olatunbosun, Dani Hunterford and Elizabeth Kikkert—and to thank each of the 97,000 voters who participated. You might think that I'm approximating when I say '97,000 voters'. No, I'm being exact. There were precisely 97,000 voters in the last election in the electorate of Fenner.

I want to thank my staff who worked on the campaign—my campaign manager, Kal Slater; my chief of staff, Nick Terrell; Blair Arnold, Bronwyn Asquith, Chris Davis, Cohen Elliott, Cullen Savle, Felicity Wilkins, Frances Kitt, Maria Neill and Meg Thomas - and my volunteers, including Christine Debu, Gerry Lloyd, Jo Corrigan, Naomi Nicholson and 93-year-old Trevor Smith. As the previous speaker did, I acknowledge the immense support that I receive from my family. My parents Barbara and Michael Leigh, my wife, Gweneth Leigh and my three wonderful boys, Sebastian, Theodore and Zachary.

Since being elected, the government has turned its focus to the issue of productivity. Productivity is a significant challenge in Australia, and the decade up to 2020 was the worst decade of productivity growth in the postwar era. The quarter in which our government came to office in 2022 saw a huge fall in productivity. Our government wants to boost productivity, because we recognise that this is the way we raise living standards and the way Australia can be more generous to those who are vulnerable here and overseas.

The Treasurer's Economic Reform Roundtable was preceded by a range of productivity roundtables across the country — more than 40 in all — and I was pleased to participate in a number of those. On 13 August, the ACT Labor federal representatives — Katy Gallagher, David Smith, Alicia Payne and myself held a roundtable focusing on how we boost productivity, resilience and budget sustainability. I would like to thank the attendees: Blake Conor Proberts, Devin Bowles, Abid Khan, Michael Thomson, Hala Batainah, Margot McNeill, David Marshall, Mandy Hill, George Kadmos, Adam Fennessy, Matthew Kadelaars, Markus Doherty, Janet Salisbury, Maddy Northam, Corinne Dobson, Anna-Maria Arabia, Andrew Meares, Greg Harford, Michael Matthews, Alison Percival, Frank Porreca, Garry Watson, Kathy Ehrmann, Michael Hamill, Keith Cantlie and Emma Sparks, as well as Bill Shorten, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra. The discussion was free-flowing and thoughtful, engaged in topics such as how the ACT can help to serve as the nation's social laboratory and how we can use our willingness to be at the cutting edge of reform to provide productivity lessons that benefit the nation as a whole.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury 

A Capital Investment: Salesforce in Canberra

SALESFORCE OFFICE OPENING
CANBERRA 

MONDAY, 25 AUGUST 2025

It’s a pleasure to be here on Ngunnawal land for the opening of Salesforce’s new Canberra office. Thank you to Sassoon Grigorian and your Salesforce colleagues for hosting me today.

As the Assistant Minister for Treasury, I’m more accustomed to tax cutting than ribbon cutting – but today I’m happy to swap spreadsheets for scissors.

Salesforce began in 1999 in a San Francisco apartment with a simple, disruptive idea: deliver enterprise software over the internet, eliminating the need for on-site installations and licences. Back then it was called “the end of software.” It turned out to be the start of cloud computing.

Twenty-five years later, that idea has grown into a company headquartered in San Francisco –12,000 kilometres from here – with a new presence in Canberra to support Australian and ACT governments, as well as local customers.

From its earliest days, Salesforce coupled technology with civic spirit. The 1-1-1 model – dedicating 1% of equity, 1% of product and 1% of employee time to public good – was unusual in the dot-com boom. At a time when many firms were focused only on quarterly earnings, Salesforce was also thinking about community impact. It was a pleasure to join you almost exactly a year ago today at the opening of Salesforce’s ‘Ohana Floors in Sydney, a space available to community organisations for their events.

Opening a Canberra office is a practical step. With its previous base near the Burbury Hotel, Salesforce has already been working with Commonwealth and ACT agencies, and this new office strengthens that capability. It’s good to see a technology company that recognises the benefits of proximity. Sometimes it really does help to be just down the road – especially in Canberra, where most of the roads lead to a department.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC RADIO CANBERRA, LIVE WITH LEON DELANEY
FRIDAY, 22 AUGUST 2025

SUBJECTS: Canberra Airport and competition in the aviation sector, Economic Reform Roundtable, housing, road user charge

LEON DELANEY: Andrew Leigh, good afternoon.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon Leon, great to be with you.

LEON DELANEY: Well, you're the Assistant Minister for Competition, amongst other things. Can't you tell Qantas to be more competitive?

ANDREW LEIGH: Katy Gallagher has done exactly that, and certainly she's speaking on behalf of all of the ACT Federal Labor representatives. The cancelation rate is outrageous, and the fares are sky high. The fact is that you can get the bus up to Sydney for less than 50 bucks. And so, the idea that they ought to be charging 700 bucks for a 30-minute flight just strikes me as pretty outrageous.

LEON DELANEY: It's a weird flight isn't it? Because you actually spend more time in the airport than you do in the air. But even so, sometimes people just have no choice but to take that flight because they need to be travelling between Sydney and Canberra fairly quickly to meet an appointment or meet a deadline or something of that nature. It's basically extortion, isn't it?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, Katy Gallagher is speaking out on behalf of not only the government, which is paying fares for people to come to and from Canberra for public servants and politicians to make that trip, but also for the Canberra travelling public. Because analysis from Canberra Airport seems to suggest a bit of a price spike during parliamentary sitting periods, not just on that Sydney to Canberra leg, but also on Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. Their analysis seems to suggest mark-ups anything up to 135 per cent coinciding with parliamentary settings. That's not what you'd expect in a competitive market, to say the least.