Andrew Leigh

SUBJECTS: Card surcharges; Supermarket competition

MATTHEW PANTELIS, HOST: It is quarter to ten on 5AA. The Federal Government's promising to crack down on card surcharges over the next couple of years and these changes proposed won't take effect until January 1st, 2026. So, in about 15 or so months. We've been losing nearly a billion dollars in surcharges a year as we increasingly pay with tap and go. Some suggest the figure could be as high in surcharges as $4 billion raked in through the use of cards.

Well, that needs to stop. The competition charities, treasury assistant Minister is Dr. Andrew Leigh, and he joins me now. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning, Matthew. Great to be with you.

PANTELIS: So, this is important to tackle, isn't it? I mean, it's basically just the icing on the cake that you don't necessarily notice in a transaction where you're told this will be $5.80 for that cup of coffee, check the credit card receipt later. It turns out it was $5.87 because it's a surcharge.

LEIGH: Card surcharges are sand in the gears of the modern economy. We all just find it annoying when we think we know what the price is and then suddenly find a surcharge being slapped on top of it. And small businesses hate them because they find themselves paying a bigger surcharge often than the big companies. So, it's putting small businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

TOPICS: Social media comments by ACT Greens candidate; Middle East conflicts; Live Nation; Non-compete clauses

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, HOST: Time to talk federal politics with the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury and the Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh. Andrew, if this was a Labor or Liberal candidate, it just wouldn't be tolerated.

ANDREW LEIGH: I think that's right. I haven't seen the comments directly, but I think the Greens certainly need to answer for all of their candidates.

CENATIEMPO: I just want to, it's extraordinary that we've gotten to a point in Australia now where, you know, we used to have robust discussion and you know, Question Time was always lively and animated and there was always robust disagreement between the major parties. But we seem to have these fringe elements coming into our body politic now that are just dragging the level down to something that we've never seen before.

LEIGH: We find it very hard as the Labor Party in Parliament when we have the Greens agitating alongside people who are vandalising the electorate offices of Labor MPs. And then on the other side of us we've got the Coalition who are more extreme than our ally, the United States. Our Labor government has signed on to a joint statement with the UK, the US, Canada and New Zealand calling for a ceasefire and the Coalition won't support that. So hard to be a centrist in Parliament.

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, on whose traditional lands we meet, and pay respect to all First Nations people here today.

Thank you to Glenn Keys and his team for the invitation to address you and launch Aspen Medical Foundation’s first annual report.

Some starting presumptions. If you’re here today, it is highly probable you’re a friend to the Foundation, perhaps as a contributor to its initiatives, or as a beneficiary of them.

I will also presume you appreciate the role played by smart, innovative philanthropy in modern society.

The role of reimagining what’s possible.

Joint media release with The Hon Jim Chalmers MP | Treasurer

The Albanese Government has reappointed Dr David Gruen AO as the full‑time Australian Statistician to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for a further five years, beginning on 11 December 2024.

Dr Gruen has served as the Australian Statistician since 2019, providing outstanding leadership of the ABS through a unique period in history.

Dr Gruen is one of Australia’s best and most experienced economists and has a distinguished record of public service. He previously served as Deputy Secretary in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and in the Department of the Treasury.

The Albanese Government is taking action to fight shrinkflation in our supermarkets and retail sector by strengthening the Unit Pricing Code to make it easier for Australians to make accurate and timely price comparisons.

The Government will also introduce substantial penalties for supermarkets who do the wrong thing and breach the Unit Pricing Code.

The practice of 'shrinkflation' is becoming increasingly common, where the size of a product is reduced, but the price at the supermarket is the same or even increases, taking advantage of Australians doing their groceries.

Address to the UK Evaluation Task Force - London

In mid-1998, a year after the election of the Blair Government, I decided that I’d hop on a plane and see it up close. I’d just finished up an intense year as a judge’s associate, working for Justice Michael Kirby on the High Court of Australia, and wanted a break. In Australia, John Howard had just begun what would become the second-longest Prime Ministership in Australian history. Tony Blair’s election was pretty exciting for a young Labo(u)r supporter.

Before leaving Australia, I sent about fifty faxes off to different Labour MPs, asking if they had any work for someone whose enthusiasm greatly exceeded my knowledge of British political institutions. Half a dozen MPs politely agreed to have a cup of tea with me, and I picked up some part-time work with two: Fiona Mactaggart and Ross Cranston.

I attempted to fill in the gaps in my knowledge of British politics, reading the hard-bitten works of Philip Gould and Peter Mandelson, the political philosophy of Anthony Giddens and the tales of John O’Farrell, summed up in Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter. For much of the time, I lived in a share house in Kennington, and often walked to work, crossing the Thames at Westminster Bridge, photobombing a tourist photo in front of Oliver Cromwell’s statue, and arriving at work at the ironically named Palace of Westminster. I only spent four months here, but went home impressed.

Address to Oxford University, England

Thank you to each of you – randomistas and non-randomistas alike – for taking the time to join us today. I am grateful to my friend and co-author, the prodigiously productive Philip Clarke for making today’s talk happen, and to our four institutional hosts: Oxford Population Health’s REAL Supply and Demand Units, the Oxford Health Economics Research Centre, and the Oxford Centre for Health Economics.

This is the first talk I’ve given at Oxford since the passing of my extraordinary co-author Tony Atkinson on New Year’s Day 2017. Alongside many of you at Nuffield and the broader Oxford community, I was one of those whose work was shaped by Tony’s ideas and ideals. His smiling photo hangs on the wall behind my desk – a reminder that the best academics aren’t just brilliant and brave, but gentle and generous too.

Let’s start with a story.

Today, I will travel to the United Kingdom to discuss rigorous policy evaluation with experts and policymakers.

Rigorous policy evaluation is an important tool for creating opportunity and addressing inequality. The meetings will be a valuable chance to exchange ideas with a jurisdiction that has been a leader in the field of evidence-based policymaking.