Andrew Leigh

SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER

MINISTER FOR FINANCE
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
SENATOR FOR THE ACT

THE HON ANDREW LEIGH MP

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY 
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT

ALICIA PAYNE MP

MEMBER FOR CANBERRA

DAVID SMITH MP

MEMBER FOR BEAN

MEDIA RELEASE

Fourth Albanese Government Budget Delivers For Canberra

Tuesday, 25 March 2025

Labor is continuing to deliver for Canberra through the Albanese Government’s fourth Budget which will confirm more than $400 million in cost-of-living relief, critical infrastructure, community investments for all Canberrans.

Following a decade of neglect under the former Liberal National Government, Labor has spent the last three years ensuring Canberra and Canberrans get their fair share. This budget builds on that commitment.

Building upon key investments in previous Budgets, including funding the light rail, national institutions, and improving the health of the Upper Murrumbidgee River, this Budget brings Labor’s total investment in the ACT almost $2 billion since coming to government.

Key investments for the ACT in the Government’s Budget include:

• A sixth Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, located in Woden
• Over $50 million for roads in the ACT
• $331 million over 10 years for ACT schools
• An additional $50 million for our hospitals
• Continued investment in secure and permanent jobs within the APS

THE HON CATHERINE KING MP
MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The HON ANDREW LEIGH MP

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY 
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT

ALICIA PAYNE MP

MEMBER FOR CANBERRA

DAVID SMITH MP

MEMBER FOR BEAN

MEDIA RELEASE

$50 million for further upgrades to Monaro Highway

Tuesday, 25 March 2025

The Albanese Labor Government is building Australia’s future, investing in the transport infrastructure Canberrans need to support a growing city. 

Since coming to government, we’ve been backing Canberra – upgrading roads, investing in light rail and building bike paths and walkways to make journeys safer, smoother and more enjoyable. 

We’re investing another $53.5 million as part of the 2025-26 Federal Budget to support the next stage of growth and ensure projects across the territory can actually be delivered. This includes:

• $30 million to complete the Monaro Highway Upgrade 
• $20 million to complete a final business case and commence detailed investigations for the Monaro Highway Upgrade Stage 2  
• $3.5 million to complete the duplication of Gundaroo Drive 

The Monaro Highway upgrade is a long-term series of road improvements which are delivering improved safety, freight efficiency and faster and smoother commutes for ACT residents.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury

Assistant Minister for Employment

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC CANBERRA, WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

TUESDAY, 25 MARCH 2025

SUBJECTS: Budget, renewable energy, energy bill relief, Coalition rorts, supermarkets, competition and dynamism.

CENATIEMPO: Let's talk federal politics with the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and the Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh. Good morning.

LEIGH: Good morning Stephen. Happy Budget day!

CENATIEMPO: Well look, I’ve got to say I hate Budget week Andrew, but I thank you anyway, I want to ask you something - your role as Assistant Minister for Treasury. What does that mean? How does that tie into the overall Treasury, Treasurer, finance portfolio, etc.

LEIGH: I'm part of the Treasury economics team, and I have particular responsibility for the issues of competition, multinational tax, for the Mint and for the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

CENATIEMPO: Okay. Now the Budget will be handed down tonight. Now pox on both your houses. I mean, this is going to be a cash splash which all budgets leading into elections are, and the Opposition has basically said they will match every dollar. Isn't it time for some responsible economic management rather than just throwing cash around that we don't have?

LEIGH: Well Stephen, in less than three years we've reduced Liberal Party debt by $177 billion.

Federation, Finance and the Fine Art of Fiscal Fisticuffs

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury

Assistant Minister for Employment 

National Schools Constitutional Convention 

Australian Parliament House Theatrette

25 March 2025

Good afternoon everyone,

Or as Alfred Deakin might have said if he were around today:

"Welcome to the most fiscally fraught federation on earth"

On behalf of the Prime Minister and the Education Minister, I'm delighted to welcome you to the National Schools Constitutional Convention.

This year, we have 120 students from schools across the country, including those who have travelled long distances, like students from Katherine High School in the Northern Territory, Hedland Senior High School in WA, and Longreach State High School in Queensland.

You join over 3,000 students who have participated in this convention since it began in 1995.

You’re here because of your curiosity, your drive, and your interest in how our country works. Your schools and communities are proud of you, and you should be proud too.

I want to thank your teachers and acknowledge Emeritus Professor Clement Macintyre from the University of Adelaide, who will be guiding you through these discussions, and recognise Professor Kim Rubenstein, Professor Anne Twomey and Dr Angela Jackson. I also want to thank the National Curriculum Services, who work hard each year to make this event happen.

