Andrew Leigh

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

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RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY
THURSDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2025

SUBJECTS: QantasLink base closure

ROSS SOLLY: I wonder whether Andrew Leigh is a fan. Are you a fan of daylight saving Andrew Leigh? Well, you're a runner. You probably do love it. Do you love it or not? Good morning to you.

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, it does make a little trickier to get out in the morning Ross. I'm enjoying the fact that I can run at the moment without my headlamp. And when daylight savings kicks in, the headlamp goes back on for a few weeks.

ROSS SOLLY: Yeah, well, but I'm sure you'll still do it. Anyway, Andrew Leigh let's talk about Qantas. I know you lobbied hard. Your federal colleagues lobbied, in fact, everybody who has any interest in Canberra lobbied hard for this, and basically, now Qantas has flipped the bird at us. Is that fair to say?

ANDREW LEIGH: I think it is Ross. They've made $2.39 billion in profit this year and yet seem determined to go ahead with closing these bases, not only in Canberra, but also Mildura and Hobart. And that means that there'll be pilots who may well decide no longer to stay with the airline. There was one survey that their Pilots' Association did, along with the Transport Workers Union which found 68 per cent of those pilots would reconsider working with the airline. And one in five of them have already had to move once due to a base closure.

ROSS SOLLY: Yeah, I mean they say it's not about money. I mean, you pointed out the profit there which is huge - but they say this is not money-related Andrew Leigh. Do you buy that?

The Hon Dr Daniel Mulino MP
Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services

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

More companies paying their fair share

2 October 2025

The Albanese Government welcomes the latest ATO report into corporate tax transparency which shows the percentage of large businesses paying no tax has fallen.

The report shows large corporates paid $95.7 billion in income tax during the 2023-24 financial year with an increase in tax paid by private entities.

The ATO reports Australia has some of the highest levels of tax compliance of large businesses in the world.  More than 94% paid voluntarily, a figure that rose to 96.3 per cent following ATO compliance actions.

That action took the total income tax take from large business to over $100 billion for the second year in a row.

The percentage of companies that didn’t pay tax has decreased to 28%, while the number of companies that have never paid tax has fallen slightly too.

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

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO
TUESDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Renewables, Final Budget Outcome, Labor’s abundance agenda, zero-sum thinking

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Time to talk federal politics with the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury and the Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, you've got to be concerned about the impact that this roll‑out is having on regional areas very, very close to your electorate?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well regional areas are of course the ones that are most affected by dangerous climate change as you know Stephen. Farmers are already feeling the brunt of more extreme weather events, droughts, Australian bushfires…

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Yeah okay, but Andrew putting wind farms in Australia is not going to change any of that. We know that based on the figures.

ANDREW LEIGH: Australia makes a contribution to global emissions, and this is a bit like saying that…

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

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TV INTERVIEW
ABC AFTERNOON BRIEFING, WITH MELISSA CLARKE
MONDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Prime Minister’s visit to the UK, Final Budget Outcome, Tomago smelter

MELISSA CLARKE: For the government's view, let's bring in Assistant Productivity Minister Andrew Leigh. Thank you for joining me from Canberra, Andrew.

ANDREW LEIGH: Pleasure Melissa, great to be with you.

MELISSA CLARKE: So, before we get to the budget figures – can I just ask you about the PM addressing the UK Labour Party conference during his visit to the UK? Was that an appropriate thing for him to do?

ANDREW LEIGH: It certainly was, and it was a great speech. I mean, it followed very much in the history of Clement Attlee and Ben Chifley's relationship – the strong relationship between Tony Blair and Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. Those links are well known and long-standing and help buttress the strong links we have with the UK. The Prime Minister spoke about the importance of defending democracy at a time in which populism is on the rise, about the strength of the relationship between our two countries, and about the important initiatives such as AUKUS that are being pursued. It was absolutely a national interest speech, and one that strengthened even further the ties between Australia and the UK.

The Hon Jim Chalmers MP
Treasurer

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

Reappointments to the Competition Review Expert Advisory Panel

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

OPINION PIECE

Are We Counting What Really Counts?

