Andrew Leigh

Banking Laws Amendment (Unclaimed Money) Bill 2015

7 September 2015 

House of Representatives 

Labor's position is to support the Banking Laws Amendment (Unclaimed Money) Bill 2015, which extends the time that bank accounts and life insurance policies can be inactive before they are transferred to the government from three years to seven years. The principle behind unclaimed money legislation is that customers do not benefit if their savings are eaten away by fees and charges when they are left sitting in a bank for years. According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, in 2014 Australian banks collected over $1 billion in fees from household deposit accounts. We do not want to see bank profits rising simply because Australian savings are shrinking.

When we made this change in 2012, we also determined the Australian government should pay interest on unclaimed money for the first time. Paying interest on the money held for safekeeping protects the value of those savings by ensuring they are not diminished by inflation. Right now, a standard transaction account with one of the big four banks is paying 0.1 per cent interest. Thanks to Labor's decision, accounts held by ASIC are earning interest at a rate linked to the consumer price index. That means that those bank accounts are better off, even before fees and charges, as a result of being held by ASIC. We are also aware that fees and charges can significantly erode accounts. Stories of fees and charges amounting to up to $100 a year have been heard in the past, and that is why unclaimed money legislation exists.

This is Not a 'Wife Beater' Campaign

7 September 2015

Federation Chamber

 In 2013, the ANU Women's Department's Alisa Draskovic thought to herself, 'Why is it that a blue singlet is referred to as a "wife beater"?' She said:

When I heard the term 'wife beater' it struck me … 'why do we refer to an item of clothing and make a reference to violence against women?'

Alisa Draskovic then set up, in 2013, the This is Not a 'Wife Beater' campaign. She featured in that campaign blue singlets with names such as 'Partner Respecter', 'Family Respecter', 'Child Respecter', and 'Lover Respecter'.

In August of this year, the third This is Not a 'Wife Beater' campaign was held at the ACT Legislative Assembly. Genevieve Jacobs was the MC and Jeanette Phillips gave the welcome to country and a very moving speech about her own experience. Among the other ambassadors were Vicki Parker, John Hinchey, Michael Costigan, Kylie Travers, Nip Wijewickrema and Yvette Berry MLA. Meegan Fitzharris, Chris Bourke and Mick Gentleman were also in attendance. The event reminded us of the importance for all Canberrans to take a stand against family violence and to ensure that our language does not support stereotypes and does not inadvertently support further family violence in our community.

Economic Leadership

8 September 2015

House of Representatives

I am glad to hear the Assistant Treasurer referring to the MPI as a welcome relief. I certainly regard it the same way. Let's play a game of 'who said it'.

It is the height of hubris to dismiss out of hand dire warnings of a possible downturn from respected observers. It is wise to listen and prepare.

   …   …   …

Protracted downturns in economic activity are very damaging in terms of lost output and lost jobs and it can take a very long time for the damage to be made good.

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The resources boom has made a wonderful contribution to Australia's prosperity and the mining industry will continue to be an important industry sector but we must prepare for the day when the boom times are gone.

Interchange General Practice

10 September 2015

Federation Chamber

At the Interchange General Practice—a local general medical practice in the heart of the nation's capital—patients, friends and even staff have spent the last several months knitting blankets in the centre's sitting area as they wait to see their doctor. These beautiful hand-knitted blankets are the work of hundreds of people and were recently donated to Palliative Care ACT. Dr Denise Krause, a member of the Interchange General Practice who has lived and worked in Canberra for more than 30 years, spoke of this wonderful initiative in the following terms. She said:

You can see that many hands have worked on these blankets, each person has contributed a little time and effort to make something beautiful for a person at the end of their life.

 (click image for a link to a video of the speech)

Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No. 4) Bill 2015

14 September 2015 

House of Representatives 

At the outset I should say that Labor's position is to support the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No. 4) Bill 2015. I expect that would not be surprising to anyone who has been following the debate on this bill, given that two-thirds of the bill are measures from previous Labor budgets.

The bill implements previous Labor integrity measures on capital gains tax, rollovers and lost member superannuation accounts and it unifies the tax treatment of all civilian and Australian government employees who work overseas.

It is greatly pleasing that the Abbott government is proceeding with some of the measures that Labor had planned to implement. Up until recently you could be forgiven for thinking that the sole raison d'etre of the Abbott government was to tear down prior achievements of Labor governments, so it is good to see a tax and superannuation laws amendment bill that indeed implements these sensible integrity measures.

Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 

16 September 2015 

House of Representatives 

Foreign investment over the last two centuries has been important to the economic growth of Australia. In the 19th century foreign investment helped to build Australia's wool industry. In 1855 CSR's investment helped to shape our sugar industry. In 1877 we saw Schweppes, the United States firm, set up in Australia. In the 1920s we saw Kraft and Kellogg investing in Australia. Kraft would shortly afterwards buy Vegemite in 1935 and, as David Uren points out in his terrific book Takeover: Foreign Investment and the Australian Psyche, without foreign investment it is plausible that Vegemite would not have attained the success that it ultimately did under Kraft. Foreign investment in our beef industry from Britain, the United States and Japan has been vital to developing that industry. Investors like the controversial Vestey family, International Ranchers and King Ranch from Texas were important in building Australian beef. Kodak set up here in 1908, Coca-Cola and Heinz in the 1930s. And one can never discuss foreign investment without recognising the role of foreign investment in our automotive sector. Over the course of the 20th century, cars were built in Australia by a range of foreign automotive firms including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Leyland, Toyota and Nissan. The withdrawal of that foreign investment, goaded in part by the Treasurer's calling on Holden to speak out or pack up, has been damaging to Australia. The removal of foreign investment has been damaging, just as the addition of foreign investment has been beneficial.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

DOORSTOP INTERVIEW

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA

WEDNESDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 2015

SUBJECT/S: Joe Hockey’s uncosted multinational tax plan; tax transparency; effects test.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Thanks everyone for coming along today. Multinational tax avoidance has been a big issue in the Australian public eye this year. We know that many Australian firms and individuals do the right thing and pay their taxes. So they are justifiably outraged when they see reports about big multinationals not paying their fair share of tax. Today we saw Joe Hockey, after two years of bluff and bluster, announce a multinational package into the Parliament. It was a package so vague that his own Treasury can't cost it. Here's what the budget measure looked like in the budget: it's just a series of asterisks. No revenue estimates are attached to Mr Hockey's multinational tax package. 

HOCKEY'S EMPTY TAX PLAN

Joe Hockey’s handling of multinational tax shows sadly why he’s likely to be dumped as Treasurer.

After over two years of bluster, Mr Hockey’s best effort is a policy so vague that the Treasury couldn’t even cost it.

His budget papers have a series of asterisks where there should be revenue estimates. 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

666 ABC CANBERRA

TUESDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2015

SUBJECT/S: Liberal leadership.

PHILIP CLARK: Andrew Leigh is the Labor Member for Fraser, he joins me this morning. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning, Philp.

CLARK: Big day yesterday! Politics is exciting I know but did this take you by surprise?

LEIGH: It was pretty extraordinary, yes. As Malcolm Turnbull once put it during another leadership change of this kind, one of the most shocking events any of us have ever witnessed in politics.

CLARK: Yes, well. It's something of a mixed blessing for Labor. There's a lot of talk around Mr Turnbull's popularity and the plain fact is in poll terms, he is much more popular than Mr Abbott. That translates into electoral difficulty for Labor, doesn't it?

LEIGH: Philip, what ultimately matters is what is good for Australia. And if we can have a more sensible conversation about the future then I think that's terrific. Bill Shorten has been talking a lot about the need for jobs that transition beyond the investment phase of the mining boom. Investments in science, technology, engineering and maths are dealing with innovation, and we also need to make sure that we have policies to tackle the growing challenge of inequality. We're up for a policy-focused conversation, the question is whether Malcolm Turnbull is willing or able to move beyond the bad policies that have brought the Liberal Party to this point.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

TV INTERVIEW

SKY TO THE POINT

MONDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2015

SUBJECT/S: Deloitte tax reform report.

LAURA JAYES: Talking about a broader-based GST and the cost it would have to the economy, Chris Richardson, the economist at Deloitte Access Economics, says that it is far more efficient to look at the GST because you can compensate those lower to middle income earners. Andrew Leigh, do you agree with that assessment?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Well Laura, Chris has been a really important contributor to the Australian tax debate over the decades. I think it's an interesting report, there is much to agree with in broad terms. I like the point that the report makes that anyone that argues for a tax cut without saying where the revenue will come from shouldn't be taken seriously. But on the point of the GST, I did think that the report was mistaken in saying that the GST was a more efficient tax than income tax. Indeed, the report reprints a chart from the Treasury's tax white paper which shows the GST and the income tax as having the same efficiency cost on the economy. About 20 cents cost for one every dollar raised. And then, the efficiency cost goes up if you have to compensate households through increasing Government payments. That's something that the report doesn't take enough account of. If you look at where the highest marginal tax rates are in Australia, they're not the ones being paid by multi-millionaires. They're the ones being paid by welfare recipients. Raise them and that’s got to have a big efficiency cost.