Andrew Leigh

WHOSE SIDE ARE THE LIBERALS ON: AUSTRALIAN WORKERS AND SMALL BUSINESS OR MULTINATIONALS?

Despite occasionally pretending to 'get tough' with multinationals, the Liberals have repeatedly failed to ensure multinationals pay their fair share of tax.

Scott Morrison backed away from plans to address tax avoidance by multinational companies in the Budget by reducing the so-called “safe harbour” level in thin capitalisation rules.

This back down came despite journalists being briefed on the proposal before Budget night, while tell-tale signs remained in the budget glossy documents.

In April, Kelly O’Dwyer said, “there needs to be a registry of beneficial ownership in our country” and confirmed that Australia would establish a public registry of beneficial ownership for companies.

However, at the recent international summit on the issue Australia committed only to “exploring options” for such a register.

The Liberals again sided with big business when Josh Frydenberg defended loopholes that allow multinational companies to shift profits offshore at an industry conference last Friday.

CHRIS BOWEN
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR MCMAHON

ANDREW LEIGH
SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER
MEMBER FOR FRASER

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
MELBOURNE
FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2016

Media Release

SUBJECT/S: Labor’s positive policy on housing affordability; real estate industry’s scare campaign; negative gearing; tax havens; Malcolm Turnbull in the panama papers; education funding dividend.

CHRIS BOWEN, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks for coming. I'm here with the Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Dr Andrew Leigh and we'll both make some opening remarks before taking your questions.

It’s Friday the 13th and Malcolm Turnbull and the real estate industry have chosen Friday the 13th to launch their not-very-scary scare campaign. Now let's be very clear. Labor takes to this election a housing affordability policy to help first-home buyers get into the housing market. Labor believes in the aspirations of young Australians to buy their first home. And we believe in not just talking about it, we believe in doing something about it, in dealing with the housing affordability crisis in Australia. And we did so knowing that vested interests would campaign and complain. And that's exactly what's happening. But we are more than happy to run this election campaign based on our positive policies to assist first-home buyers. The real estate industry makes it clear even in the article in News Ltd today. They accept they have a vested interest in keeping the current arrangements. Well, I'll tell you who doesn't have a vested interest in keeping the current arrangements – hundreds of thousands of first-home buyers who are being locked out of the market. 

SIX QUESTIONS FOR MALCOLM TURNBULL

Recent reports on the Panama Papers have revealed that during the mid-1990s Malcolm Turnbull was a director of Star Technology Systems Ltd, a British Virgin Islands subsidiary of the Australian-listed company Star Mining NL, administered by Mossack Fonseca.

To dispel any concerns that Australians have about this activity, Malcolm Turnbull should answer the following questions:

1.  Does Mr Turnbull agree that the British Virgin Islands is a tax haven? 

Dr LEIGH (Fraser) (15:53): In mid-2009, the then Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, decided he would bring back an old stunt from the Liberal Party—the notion of a debt truck. He put a debt truck on the road, sat at its wheel and said that under Labor gross debt might go to $315 billion. That, he thought, was so terrifying that the Australian people had to be warned about it. Well, it is instructive to look at the budget papers to see where gross debt will be under the Turnbull government. Under the Turnbull government, gross debt is going not to $315 billion but to $624 billion. Gross debt will be nearly twice as large as when Malcolm Turnbull got his first debt truck. I have news for the Prime Minister: it is time to trade in his debt truck and buy a debt B-double. 

Dr LEIGH (Fraser) (11:39): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The image of blue Caribbean seas, golden island sands and a lonely coconut palm standing above a spot marked X on a faded map remains a powerful image in our social mythology.

And well it might, because the notion of buried treasure in the Caribbean is no myth. In the 2012 American election there was widespread outrage at the notion that Mitt Romney had been keeping a significant share of his wealth in the Cayman Islands. Perhaps this was because he and other wealthy people with money to hide from tax had noticed that the previous year the Tax Justice Network's Financial Secrecy Index had declared the Cayman Islands to be the world's second most significant tax haven. 

