ROSS SOLLY:
At my count and what I’ve read, there are 76 government bills currently before both chambers up on the hill. Now this is the last week before the Christmas break so I’m not quite sure how many of those 76 government bills will go through. But what we do know is the government on the weekend announced that it was walking away from a couple of key bills, including the misinformation and disinformation laws bill. And it’s also now, putting on the backburner now, gambling reforms.
Now, ACT Senator David Pocock this morning has said that this government is absolutely gutless, and that this is a win for Peter V’landys at the betting industry and that it betrays the Legacy of Peta Murphy, who was the Labor member who worked so hard to try and get some sort of reforms in place.
Andrew Leigh is the Member for Fenner and joins us on the program now. Andrew Leigh, good morning to you.
ANDREW LEIGH:
Good morning, Ross great to be with you.
SOLLY:
Yeah, just on that, David Pocock says you’re being gutless here, you need to take the bit between your teeth and run with this.
LEIGH:
Peta Murphy was a mate of mine, so I found David Pocock’s comments pretty offensive. We have worked incredibly hard to progress gambling reform. The fact that we aren’t able to find the numbers in the Senate at the moment to pursue sensible reforms the minister has put up is disappointing.
SOLLY:
Well, how do you know you can’t find the numbers? you haven’t tested it have you?
LEIGH:
It’s quite clear at the moment Ross the numbers aren’t there to progress the reforms the government has put through which would significantly curtail gambling adds around major sporting events so there would be a blackout period before and after sporting events. It would massively reduce the number of gambling adds that people see on TV. That’s a really important reform. It’s about making sure we disconnect the enjoyment of sport from gambling.
SOLLY:
Do you think most in the community would support these sorts of changes Andrew Leigh?
LEIGH:
Absolutely.
SOLLY:
So why not put it up there as I saw written by one commentator this morning and why not leave it if people like the Greens, the Independents and the Liberal party let them wear the cost for opposing it could not be sheeted home then the blame for that.
LEIGH:
Ross, as you’ve been very clear we have a big legislative agenda there’s a lot to get done this week. In my own patch there’s a couple of multinational tax loophole closing bills, there’s the merger reform the Treasurer has introduced. So, there’s important legislation that we’re working to push the Senate this week. We’re a government that’s ambitious for the country and ambitious for what we can get done. So, we’re looking for a lot that done this week.
SOLLY:
Look this has been a discussion for some time these gambling reforms we know there’s big industry out there that don’t want the reforms. Whenever you delay this sort of stuff, when you put it on the back burner, here’s a text, for example, ‘Backing off on the gambling laws is all about the election and Labor not wanting the gambling and television moguls against them during this period’.
LEIGH:
That’s garbage, Ross. If we thought the numbers were there, we’d put it to the parliament immediately, but the fact that the numbers aren’t there says everything about the way in which the Opposition is moving into blocking mode. I can see why that’s in their political interests. I can see why the Coalition want to simply cause havoc in the parliament. But I don’t see why it’s in the national interest. And really as a parliamentarian your first obligation needs to be to the nation. We’re not seeing that from Peter Dutton’s Opposition at the moment. They’re looking for every excuse to block bills because they know that that is better for them in their narrow political interests. Even if it’s worse for the country.
SOLLY:
I mean it’s one thing for the Liberal Party to stand in line though, but you’ve got Independents, you’ve got Greens there, if you can’t convince them to support this is there a problem in the legislation itself?
LEIGH:
We’re pushing on a range of fronts. I mean you’ve spoken before about housing here, Ross, and we have a Help to Buy program and the Build to Rent program, both stuck in the Senate at the moment through an unholy coalition of Liberals, Nationals and Greens opposing progress. They say that they would like more young Australians to be able to afford a home. The Greens themselves went to the last election with a shared equity scheme, and yet they’re blocking reform. So, we will continue pushing through our important legislative agenda, making sure that we get a better deal for Australians on key issues such as cost of living. Cost of living really is front and centre for us as a government, Ross, and so much of our legislative agenda is focussed on bringing costs down for households, getting wages up and working hard to get inflation back to where it should be.
SOLLY:
A couple of texts on this, different views. ‘Well Ross, Labor is about to lose a lot of votes due to their continual spineless behaviour. I hope they all have jobs lined up with betting apps’. Somebody else says, ‘It’s offensive of a gutless Labor to not push for addressing a social cancer’. Somebody else says, ‘Pity the pollies didn’t work more during the year and there’d not be the inevitable rush and late nights now’. But then on the other side, this is Rowan, ‘Good morning. Gambling reform is a niche issue. Rather it should be a focus on addictive behaviour treatment. Good to see it shelved. Maybe a concentration on issues such as the disability tariff carried by the 3.5 million Australians with a disability not covered by the NDIS’. This is Steve, ‘Andrew Leigh circumventing answering the question. How typical. Bring back Bob McMahon’, says Steve. This texter though says, ‘Maybe the deliberate use of misinformation, a polite term for lies, and disinformation should be made illegal by politicians. The Opposition blocks everything, whether right or wrong. Dutton has to go’. You do have 76 bills before both chambers. I mean how determined are you and what are your priorities this week then, Andrew Leigh, it’s not misinformation and disinformation, if it’s not gambling reforms, what are the issues that you’re going to die in the ditch for this week to get them through before you rise, possibly for the last time before the next election?