Published in Inside Story

Thursday, 25 September 2025

If you were diagnosed with cancer in Australia in the early 1990s, the chances you would survive for another five years were little better than 50–50 — a toss of the coin. Thirty years later, the most recent data shows the odds of surviving that long are better than 70–30. But such remarkable improvements in medical treatment aren’t always captured in our national statistics. As the Productivity Commission noted last year, our traditional way of measuring productivity may be missing a significant share of the benefits patients are receiving from improved care.

Diane Coyle has spent her career carefully studying how we measure economic progress, often highlighting the shortcomings of traditional approaches. Her many books include The Weightless World (1997), which examined how digital technologies shifted value towards ideas and services, and GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History (2014), which traced the origins of national income accounting and its limits in a service-based economy.

In her latest book, The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters, Coyle returns to some of the same themes. She points out that there is always a lag between the structure of the economy and how we measure it, noting that statistics in the late 1800s were overly dominated by agricultural numbers rather than metrics that captured factory production. Today, however, Coyle goes further. “The elastic relationship between the statistics and the economy they represent,” she contends, “has stretched to breaking point.”

Policymakers have long recognised the limitations inherent in national income accounting. No one has expressed it more powerfully than Robert Kennedy, who in 1968 noted that gross national product included money spent on cigarette advertising, ambulances and guns, yet “does not allow for the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.”

To this, Coyle brings fresh examples. A hypothetical treatment that reverses disabling symptoms and restores a patient’s ability to lead an independent life. A silicon chip that is more energy efficient. A decision by a hospital to use a cheaper medicine that achieves the same result. Smaller smartphones. A person who marries their paid cleaner, increasing happiness while reducing measured economic output.

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

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TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA, POLITICS NOW WITH TOM CONNELL
THURSDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Productivity Commission GST Review, United Nations Climate Summit, Albanese Government funded CHOICE quarterly supermarket comparison report

TOM CONNELL: The Productivity Commission will launch a review into the GST payments. It will potentially look at the WA deal, which means the state retains 75 cents of every dollar of the GST. That's due to reforms introduced by the Morrison Government. The arrangement at the moment costs the Commonwealth about $60 billion. That's the estimate over the next four years. The Treasurer says the review of the deal is fair and financially sustainable. Joining me now, the Assistant Competition Charities and Treasury Minister Andrew Leigh. Thank you for your time. Now, I know Labor takes taxpayer money seriously, so if there's a review - everything's on the table, including WA's GST distribution? Is that accurate?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well Tom, as you accurately said this is a review that was legislated back in 2018. It has to happen before the end of 2026. So, this is really just us delivering on the legislated timetable. We'll wait and see what the Productivity Commission comes back with. Of course, our goal is to see an equitable and efficient distribution of GST, as is done through the independent Commonwealth Grants Commission.

TOM CONNELL: And what about the WA aspect of that? Is that on the table? Is the review allowed to look at it and make recommendations? And would Labor consider them?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, that'll be one of the issues that the review looks at. That was legislated back in 2018 when the legislation passed the Parliament with bipartisan support. So, it'll look at that along with a range of other issues. Obviously, we're always looking at how we can modernise arrangements and ensure that the system is working as well as possible.

TOM CONNELL: So, we had Patrick Gorman on air today say, guaranteed nothing's being touched with the WA GST distribution. Is that just something a West Australian MP has to say?

ANDREW LEIGH: Patrick is absolutely right. We have no plans to change those arrangements.

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

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RADIO INTERVIEW
2GB RADIO SYDNEY, MORNINGS WITH MARK LEVY
THURSDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Fake Google reviews, Albanese Government funded CHOICE quarterly supermarket comparison report, Prime Minister Albanese and President Trump selfie

MARK LEVY: Well if you were listening to the show yesterday, I was joined by George Sowmi. He's the boss at Origin Bathrooms, and you'll remember he told us about his struggle with these fake Google reviews. The story in short is that foreign actors, in this case from Pakistan, have been leaving fake reviews for George's business. They then contact the business owner asking for money to take down the reviews. And this is the sort of thing that's happening across the country, impacting businesses like George's. Take a listen to the effect this has had on his business. This is George speaking yesterday.