 The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury

Assistant Minister for Employment

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY

FRIDAY, 21 MARCH 2025

SUBJECTS: Cracking down on the supermarkets to get a better deal for Australians

ROSS SOLLY: So, as I mentioned earlier, and you've heard in the news - confirmation in this ACCC report that our supermarkets are among the most, if not the most profitable in the world. Which I guess we should celebrate. But we also learn from this report that those same supermarkets failed to pass on the full benefits of cost savings during the cost of living crisis. The report also paints a pretty grim picture of the chances of anything changing any time soon. Unless more competition is introduced, it is likely to remain as is. Because I tell you what, there's been plenty of big sticks waved at those supermarkets, but they still continue to do very, very well profit wise and it doesn't seem to be a lot of changes happening to help out shoppers. Dr Andrew Leigh of course, Member for Fenner, also Assistant Minister for Competition joins us this morning. Andrew Leigh, good to chat with you again.

ANDREW LEIGH: Great to be with you.

ROSS SOLLY: So I guess we should. Should we celebrate that our supermarkets are so profitable?

ANDREW LEIGH: No, I think it’s a real concern. Certainly we've seen supermarket margins rising over the last five years, especially on packaged goods. One of the troubling things about this report is that it finds that the big two have increased their market share over the last 17 years since the ACCC last did a deep dive into grocery competition. We’ve seen Metcash shrinking, and the ACCC doesn't see a significant threat from Amazon. So it does appear that the duopoly have strengthened their power, and some evidence that both have been playing tag team instead of tug of war.

ROSS SOLLY: But which - surely that's illegal?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, some of the specials are particularly questionable. There's analysis in ACCC report which shows oscillating specials for certain products. Coles has it on special one week, then Woollies. It seems a curious pattern to be going on.

ROSS SOLLY: Is that collusion then? You can’t do - can you do that Andrew Leigh? Is that what you're alleging this morning?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, I'm just relaying what's in the ACCC report Ross, and I need to be careful over things which could ultimately lead to legal action. But this is a very careful analysis of pricing data. They've analysed over 1 billion prices. This is a data deep dive that we haven't seen beforehand. And what the report reflects is a lot of the concerns that our policies have reflected. We’ve got the mandatory Food and Grocery code, which will come into place next month – which the Coalition voted against. We've been funding CHOICE to give shoppers more information, clamping down on shrinkflation with the Unit Pricing Code and working with the states and territories with planning and zoning, which is a big thing the ACCC flagged.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury

Assistant Minister for Employment

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO MELBOURNE, DRIVE WITH ALI MOORE

FRIDAY, 21 MARCH 2025

SUBJECTS: Cracking down on the supermarkets to get a better deal for Australians, News Media Bargaining Code, Suburban Rail Loop

ALI MOORE: The big issue you might remember, that the government is making - the code the supermarket code, which deals with relationships with suppliers, mandatory. Dr Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. Dr Leigh, welcome.

ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks Ali, great to be back with you.

ALI MOORE: The twenty recommendations from the ACCC. They go to things around providing us with information about package sizes, being more transparent with suppliers. You've got the code of conduct that you're making mandatory. You've got the two bigger - the two big players in court over misleading conduct. But I guess beyond that is this just the bed that we've made and now we've got to lie in it?

ANDREW LEIGH: I don't think so Ali. I think we're able to continue to take action against a significant duopoly whose profits are among the highest in the world and whose margins have been growing over the last five years. This report really is a deep dive data analysis. They analyse over a billion prices and uncover some problematic practices, such as oscillating specials where a product will be on special in Coles one week and Woolies the next week. And that just keeps on going on and on for week after week. What we've done is provided resources to fund CHOICE, to give shoppers more information about where to get the best deal. As you said, we've made the Food and Grocery Code mandatory with multi-million-dollar penalties. Unfortunately, the Liberals and Nationals voted against it, but our view was we needed to toughen that code, and today we've announced additional funding for supplier groups to get the training they need, particularly those fresh food suppliers who are really feeling the squeeze.

The Hon Jim Chalmers MP

Treasurer

The Hon Julie Collins MP

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury

Assistant Minister for Employment

Cracking down on the supermarkets to get a better deal for Australians

Friday 21 March, 2025 

The Albanese Labor Government has today released the report of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) inquiry into supermarket pricing and competition.

We directed the ACCC to conduct this inquiry as part of our fight for better prices and fairer deals for Australians from the supermarkets.

We know Australians have been under pressure, and a lot of that pressure is felt on the weekly shop.

Easing the cost of living is the Albanese Government’s number one priority and keeping the supermarkets in check at the checkout is another way we are helping.

The ACCC’s inquiry confirms the market dominance of the big supermarkets and makes recommendations to help deliver fairer prices for families and fairer deals for farmers.

As part of its initial response to the report, the Government will provide $2.9 million in the Budget over three years to help suppliers stand up to the big supermarkets.

This funding will go to fresh produce industry associations to deliver targeted education programs, ensuring suppliers understand and can enforce their rights under the Food and Grocery Code.

These programs will help level the playing field for farmers and producers, equipping suppliers with the knowledge to push back against unfair practices and secure better commercial outcomes.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury

Assistant Minister for Employment

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY

SUBJECTS: Best unemployment performance by a government in half a century; construction sector productivity.

