Andrew Leigh

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA, AFTERNOON AGENDA WITH TOM CONNELL
WEDNESDAY, 1 JULY 2026

SUBJECTS: Price gouging by Coles and Woolworths illegal from 1 July 2026 under the Albanese Government; AI; 2026 ABS Census

TOM CONNELL: Another big change spoken about by the government today is a ban on supermarket so-called price gouging. Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh joins me now for more on this. Thank you for your time.

ANDREW LEIGH: Pleasure Tom.

TOM CONNELL: The rule comes in, says supermarkets are allowed to charge cost of supply plus a reasonable margin. What's a reasonable margin?

ANDREW LEIGH: Well, that'll be up to the competition watchdog. The ACCC is one of the most experienced regulators. They've shown their willingness to take on the big supermarkets and we deliberately didn't put numbers around this, Tom because that becomes too easily gamed. We've done it the way in which other jurisdictions have approached the challenge in Europe and the United Kingdom and we've done it to make sure that families get a fair deal at the checkout.

TOM CONNELL: In terms of supermarkets and reasonable margins though, they have some of the lowest margins out of any business. So is it going to be hard to say, you know, a 2.2% margin on something's unreasonable when most businesses have a higher one?

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

Matters of Public Importance: Labor Government

House of Representatives,
Parliament House

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

When the Leader of the Opposition became leader, getting rid of the first woman to head the Liberal Party, he said that his party needed to ‘change or die’. I don't think many Australians thought that they were going to choose door 2, but that's what's happening right now. The modern Liberal Party won't change, and it's choosing to die. They won't change a system that's locked a generation of young Australians out of homeownership. They won't change their natural inclination, in a choice between opportunity and privilege, to back privilege every time. As the Opposition Leader himself might have said: 'Fantastic. Great move. Well done, Angus.'

The fact is that Labor is today introducing measures which are going to benefit millions of Australians, and so many of these measures have been opposed by the shadow treasurer. We are boosting minimum wages and award wages, benefiting more than three million Australians, and yet the shadow treasurer is on the record criticising the Fair Work Commission's decision to deliver a real wage increase to low-income workers. We're increasing wages for care workers, who'll benefit by around $59 a week. A registered nurse will benefit to the tune of about $86 a week. And yet the Shadow Treasurer has criticised better wages for frontline workers as 'borrowing from future generations'.

From today, workers will see payday super. They'll actually see money coming into their super accounts when it should. But the Shadow Treasurer has criticised universal superannuation, labelling it 'a form of economic social engineering' and 'a form of economic insanity'. 

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO
TUESDAY, 30 JUNE 2026    

SUBJECTS: Price gouging by Coles and Woolworths illegal from 1 July 2026 under the Albanese Government

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Now, I’ve got to say one of the very most disciplined politicians I’ve ever seen – not only in his personal life because he runs and, as I say, running is undignified – but he’ll always tow the party line, is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury and the Member for Fenner, Dr Andrew Leigh. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Stephen. I’m very proud to be an undignified runner. I think many of my running companions would say the same.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Well, but having said that, it’s not the running that’s undignified; it’s what you look like at the end of it is what I find undignified!

ANDREW LEIGH: It does look like a bit of a war zone when you get to the end of an ultramarathon.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: I can imagine. Now, I want to talk about, from tomorrow there’s going to be – now, you and I disagree on the concept of price gouging, and I think we’ve done a Julia Gillard and redefined what it is. But tell us what’s actually going to change tomorrow?

ANDREW LEIGH: So from tomorrow we’re banning price gouging for supermarkets turning over more than $30 billion, which is Coles and Woolworths and that will protect Australian families from artificially inflated prices on their groceries. It means they can’t try and charge prices that are excessive when compared to the cost of supply plus a reasonable margin. And they’ll face very significant fines if they do: up to $10 million, three times the value of the breach or 10 per cent of annual turnover.

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

Aviation Consumer Protection Bill 2026
Second Reading

House of Representatives,
Parliament House

Monday, 29 June 2026

Australia has an unusual aviation market. A population our size is thought by many experts to be able to support about three airlines, and we do have three airlines. The problem is that two of them are owned by the same company: the Qantas group. That means that the Qantas group and Virgin have 98.5 per cent of the market. The top two players having 98.5 per cent of the market means that industries like banking and telecommunications look pretty competitive by comparison.