LEIGH:
Ross, I don’t think it’s going to be bodies in ditches. We’re very keen to work constructively with the crossbench and with the Opposition. We think there’s a range of areas where we can get moving. So, for example, in putting in place a global minimum tax. That would be an important reform for the global tax system. Our merger reforms, the biggest merger shake up in 50 years, passed the House of Representatives last week. We’re very excited about seeing that move into reality, and getting it passed by the parliament this week means that business has the time to prepare for this important change, which will put downward pressure on prices and ensure Australians get a better deal on their wages. So, there’s a set of reforms, I’ve only touched on a couple of them. But as an ambitious government, a government that is ambitious for the country, we’re really keen to see the work being done that continues all of the important reforms we’ve made. Everything from ensuring that every taxpayer gets a tax cut to providing those energy bill rebates that are flowing out to Canberrans.
SOLLY:
Right. 16 to 9. Just an issue which is sort of in your area. There was a big Australian crypto convention on the weekend and Coalition Senator Andrew Bragg addressed it and said that your government has failed to legislate rules for cryptocurrency exchanges and it’s left millions of Australians exposed because of Bitcoin’s dramatic price increase. Are you asleep at the wheel when it comes to cryptocurrency, Andrew Leigh, are you doing enough to protect those who are in that area?
LEIGH:
I think Andrew Bragg’s had every possible position on crypto. He used to be a crypto booster, now he’s a crypto sceptic. I’m never really sure where he stands these days. The fact is we’ve got important reforms which we’re pursuing on crypto. We’ve just put out a discussion paper around this, looking at ways in which crypto assets will be regulated, and that’s working with range of other countries.
SOLLY:
Is there any urgency in this area though? We know that there’s been a change of course in the US and there seems to be some very crypto focussed people in positions of power now. Is there a need to have some sort of urgency in this area, Andrew Leigh?
LEIGH:
Yeah, I mean there’s an international agreement which we’re looking to implement which is around the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework. That’s where the consultation paper went out last week. We understand that it’s important to consult on big reforms such as this, and so we’ve done that. Australians will have a chance to have their say on the way in which crypto assets need to be reported, and that’s critical because we don’t want organised crime to be profiting off crypto. We want Australians who are using crypto to be doing so in the same way as you would engage in securities or other assets.
SOLLY:
Just one other issue before I let you go. Three prominent Australian business leaders, the Chief Executive Officer of Wesfarmers Rob Scott, BP Australia’s President Lucy Nation and Cochlear’s Dig Howitt all addressed a conference on the weekend and said that we are at risk of becoming the unlucky country, Andrew Leigh, that we are lowering living standards, we have poorer job prospects and less opportunity because governments no longer have the backbone to follow through on important decisions to continue what was set up in the 80s. Are we in danger of becoming the unlucky country?
LEIGH:
Ross, I’m really proud of what we’ve done over the course of this term. We’ve got real wages moving again, inflation is less than half what it was when we came to office. There’s been more than a million jobs created, and we’ve managed to bring inflation back in the Reserve Bank’s target bands without sending unemployment soaring. To have essentially full employment in this country while managing to control inflation is a remarkable effort. And then if you look at the long‑term reforms, things like establishing the Australian Centre for Evaluation, getting National Competition Policy going again, they’re core to driving productivity in the country.
SOLLY:
So why does Rob Scott, Lucy Nation and Dig Howitt, why do they all think that it’s not working and that we are actually going backwards and becoming the unlucky country? I mean these are people very well connected; they know what’s happening in business circles?
LEIGH:
Well, you’d have to ask them for their views. But our productivity agenda is as ambitious as any other government has had in the past.
SOLLY:
You’re not making it up, you think they might be just making it up?
LEIGH:
It’s up to them to account for their views, Ross. I’m not going to take the bait and getting into a battle with business leaders. But I will strongly defend what we’re doing in the competition space. I think it’s great productivity reform. I’ll defend what we’re doing in the wages space, getting wages going up and creating a record number of jobs. That is important Labor reform. Not to mention the 40 per cent increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance and the increase in JobSeeker payments. That has assisted those who are doing it tough.
SOLLY:
Andrew Leigh, we’ll need to leave it there. Thanks for your time this morning.
LEIGH:
Thanks so much, Ross.
SOLLY:
That is Andrew Leigh, the federal Member for Fenner and of course federal minister for various other things.