[Plays excerpt]

GEORGE SOWMI: You think about who's contracting us to do work. It's mums and dads who are investing a huge amount of money. One of their biggest investments that they make in their home, renovating kitchens and bathrooms and laundries. And that Google review is an instant thing that recognises to them that they can trust us. If we've got a bad score, not only do they not see us; if they do see us, they won't even bother clicking on us because they need to be able to trust us. For us, this is detrimental.

[End of excerpt]

MARK LEVY: George Sowmi speaking yesterday to us here on 2GB Mornings. And this is something we're seeing happen not only here in New South Wales, it's right across the country to small businesses everywhere. Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. He's on the line with me now. Assistant Minister, good morning to you.

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

MARK LEVY: And you too. Are you aware of these fake Google reviews and the damage that's being done to these businesses?

ANDREW LEIGH: Absolutely. It's an issue that's been raised by the competition watchdog’s Digital Platform Services Inquiry. And if Google is monetising a review process, it has an obligation to ensure that that review process has integrity. I really feel for a business that is relying on its online reputation. Gone are the days in which people are getting new information by word of mouth. Now the online reputation really counts. So, we do need to make sure that Google reviews have integrity and that their review system has an ability to take down fake reviews quickly. The ACCC recommended that there should be a mandatory process to remove fake reviews and that that should be done in a reasonable time period.

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO SYDNEY, MORNINGS WITH HAMISH MACDONALD
THURSDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Albanese Government funded CHOICE quarterly supermarket comparison report, Productivity Commission GST review, benefits of migration, Harry Styles and the Berlin Marathon

HAMISH MACDONALD: A question for you. Do you shop around for your groceries to get the best price? Or like me, are you just a bit of a creature of habit, going to the same shop every week, buying the same things because it’s a bit more convenient and you don’t have to think too much about it? This morning, the consumer advocacy group CHOICE has published their latest supermarket report comparing the price of an average basket of goods across a variety of stores. Andrew Leigh is the federal Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. Andrew Leigh is here. A very good morning to you.

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

HAMISH MACDONALD: So, the CHOICE survey cites 86 per cent of respondents are concerned about the rising cost of food and groceries. That tells you something, doesn’t it?

ANDREW LEIGH: It sure does. Australia has got one of the most concentrated supermarket sectors in the world, and we have been putting the spotlight on the big supermarkets, giving more resources to the competition watchdog and funding quarterly grocery price monitoring from CHOICE. That’s about putting power in the hands of consumers to shop around by giving them accurate, up-to-date information on the cost of a representative basket of groceries.   

HAMISH MACDONALD: But that’s where I think this story gets really interesting, because Coles and Woolies remain so close on price. The price of a basket of goods varies between just 20 and 40 cents. Doesn’t that also tell us that maybe some of these concerns we have about competition are well-founded?

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
THURSDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Sydney 2000 Olympics 25th anniversary, Ben Roberts-Smith War Memorial display, Albanese Government funded CHOICE quarterly supermarket comparison report, Optus

ROSS SOLLY: So, a new report from the consumer advocacy group CHOICE looking at the prices of various supermarket products has been released today. What does it mean? Where is the best place to get cheap supermarket products? We'll find out in just a moment. Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity Competition, Charities and Treasury. He's also the member for Fenner, and he joins us on the program this morning. Andrew Leigh, good morning to you.

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

ROSS SOLLY: And with you as well. A couple of things first. Where were you 25 years ago today, Andrew Leigh?

ANDREW LEIGH: So, I was doing my PhD over in Harvard and I remember being down in a basement watching TV with my friend David Madden, the only other Australian who was around - cheering our heads off, surrounded by Americans who were completely bemused as to why we thought this was the greatest moment in human history.

ROSS SOLLY: Well, I mean they would have just been cheering for Michael Johnson I think, who won gold on the same night. So, it might be good to get one up on the Americans then Andrew Leigh?

ANDREW LEIGH: But just an amazing moment Ross. Like, you think about what that did for the reconciliation. You know, Cathy Freeman winning that 400 gold really was such a uniting moment for Australia.