This is one of the most concentrated industries in Australia. Most regional routes are monopolies and, as work carried out by the competition taskforce in Treasury by Omer Majeed in conjunction with Robert Breunig at the Australian National University has shown, there is a strong relationship between the lack of competition and the prices that flyers pay. When one airline services a route, they find, airfares average 39.6c a kilometre. When two airlines compete, the average fare drops to 28.2c per kilometre. With three competitors, it drops to 19.2c. In other words, if you've got a route where there are three competitors, flyers are paying about half the price per kilometre that they pay over a monopoly route. Even the threat of competition, researchers have found, brings down lower prices.

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

New Laws To Help Australians Know Who Stands Behind A Company 

Tuesday, 30 June 2026

The Albanese Government has secured passage of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Business Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Bill 2026, strengthening Australia’s business registers and enhancing the Director Identification regime.

The reforms will make it easier for Australians to answer a simple but vital question: who am I dealing with?

Australia’s business registers are critical economic infrastructure. They help small businesses decide whether to extend credit, banks make lending decisions, consumers check who is behind a company, and regulators detect misconduct.

A key measure in the Bill will enable Director Identification Numbers to be linked to the ASIC Companies Register from 1 July 2027, significantly strengthening transparency and making it easier to trace directors across corporate entities.

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

More Tools To Protect Consumers And Small Businesses From Unfair Contract Terms

Monday, 29 June 2026

The Albanese Government will introduce more powers for regulators to issue infringement notices for breaches of unfair contract term laws by big business.

Whether a big business is a supermarket, a petrol company, or a digital platform we won’t tolerate Australian consumers and small businesses being taken for mugs.

The changes will expand reforms we introduced to make unfair contract terms illegal, including increasing maximum penalties to $100 million per offence.

Infringement notice powers will allow the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) to respond more flexibly without the need for lengthy court proceedings. 

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

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP PRESS CONFERENCE
DICKSON SQUARE, ACT
SATURDAY, 27 JUNE 2026

SUBJECTS: Price gouging by Coles and Woolworths illegal from 1 July 2026 under the Albanese Government

ANDREW LEIGH: Well thanks very much for coming this morning. My name is Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Competition. I’m pleased to announce today that on 1 July 2026, the Albanese Government is cracking down on price gouging by the major supermarkets. We know the two major supermarkets in Australia have a very large share of the market – about two thirds between them, a number that's barely changed in the last couple of decades. 

The ACCC’s supermarket report made clear that when you've got significant market concentration, you have the potential for excessive pricing. So what these new laws will do is to say to the two major supermarkets: If you're engaging in excessive pricing, that is pricing that's above the cost of supply plus a reasonable margin, then the ACCC will be empowered to come after you. 

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

 Charity in a scratchy age

Published in The Saturday Paper

27 June 2026

In 1864, two Australian ships were wrecked on Auckland Island, south of New Zealand. Each crew faced the same cold, isolation, hunger and fear.

The Invercauld, wrecked on the north west of the island, fractured. Captain George Dalgarno treated survival as every man for himself. The strong abandoned the weak. A year later, only three of the 25 crew were still alive.

The Grafton, wrecked on the south east, became a community. Captain Thomas Musgrave and his four sailors built a hut, shared food, cared for one another and even fashioned a chess set. After 18 months, they sailed hundreds of kilometres in search of rescue. Every sailor lived.

Same island, different social contract.

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

Saturday, 27 June 2026

Price Gouging By Large Supermarkets Illegal From 1 July 2026

The Albanese Government is banning supermarket excessive pricing from next week.

These changes protect Australian families from artificially inflated prices on their groceries.

From 1 July 2026, it will be illegal for very large retailers such as Coles and Woolworths to charge prices that are excessive, when compared to the cost of supply plus a reasonable margin.

The independent regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will enforce the new laws, and any retailers found to be in breach will face the greater of the: $10 million; three times the value of the benefit derived or 10 per cent annual turnover during the preceding 12 months.

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 JUNE 2026

SUBJECTS: CHOICE latest quarterly supermarket basket survey; inflation; tax reform; Socceroos

ROSS SOLLY: The latest CHOICE survey looking at supermarket prices has been released. What does it tell us in this moment of cost of living crisis, et cetera? Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, and he joins us this morning. Dr Andrew Leigh, good morning to you. 

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Ross, great to be with you. And I'm cock a hoop like you are!

ROSS SOLLY: Yes, and are you feeling a bit cock a hoop to be up and about this morning? Is there any fog where you are, Andrew Leigh? That's what I want to know this morning.

ANDREW LEIGH: No I was out running this morning, it was fog free, but very icy. 

ROSS SOLLY: Yes, very icy. There is a bit of fog around apparently in some parts of our listening area, so do take it easy. 

So what's the latest CHOICE survey telling us, Andrew Leigh? I mean, normally we see the independents are doing pretty well. Is that the situation this time round?