Andrew Leigh

Exposure draft consultation on beneficial ownership reforms

The Albanese Government is taking the next step to deliver its commitment to increase transparency of beneficial ownership in Australia.

Consultation opens today on draft amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 to ensure disclosure of who effectively owns, and controls entities listed on Australia’s financial markets.

These reforms close a substantial loophole that allows sophisticated investors to use complex financial products to mask their interests in some of our most significant listed companies.

The draft amendments also strengthen the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s investigation and enforcement powers, allowing it to act quickly to freeze opaque holdings that might be being used to circumvent legal obligations or finance crime - including by offshore actors.

Subjects:  US-Australia relationship; Household benefits of competition reform; Supermarket competition; Aviation competition

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Let's bring in now the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh live at Federal Parliament. Andrew, thanks for your time. Let's start with the drama out of the United States, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, appointed to the Department of Efficiency along with Vivek Ramaswamy. It's never a dull moment when it comes to Donald Trump and the incoming administration. But are you worried about the impact of tariffs in terms of competition, in terms of Australia's exports?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, Kieran, US politics is the greatest show on earth and most of us in the Federal Parliament have our share of US political books on our shelves. We're fascinated by the Caro Biography of LBJ and the tales of what's going on there. And I'm sure this administration will trigger its fair share of books. We will continue to advocate for the Australian national interest, which lies in open markets and engagement with a wide range of trading partners. You see Don Farrell's strong commitment to a rules based multilateral trading order. That served Australia very well and will continue to pursue those interests.

The Albanese Government is continuing to crack down on unfair participant pricing with the NDIS Fair Price and Australian Consumer Law Taskforce (The Taskforce) receiving almost 3,000 complaints since its inception.

The Taskforce is a collaboration between the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission), and the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) – yielding positive results after less than a year of operation.

Subjects: ACCC report on the increased price of capital city route flights; Coles Chairman's comment on Supermarkets; Cost of living crisis, the possibility of Trump imposing tariffs on imports

PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: A lack of competition in Australia's skies is pushing the price of flights up. Consumer Watchdog, the ACCC has found on capital city routes discount flights have gone up as much as 95 per cent since Rex and Bonza left the market. So, what can the government do to rein in the power of Qantas and Virgin? Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and our guest. Welcome.

ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks Patricia. Great to be with you.

KARVELAS: The ACCC report found on the Melbourne to Adelaide route discount fares went up as much as 95 per cent in the last three months. That is huge. Were you expecting things to get this bad, this quickly?

LEIGH: Absolutely. We've done work through the Competition Taskforce looking at the impact of competition in aviation and the effects are as big as I've ever seen in any other industry, Patricia. The estimates that the Treasury's Competition Taskforce had in is that when you move from a monopoly carrier on a route to three carriers on the route, then the price per kilometre is halved, goes down from 40 cents a kilometre to 19 cents a kilometre. So, it's expected and disappointing that when you had that collapse that you immediately saw prices for flyers increase.

SUBJECTS: Misinformation and disinformation legislation; Anti-semitism; ACCC supermarket public hearings

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, HOST: Now I'm sure my next guest will try and tell me why it's so important that politicians should be able to tell me what's true and what's not. Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury and the Member for Fenner. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH: G'day, Stephen, great to be with you.

CENATIEMPO: This is the worst piece of legislation any government has ever put before the Parliament in Australia's history.

LEIGH: Stephen, we know that there is serious misinformation and disinformation in Australia -

CENATIEMPO: Who determines that?

LEIGH: Well, we'll have independent bodies doing it. But the threshold is very high. It must be reasonably verifiable that it's false, misleading or deceptive, and reasonably likely to cause serious harm. That means harm to our electoral system, harm to public health…

The Power of Charitable Advocacy: Three Stories and a Commitment

I acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, on whose traditional lands we meet, and pay respect to all First Nations people here today. I also acknowledge the work of the Paul Ramsay Foundation, the Australian Democracy Network, Australian Progress and so many of you in the room towards Closing the Gap. It's a privilege to be joining Professor Kristy Muir, the remarkable Saffron Zomer, who has done so much to build capacity and charitable advocacy, and advocate and Indigenous Marathon Foundation graduate Amelia Telford in the panel today.