THURSDAY, 20 MARCH 2025

ROSS SOLLY: A couple of different reports out today. Good morning to you Andrew Leigh, how are you?

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Ross. It’s great to be with you.

ROSS SOLLY: You know what they say about lies, damn lies and statistics. So, we have two reports today. We have the McKell Institute report, which has shown Andrew Leigh, that we are just in the middle of the greatest run of low unemployment since the Whitlam Government.

ANDREW LEIGH: It is a remarkable story Ross. I mean, traditionally, when inflation has spiked in Australia, the way we've got it back down is through a recession or a prolonged bout of unemployment. That was the story of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and it's what the British and New Zealanders have suffered in recent years. The Australian experience has been very different. We've maintained essentially full employment, an average unemployment rate of 3.8% over the life of the Albanese Government. Here in the ACT - 3.4%, so the story of the labour market of the last 3 years is a remarkable one, and one which is really unique in Australian history.

ROSS SOLLY: But then we have reports today that building companies in Australia are collapsing at record levels Andrew Leigh. 3,445 building firms have been plunged into insolvency just in the past 12 months. We've had a dramatic spike in strike numbers. We know here in the ACT the number of building firms that have collapsed. So that is a remarkable story, but for all the wrong reasons for the Albanese Government.

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, we know that we've had a pent-up series of insolvencies delayed after COVID as a result of some of the rules that were changed around insolvency there. In terms of industrial days lost to disputes, there are fewer industrial days lost to disputes under this government than under the previous government.

We know that there are huge challenges in construction sector productivity. There was an excellent Productivity Commission report on it recently, but it wasn't about blaming the unions. It went through issues such as approval times, lack of innovation, lack of scale, and some of the issues around skills, which we're addressing through our half a million free TAFE places.

ROSS SOLLY: So are you saying Andrew Leigh, that some of these building companies, they would have collapsed ages ago, but only survived because of support that was handed out during COVID? Is that right?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, there were changes to the insolvency rules there Ross, which meant that there was a series of insolvencies that followed the reversion of those rules to the way in which they normally were. Every insolvency we take very seriously, and we do our best to assist those companies through, but we do know that there are serious issues in construction. Construction sector productivity has fallen slightly since 1994, so it has been an ongoing challenge. But that challenge is not, as some of the ideologues would have you believe, to do with unions. Indeed, the residential construction sector is essentially un-unionised.

Stronger Together: How Co-operatives Build a Fairer Economy

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP 

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury 

Assistant Minister for Employment 

Co-Op Federation Assembly 2025: UN International Year of Co-Operatives

Art Gallery of NSW

20 March 2025

Australians don’t sit back and wait for problems to solve themselves – we step up, we work together, and we get things done. Cooperation is part of who we are. It’s mateship in action, self-reliance at scale, and fairness in practice.

Whether it’s farmers protecting fair prices, workers building industry super funds, or communities ensuring access to affordable housing, co-operatives have long been the quiet achievers of our economy – reshaping markets and putting fairness at the centre of economic life.

I’m excited to be here today at the Co-op Assembly 2025 to talk about this important topic.

Here in the Naala Badu building, I acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today. I pay my respects to their elders past and present, and I extend that respect to all First Nations people here today.  

Like Australia’s co-operatives, this gallery has become more diverse over time, not only expanding its collection of Indigenous art, but also building its collection of international art. My mother, Barbara Leigh, has an ongoing interest in textiles in Southeast Asia. She reminded me that a dedicated space for Asian art only opened in 1988, flourishing under Edmund Capon and Jacqueline Menzies, and expanding into this new building.

This evolution wasn’t accidental. It was built through collaboration – by people who believed in the value of cultural diversity, who pooled resources, and who created something greater than the sum of its parts. That same spirit of cooperation underpins the co-operative movement. Just as this gallery has grown through collective effort, co-operatives, too, show us what’s possible when people come together with a common purpose.

Thank you to the Co-op Federation for inviting me to speak today at the Co-op Assembly 2025, in celebration of the UN International Year of Co-operatives. This year’s theme – 'Co-operatives Build a Better World' – isn’t just an ideal. It’s a fact. Co-operatives have demonstrated their potential to enhance economic fairness, resilience, and community empowerment – particularly in sectors such as agriculture, finance, and energy. Globally, co-operatives have helped shape industries and foster economic inclusion, particularly in regions where traditional business models have failed to serve local communities.

For me, this is not just an abstract concept – it’s personal. During the Great Depression, my grandfather Keith Leigh and his friend Lindsay Brehaut saw families in their community struggling to afford basic goods. So, they founded the Hobson’s Bay Co-op, giving locals the ability to pool their buying power and secure fair prices. It was a simple idea, but a profound one: that by working together, they could build a more secure, more just economic future. And that’s what the co-operative movement has always been about – people banding together, not just to get by, but to take control of their futures.

And this isn’t just history. Co-operatives are addressing today’s biggest challenges – from clean energy to economic inclusion. That’s why, today, I want to talk about how co-operatives have shaped Australia and why they are more relevant than ever in our mission to build a better world.