Andrew Leigh

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
RADIO 2CC INTERVIEW WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO

MONDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2024

Subjects: An open register of corporate ownership

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, HOST: All right, third time lucky. We're going to talk to Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment, and Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, the gremlins have got me, mate. If you were the Communications Minister, I'll be going after you.

ANDREW LEIGH: Indeed, Stephen. I think you're having a few tech issues this morning, but it's lovely to be with you.

CENATIEMPO: We got there in the end. Now, tell us about these reforms for beneficial ownership of unlisted companies. What does that mean?

LEIGH: Well, it's basically about knowing who really owns Australian firms. Right now, our share market register is too opaque and often the person who's listed on the register is actually a holding company. So, this, for the first time, ensures that you're not able to hide behind the corporate veil. That's important in terms of transparency, in terms of making sure that firms aren't being used for nefarious purposes. It's a way in which many other countries are moving to having a little bit more honesty and transparency in their corporate registers. We're taking those next steps today, really moving Australia into the 21st century when it comes to its corporate registers.

CENATIEMPO: What's the impetus for this? Is this phoenixing and those kinds of things that are happening in the building industry? Is that the kind of thing we're trying to avoid here?

LEIGH: Look, that's one of it. And then also just the risk of tax avoidance if you're not properly listing who owns Australian firms. One of the strange things I discovered when I looked into this, Stephen, is that sometimes the managers of companies have to pay private investigators to find out who the owners are, because they can't just find out from the registry –

National Australia Indonesia Language Awards

Andrew Leigh
Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury
Assistant Minister for Employment

Australian National University
Canberra

7 December 2024

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, on whose lands we meet, and all First Nations people present.

Salamat sore. Welcome to the National Australia Indonesia Language Awards (NAILA). A special welcome to those of you who have come from outside Canberra for these awards. I recognise NAILA Director Jade Lee, NAILA founder Maighdlin Doyle, Indonesian Ambassador Siswo Pramono and organiser Andaleeb Akhand.

When I was five years old, our family moved to Indonesia. My father was a political scientist who had written his PhD on Malaysia. When an opportunity came up to work in Banda Aceh at Syiah Kuala University, he decided to move there. In preparation, my father did his Indonesian language training at Point Cook, an Air Force base in Victoria, where he was assigned the notional rank of Squadron Leader and told that he not to go anywhere near a plane. He got full immersion training, and studied Indonesian language diligently.

When we arrived in Indonesia, my mother developed her own expertise. She researched Acehnese handicrafts, and wrote Tangan-Tangan Trampil (The Hands of Time). She also developed an interest in how Acehnese schools were used to convey a sense of national identity (Pancasila), which ultimately turned into a PhD. Perhaps watching a five-year-old son attending the local Acehnese school and singing patriotic Indonesian songs had something to do with this.

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH 

‘And the OSCA Goes To… Australia’s Resilient Labour Market’

Australian Bureau of Statistics Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) Launch

ABS House, Canberra

Friday 6 DECEMBER 2024

Welcome to the world’s most statistically literate Oscar (OSCA) ceremony.

I want to acknowledge traditional owners, recognise all First Nations people present, and to say how much I appreciate the work that the ABS does towards closing the gaps.

It's a rare event where I get to put on my ‘I Love Evidence’ badge, so thank you for giving me an excuse to do that today.

6 December 2024

And the OSCA goes to… Australia’s resilient labour market

The Albanese Government’s responsible economic management has ensured the labour market has been resilient in the face of global and domestic pressures.

More than a million jobs have been created since the election, the participation rate is near record highs and the unemployment rate at 4.1 per cent is lower than its historical average.

The Albanese Government announced $23.7 million funding for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to update the national occupation classification standard as part of its ongoing economic plan for a strong labour market.

This is the first major update since 2006 and marks the mutually agreed decision to separate Australia’s occupational classification system from New Zealand’s.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury
Assistant Minister for Employment

MEDIA RELEASE

6 December 2024

Proposals to improve transparency of the true owners of unlisted companies

The Albanese Government has released proposals for the first phase of our commitment to improve information on the beneficial ownership of unlisted companies.

The reforms will ensure, for the first time, that unlisted companies maintain an accurate, up-to-date register of their real owners.