I want to talk today about three big stories of social change that were driven by the activist power of communities, philanthropy and charities.

The first story starts on 29 August 1966, when 200 Gurindji stockmen, led by Vincent Lingiari, led the Wave Hill Walk-Off. The Wave Hill Walk-Off began over a discontent with the way in which the Vestey landowners had been treating Aboriginal workers on the land. This was the land of the traditional owners, but the cattle herders had fenced it in, had allowed pollution to get into the water holes and had refused to pay the stockmen properly.

I acknowledge the Cammeraygal people of the Eora Nation, on whose traditional lands we meet, and pay respect to all First Nations people here today.

On the table in my parliamentary office sits a board game. Designed in 1973 by economics professor 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. The goal is to make the board akin to a free market system.

I’ve never liked the Monopoly board game, so the competitive spirit of Anti-Monopoly greatly appeals to me. But there’s a further story about Anti-Monopoly that I love. The year after Professor Anspach released his game, Parker Brothers sued him for using the ‘Monopoly’ name. In his defence, Professor Anspach revealed that Monopoly’s roots lay in The Landlord’s Game, designed in 1903 by social campaigner Lizze Magie as a critique of corporate power. After a decade-long dispute, Professor Anspach was able to continue distributing his game under the title ‘Anti-Monopoly’.

Subjects: ACCC Supermarket Public Hearings; Scam Prevention; Social Media restrictions; US Election

LEON DELANEY: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Supermarket Inquiry public hearings have begun today. Joining me now, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment, not to mention our local member here in the seat of Fenner, Dr Andrew Leigh. Good afternoon.

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

DELANEY: Now, this inquiry has been much anticipated. The public hearings are underway from today. What will the hearings be told?

LEIGH: Well, we're hearing about Labor's measures to get a fair go for farmers and families. We're putting in place a mandatory Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, fighting against shrinkflation and providing Australians more information about where to get the best deal. Some of the information that's been coming up in the inquiry today from organisations like CHOICE and the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network is pointing to the decline in trust in the major supermarkets, big differences in pricing from city areas to remote areas, and challenges of unit pricing and shrinkflation.

Australian shoppers deserve a fair deal at the supermarket checkout. That’s why Labor is taking action to ensure competition delivers cost of living relief.

Today’s commencement of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Supermarket Inquiry public hearings is an important milestone to getting a fair go for Australian families and farmers.

Over the next two weeks, the ACCC will examine senior executives of Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Metcash, along with a range of suppliers and key consumer and industry stakeholders.

SUBJECTS: World Marathon Majors; HECS-HELP Changes; Merger reform.

SASKIA MABIN: Andrew Leigh has jumped on the line to talk with me about a range of things going on in his world. How are you?

ANDREW LEIGH: Very well, Saskia. How are you?

MABIN: Very well, and before we get into policy, I'd love to talk to you about the news that Sydney Marathon is going to be the seventh world marathon major. I believe you're a bit of a marathon runner yourself. Are you feeling a bit excited about this?

LEIGH: Very excited, Saskia. So, I've run the six world marathon majors and having Sydney join the ranks is just a remarkable thing for Australian runners. It will make the Sydney race a little bit harder to get into, but it will now be one which is attracting people from around the world. It won't be the fastest of the marathon majors. That will probably still be Berlin, Tokyo or Chicago, but it's going to certainly be the most scenic with that start across the bridge, the finish at the Opera House and the beautiful Sydney out in front of you. So, I'm sure many Canberra runners will be looking forward to lacing up next year to do either their seventh or their first marathon major.