Dr LEIGH (Fraser) (16:30): The 2016 Lunar New Year celebrations, acknowledging the Year of the Monkey, were recently hosted by the member for Berowra, the Father of the House, and me here in one of our courtyards. Members and senators were joined by community representatives including Sam Wong AM; Donni and Samuel Pho, from the Australian Salvation Army; Mrs Chin Wong; and Gary Lee, the 2016 New Australian of the Year. The Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, also spoke at the celebrations and welcomed the inauguration of what will hopefully be an annual fixture on the parliamentary calendar. We launched traditional floating lanterns into one of the parliamentary ponds—possibly the first time this has happened—and then moved to the public lawns on Federation Mall to enjoy the skills of David Wong's Prosperous Mountain Lion Dance group. 

Dr LEIGH (Fraser) (15:56): I was holding a street stall recently when a young couple came up to chat about their troubles buying a first home. She was a teacher, he was a builder, and they were thinking about having a family but they were worried that they would not be able to meet the mortgage repayments when their two incomes went down to one. Despite being in their late 20s, this couple were looking at moving back in with their in-laws. Changing nappies and juggling sleepless nights under the same roof as their in-laws was not their idea of the Australian dream. But their story is, sadly, typical. 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

3AW WITH TOM ELLIOT

FRIDAY, 6 MAY 2016

SUBJECT/S: 2016 Budget.

TOM ELLIOT, PRESENTER: On the line now is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Andrew Leigh. Good afternoon.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good Afternoon Tom, how are you?

ELLIOT: Good, thank you. Now I saw Mr Shorten’s budget-reply speech and I have seen a summary of the savings measures. You claim to have found $71 billion, but of that $71 billion, $49 billion is rejecting the plan to cut the company tax rate to 25 per cent. Now that’s not going to occur for ten years. So really, is it appropriate to be claiming that is actually a saving, because that’s not going to happen for a decade?

LEIGH: Tom, our big budget challenge is over the decade. The Government recognised this themselves when they said that they thought that their tax plan was going to be one that operated over a decade. We can’t have this sort of short-sighted approach that says, “We can fix things for the next few years, but after that we’re gonna kick the problem off.” That’s why we’ve been focusing our costings on the decade to come.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF EVENT

CANNING VALE

FRIDAY, 6 MAY 2016

*** CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY ***

I am delighted be here in Perth, at this kick-off event for the 2016 election. And I'm excited by the coming campaign, because it will be Australia’s chance to answer the big question: what is the difference between the two major parties, and where do they want to take Australia?

In the light of Malcolm Turnbull’s budget for big business, the difference between Labor and the Coalition could not be clearer and therefore this election campaign presents an opportunity to actually talk about the future of our nation: about how Australia should pursue and achieve equality, innovation, and growth.

It was great to sit down during budget week with Michelle Grattan and outline a Labor vision for Australia. You can find the transcript below, or listen on listen online at The Conversation. 

BUDGETS AND POLITICS WITH MICHELLE GRATTAN

GRATTAN: Hello I'm Michelle Grattan and this is our budget podcast. Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh is with us today to talk about Labor's response to the Budget and its alternative. Andrew Leigh just starting with the big picture. In the very broadest terms, what kind of budget would a Labor government have delivered this week?

LEIGH: Michelle we would deliver a budget which face down Australia's big economic challenges. They include declining living standards: income per capita in real net terms has declined 4% since the government came into office. Flagging innovation which has seen too few Australian firms develop new to the world innovations. And rising inequality, where the gap between rich and poor now is the highest it’s been in three-quarters of the century. To answer those challenges requires a budget which doesn't give more to the rich than it does to the poor, and a budget which invests in the productive capacity of the nation rather than taking money out of the infrastructure, schools and hospitals.