Andrew Leigh

LABOR PROTECTS CHARITIES

The bipartisan Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has today handed down its report on the Foreign Interference Transparency Scheme Bill 2017, recommending that charities be excluded.
 
These recommendations reflect Labor’s strong engagement with and commitment to charities.

TAX TRANSPARENCY, COURTESY OF LABOR

Hundreds of Australia’s biggest private companies are one step closer to being forced out of the shadows and into the sunlight, thanks to a Labor bill passed today.
 
The Private Senator’s Bill would ensure that big businesses have their high-level tax information published, which will allow proper scrutiny and help restore the trust in the integrity of the tax system that was brought about when the Gillard Government passed tax transparency reforms in June 2013.
 
In December 2015, the Greens and the Liberals raised the transparency threshold for private companies from $100 million to $200 million. This dodgy deal took two-thirds of the private companies out of the spotlight and back into the darkness.

AUSTRALIA RECONNECTED

KEYNOTE ADDRESS TO THE NATIONAL VOLUNTEERING CONFERENCE

SYDNEY

22 JUNE 2018

Thank you Adrienne for that generous introduction. I honour the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, on whose lands we meet today, and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues Dan Tehan and Louise Pratt, and thank Adrienne Picone, Vicki Darling, and the Volunteering and Contact ACT team for their organisational work. In taking the lead to organise this Sydney event, my fellow Canberrans have proven that our national capital is also Australia’s social capital. I particularly thank each and every attendee - generous volunteers coming together to discuss about how we can strengthen Australia’s civic fabric.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC RADIO ADELAIDE

THURSDAY, 21 JUNE 2018

SUBJECTS: Labor’s plan for a bigger, better and fairer tax cut.

JULES SCHILLER: Let’s get a response from federal Labor. We have the Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh on the line. Hi, Andrew.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: G’day, Jules. Great to be with you.

SCHILLER: Ok. Well, look, a cut to lower and middle class earners – that’s something Labor would support, surely?

LEIGH: Absolutely. That stage one package we actually doubled down on. We said we didn’t just want to give middle Australia a $500 a year tax cut - we wanted to give them nearly $1000 a year tax cut. And extraordinarily, Scott Morrison voted against that. The thing that Scott’s not telling you, Jules, is that about 70 per cent of workers will always be better off under Labor’s plan. He wants to emphasise the total dollar amount but he doesn’t want to tell you where it’s going. And that’s because by the time you get to his stage three, 95 per cent of the benefits are going to the top fifth of income earners. So, that’s not a plan to encourage people into work. That’s not a plan to help most of your listeners. That’s a plan to give the most to those who already have the most.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

DOORSTOP

CANBERRA

WEDNESDAY, 20 JUNE 2018
 
SUBJECTS: Turnbull’s comments telling aged workers to get a better job; Labor’s plan for bigger, better, fairer tax cuts for working Australians; Telstra job losses; US leaving Human Rights Council.
 
ANDREW LEIGH, MEMBER FOR FENNER: Good morning everyone. My name is Andrew Leigh, the Federal Member for Fenner and I'd like to welcome you to this aged care facility in Ainslie. We've been here meeting today with a range of aged care workers. Among them, Abbie, Kerul, Lorraine and Lise. They're among the thousands of aged care workers across Australia; talented, hardworking and deeply caring. Aged care workers that deserve the respect of every Australian.

I'd like to thank this aged care facility for taking the time to have their staff meet with Bill Shorten and Julie Collins and I today. We greatly admire the work that they do, the support that they provide to the residents here and recognise that all of us need great aged care workers because any of us could well finish up in a facility like this and we would want to be looked after by people of the calibre of Abbi, and Lise and Lorraine and Kerul.

Let me hand over now to Bill Shorten.

LABOR'S PLAN TO TACKLE TAX HAVENS

Federation Chamber, 20 June 2018

In 2012, the Coalition voted in the House and Senate against laws to close a multinational tax avoidance loophole. Last year, we saw that very same law being used to secure a $340 million judgement against Chevron. But, extraordinarily, we didn't see the Turnbull Government saying: 'Mea culpa. We got it wrong in 2012. If we'd had our way back then, the budget would now be hundreds of millions of dollars worse off, net debt would be rising even faster than it is today'—hard to believe given that net debt is rising faster than it did even under the global financial crisis. We saw none of that apology. Instead, we saw the government patting themselves on the back for the Chevron decision, patting themselves on the back for a court decision based on a law they had voted against.

CRACKING DOWN ON ILLEGAL PHOENIX ACTIVITY

Federation Chamber, 20 June 2018

In May 2017 Labor announced that a Shorten Labor government would take significant action to tackle illegal phoenix activity. We said, in particular, that we would put in place a director identification number, dealing with the problem that, right now, it is tougher to open a bank account than to register as a company director. One of the consequences of this was brought home through media reports which noted that a member of this House was registered multiple times as a director. That, I assume, was inadvertent, but the fact that it could occur at all illustrates the problem in our current system.

THE SECRET GST DISTRIBUTION REPORT

Federation Chamber, 20 June 2018

Another critical issue that the government is failing to act on is the GST distribution report. The Productivity Commission handed its report on GST distribution to the government on 15 May. The government has to table the report in parliament 25 sitting days after receipt. There will be only 15 sitting days between receiving the report and the date of the by-elections in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia that occur during the winter break.

FAIRER MARKETS

Federation Chamber, 20 June 2018

We've seen yesterday Apple Australia receiving $9 million in fines as a result of misleading consumers about their rights under Australian Consumer Law to get their products repaired. This is another slap-on-the-wrist penalty, following penalties in the Nurofen case which were noted by a number of experts and jurists to be inadequate.

BANKING ROYAL COMMISSION

Federation Chamber, 20 June 2018

Then we have the Liberals' approach to banking misconduct. Following the Storm Financial collapse in 2009, Labor's Bernie Ripoll convened a parliamentary joint committee inquiry into the role of the financial services sector, spending nearly a year examining the industry and producing an important report.