Andrew Leigh

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO THE COUNTRY HOUR – FAITH TABALUJAN

Topic: Food and Grocery Code of Conduct

4 DECEMBER 2024

Faith Tabalujan, interviewer:  The Labor government maintains this legislation has been broadly welcomed by producers and farming bodies. Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh says a mandatory code of conduct is key to curbing supermarket power.

Andrew Leigh: The rules that govern the relationship between farmers and supermarkets are the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. It was set up by the Liberals and Nationals as a toothless voluntary code. We decided to make it mandatory with multimillion dollar penalties for supermarkets that do the wrong thing. We just passed those penalties through the Parliament. This is a really important measure to get a fair go for families and a fair go for farmers.

Supporting philanthropic giving

The Albanese Government is making it easier for Australians to support causes close to their hearts by reforming the tax deductibility of donations and how philanthropic funds operate.

Under the changes, the government will remove the requirement that a gift must be at least $2 before a donor can claim a tax deduction.

This will support greater participation in philanthropy, by encouraging small donations including rounding up purchases at the point‑of‑sale in store and online.

Expressions of Interest for the Volunteer Grants program 2024-25 are now open for organisations based in Fenner.

Volunteer Grants recognise the valuable role volunteers play in building more resilient and cohesive communities. Grants of between $1000 and $5000 are available to help community organisations to support their volunteers.

This year, changes have been made to the Volunteer Grants program to better respond to the environment volunteer organisations are now faced with and our government’s commitment to children and young people.

There are now two categories for Volunteer Grants which reflect areas of high demand for volunteer organisations:

• Category 1: for communications and IT items (such as laptops, phones, payment devices and software), and paying for insurance premiums.
• Category 2: for items and services that support the development and well-being of children and young people under 18.

More information on the eligibility criteria can be found in the Grant Opportunity Guidelines. My office is also happy to help talk you through the changes.

If you are interested in submitting an expression of interest, please fill out the Expression of Interest Form and return to my office via [email protected] by 17 January 2025. 

The West Australian 2 December 2024

On my coffee table sits a board game. Designed by Ralph Anspach, it is called Anti-Monopoly. In the original version of the game, play starts with three kinds of ‘cartels’ – trusts, oligopolies and monopolies – dominating the board. Players represent competition authorities, bringing legal cases against the monopolised businesses. While Monopoly’s goal is unfairness, Anti-Monopoly’s goal is fairness. You win when the board becomes a proper free market system.

Getting a fairer deal for families is at the heart of Labor’s competition agenda. Already, we’ve raised the penalties for anti-competitive conduct and banned unfair contract terms. We’ve given more resources to the competition watchdog to monitor unit pricing and address shrinkflation.

Crucially, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has introduced to parliament the biggest shakeup in Australian merger laws in half a century.

The Hon Amanda Rishworth MP

Minister for Social Services

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury
Assistant Minister for Employment

The Hon Kate Thwaites MP

Assistant Minister for Social Security
Assistant Minister for Ageing
Assistant Minister for Women

MEDIA RELEASE

Australia’s three million unpaid carers deserve to be seen and deserve to be valued.

That’s why the Albanese Government is funding the Australian Bureau of Statistics to help develop more accurate insights on the contribution carers make to our great country.

Consultation on the best approach to measuring the labour contribution of unpaid carers in Australia starts today, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collecting submissions over a 3-month period.

Feedback received will be used to guide the development and refinement of more detailed experimental estimates to be published in mid-2025. This will be an annual release as part of the Labour Account, using a combination of the Time Use Survey and established ABS earnings estimates.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury

Assistant Minister for Employment

10^th Annual Social Impact Measurement Network Australia Awards

I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we meet. I pay my respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to First Nations people taking part in today’s event.

Thank you for inviting me back to celebrate the 10^th Annual Social Impact Measurement Network Australia Awards. Through the Department of Social Services, the Australian Government is, again, proud to sponsor this event.

It’s a terrific opportunity to rollout the virtual red carpet and recognise leaders in social impact measurement. Those who innovate and apply new approaches despite the challenges. Those who go above and beyond in their collaboration. And those who shape decision making in the best possible way. Congratulations to all award nominees.

Social impact measurement is a bit like a giant dot-to-dot puzzle. The more dots we have, and the people we have connecting those dots, the better picture we have about what works – and what doesn’t work.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - 27 NOVEMBER 2024

Shortly I will present to the House the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fairer for Families and Farmers and Other Measures) Bill 2024. That will put in place the penalties regime that will underpin a mandatory Food and Grocery Code. The government will not be supporting the member for Kennedy's bill, because we are keen that the parliament move ahead with the most important reform to the Food and Grocery Code this decade. This is a reform which is broadly supported by horticulture suppliers. It is the result of extensive engagement by the government, and I thank the National Farmers Federation, their horticulture council and the many people who have worked with Craig Emerson and his expert review.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - 27 NOVEMBER 2024

The Albanese government is working hard to get a fairer go for families and a fairer go for farmers.

We know that large firms don't just squeeze their consumers, they squeeze their suppliers too. We have heard too many stories about the suppliers not getting a fair deal.

Earlier this year, third-generation cherry farmer Michael Cunial said that he was getting out of the industry. He told the ABC:

'We're at the mercy of them. We're price takers. So the profit just isn't there anymore… "There's a huge, huge imbalance. Supermarkets are making these multi-billion-dollar profits and growers are losing money.'

When the Food and Grocery Code was established by the former coalition government in 2015, it was set up as a voluntary code. When it was reviewed in 2018, the former coalition government decided that it should remain a voluntary code. I note in passing that this decision was made when the current shadow agriculture minister, the member for Maranoa, was the agriculture minister. The member for Maranoa had a chance to deliver a mandatory Food and Grocery Code, but decided to keep the code voluntary.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - 27 NOVEMBER 2024

This is an important reform for multinational tax integrity in Australia. This bill puts in place a global minimum tax. It ends the race to the bottom in company taxes that imperils the corporate tax base around the world. That matters for all countries that impose corporate taxes but particularly for Australia, which has traditionally drawn a considerable share of the revenue that we use to fund schools, roads and hospitals from corporate taxes. By having that global minimum floor, that 15 per cent minimum floor, Australians will be made better off.

This bill is about fairness. It's about ensuring multinationals pay their fair share. Australia welcomes foreign investment, but being a multinational is no license to dodge taxes. It is vital that multinationals understand that Australia is serious about multinational tax compliance.

Julie Collins MP

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Minister for Small Business

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury
Assistant Minister for Employment

NEW MANDATORY FOOD AND GROCERY CODE FOR SUPERMARKETS TO INCLUDE MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PENALTIES

The Albanese Government is ensuring that supermarkets will face multi-million-dollar penalties for harmful breaches of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct.

The Albanese Government will today introduce the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fairer for Families and Farmers and Other Measures) Bill 2024. The Bill will ensure penalties for treating suppliers poorly in breach of the Code is not merely a cost of doing business.

The Bill provides that the maximum fines that can be prescribed under the Food and Grocery Code will be the greater of:

• $10 million
• three times the value of the benefit gained from the contravening conduct, or
• 10 per cent of turnover in the preceding 12 months.

These are serious penalties. They are the highest corporate penalties under any industry code.