Currently, under the Corporations Act 2001, companies must maintain registers of their members. However, beneficial owners – individuals who ultimately control a company through an entity such as a trust - are not always the legal owners of a company and so may not be included in the company’s membership register.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury
Assistant Minister for Employment

TRANSCRIPT

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC WITH JOSH HAIZER AND BRENT FORD

Topic: Supporting Philanthropic Giving

5 DECEMBER 2024

BRENT FORD: But there is a change that is coming in terms of the Albanese government looking to make it easier for Australians to support causes close to their heart. And Josh, I know you like supporting causes, so this is one that will be something that you find quite interesting.

JOSH HAIZER: Yeah.

FORD: So, the way that they're looking at doing that is they will remove the requirement that a gift must be at least $2 before a donor can claim a tax deduction.

HAIZER: Oh, before it's tax deductible.

FORD: Yeah.

HAIZER: Yeah, okay.

FORD: I think it's a great idea. And to talk to us more about it is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. He's also the Member for Fenner. Of course I'm talking about Andrew Leigh. A very good afternoon, Andrew.

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

FORD: Why bring about these changes to the donation laws?

LEIGH: Well, this really is getting rid of an odd old law. The $2 donation threshold goes back to before decimal currency. It used to be a 1-pound threshold. And if you look back then, 1 pound is probably worth about 30 bucks today. But it's just stayed in our laws and it's an impediment to these round up for charity schemes which encourage you to round your purchase up and give the extra money to charity. There's a range of charities doing round up that could then collate your donations together at the end of the year. You know, 20 cents here, 50 cents there, over the course of the year it really adds up.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO THE COUNTRY HOUR – FAITH TABALUJAN

Topic: Food and Grocery Code of Conduct

4 DECEMBER 2024

Faith Tabalujan, interviewer:  The Labor government maintains this legislation has been broadly welcomed by producers and farming bodies. Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh says a mandatory code of conduct is key to curbing supermarket power.

Andrew Leigh: The rules that govern the relationship between farmers and supermarkets are the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. It was set up by the Liberals and Nationals as a toothless voluntary code. We decided to make it mandatory with multimillion dollar penalties for supermarkets that do the wrong thing. We just passed those penalties through the Parliament. This is a really important measure to get a fair go for families and a fair go for farmers.

Supporting philanthropic giving

The Albanese Government is making it easier for Australians to support causes close to their hearts by reforming the tax deductibility of donations and how philanthropic funds operate.

Under the changes, the government will remove the requirement that a gift must be at least $2 before a donor can claim a tax deduction.

This will support greater participation in philanthropy, by encouraging small donations including rounding up purchases at the point‑of‑sale in store and online.

Expressions of Interest for the Volunteer Grants program 2024-25 are now open for organisations based in Fenner.

Volunteer Grants recognise the valuable role volunteers play in building more resilient and cohesive communities. Grants of between $1000 and $5000 are available to help community organisations to support their volunteers.

This year, changes have been made to the Volunteer Grants program to better respond to the environment volunteer organisations are now faced with and our government’s commitment to children and young people.

There are now two categories for Volunteer Grants which reflect areas of high demand for volunteer organisations:

• Category 1: for communications and IT items (such as laptops, phones, payment devices and software), and paying for insurance premiums.
• Category 2: for items and services that support the development and well-being of children and young people under 18.

More information on the eligibility criteria can be found in the Grant Opportunity Guidelines. My office is also happy to help talk you through the changes.

If you are interested in submitting an expression of interest, please fill out the Expression of Interest Form and return to my office via [email protected] by 17 January 2025. 

The West Australian 2 December 2024

On my coffee table sits a board game. Designed by 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. While Monopoly’s goal is unfairness, Anti-Monopoly’s goal is fairness. You win when the board becomes a proper free market system.

Getting a fairer deal for families is at the heart of Labor’s competition agenda. Already, we’ve raised the penalties for anti-competitive conduct and banned unfair contract terms. We’ve given more resources to the competition watchdog to monitor unit pricing and address shrinkflation.

Crucially, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has introduced to parliament the biggest shakeup in Australian merger laws in half a century.