Ross Solly:
Andrew Leigh, are you competing in the masters games this weekend? You should be.
Andrew Leigh:
I’m not Ross, it’s more for sprinters. I tend to be far more of a long‑distance person.
Solly:
Come on though, you’re as fit as a Mallee bull. You’d be out there. Surely, you could do 100 metres in under 20 seconds?
Leigh:
I don’t have a fast‑twitch muscle fibre in my body, but I greatly admire those who are doing it. And it’s just such a treat to have all of these athletes in town reminding us that exercise is a lifelong endeavour.
Solly:
Yeah indeed. Welcome to everybody who’s coming to town for our masters games. Andrew Leigh, by the way, did you know that QR code stands for quick response?
Leigh:
I did not. It is one of those things that makes you wonder why we needed the acronym Ross. It takes barely any more time to talk about a quick response code and I kind of prefer that phrase to the acronym.
Solly:
You prefer quick response than QR? Okay. I mean, you’ve got the power to change it Andrew Leigh I guess.
Leigh:
We all do Ross.
Solly:
If it needs to be done. I’m only going off a listener there. I assume they’re not leading us up the garden path here, but they say it stands for quick response. So, it’s something that I’ve never wondered and now I think, okay that makes sense to me. Andrew Leigh, thank you for joining us this morning.
You’re giving a speech today about right to repair. Now, this was brought in because of problems that people with cars were having when they were taking them into non‑dealers. Correct me if I’m wrong here – they’re taking them into non‑specific dealers. So, if you bought a Mazda for example – you took it into your local garage who wasn’t a Mazda dealer, they weren’t able to repair it because they couldn’t access all the history and all the information. Is that right?
Leigh:
That’s right. Modern cars are computers on wheels, and relatively few things these days can just be fixed with a spanner. More often, you need diagnostic tools and to tap into the software. Sometimes it’ll require a software upgrade, just as your computer will. And what we’d seen happening before we brought in the Motor Vehicle Information Sharing Scheme is that authorised dealers were getting the bulk of the work and independent mechanics were being shut out.
We’ve introduced that requirement now for manufacturers to provide the software information to authorised dealers with appropriate checks for safety and security, and that’s seen a big improvement in how independent mechanics have been able to operate. They say that there’s been about a 40 per cent fall in the number of cars they’ve had to turn away and about two‑thirds of them say that their productivity has gone up. It really matters, because this is a sector which employers nearly 140,000 Australians. So, getting the independent mechanic sector strong is important, and of course it’s great for consumers.
Solly:
And the manufacturers generally embrace it or are you finding some of them are still a little bit tardy Andrew Leigh?
Leigh:
I mean, there’s different levels of co‑operation, but in general the manufacturers have been good. Indeed, better than I had feared at the outset. We’re just reviewing the scheme now and looking at how it operates, but our judgment is that there’s been improvements in the automotive repair sector. And what that means concretely Ross, is that people are fixing cars rather than just throwing them away and going getting a new one. So, if you can extend the life of the car fleet that’s good for affordability and good for Australia.
Solly:
The question I guess we have to ask Andrew Leigh is, why stop at cars? There are other areas where surely we could also – maybe we already do, maybe you’re about to tell me we already do this. But I understand that in America for example – agricultural equipment, electronic wheelchairs – in Europe there’s a lot of other areas where similar sorts of things to right to repair already exists. Do we have anything to match that or is it something that we need to maybe look at doing?
Leigh:
We’re certainly looking at other areas Ross and the natural one to consider is agricultural machinery, where increasingly farmers are telling us the same things that independent mechanics were telling us a few years ago. That they are not able to have independent repairers fix tractors, no other agricultural machinery because now those machines are so software intensive. So, we’re working with the sector to see how we might make a difference there.
Right to repair is one of the issues that flowed out of the Treasurer’s Economic Reform Roundtable. And it’s an area where it looks to us as though there’s potential significant productivity gains. Now you think about the benefits to a farmer of being able to get a tractor fixed quickly or a harvester fixed quickly at harvest time, that’s really important.
Solly:
And I mean, it must cost. It’s costing consumers a lot more, I would imagine, plus also delaying work that could be done; repair work surely.
Leigh:
Indeed, it’s incredibly frustrating for farmers. New South Wales Farmers Association has moved a motion calling for a legislated right of repair. We’ve got stories from farmers about having to take their agricultural machinery to authorised dealers who replace a whole big assembly rather than a small part. In one case people say, so it’s a $50 part, but they were made to replace the whole $1,600 assembly. So, we’re working very carefully with that sector, because we recognise the benefits to agricultural productivity when fundamentally it’s an economic reform, it’s a sustainability reform, it’s also a fairness reform.
Solly:
Well, how far off bringing in some of these changes are we?
Leigh:
We’re engaging the states and territories. The Economic Reform Roundtable put it on the agenda of National Competition Policy. So, we’re working with the states and territories about how we can get it done.
Solly:
This texter, who obviously has some skin in the game when it comes to this says ‘Manufacturers provide the data, but for a fee, and it’s not cheap. Some don’t provide it at all as easily as others.’
Leigh:
There are certainly fees to access the scheme, and you have to be authorised. That was part of the scheme from the outset, and there is a cost to the manufacturers of providing this but the way in which the scheme is administered is in order to ensure that the fees aren’t extortionate – that they’re proportional to the cost of providing the information.
Solly:
Someone else says, ‘Authorised dealers have had a lock on servicing for years.’ I guess digital locks is also a problem Andrew Leigh, getting some manufacturers to be willing to give those up?
Leigh:
Spot on Ross, you’ve got to be able to get through those digital locks if you’re going to do the fixes. Manufacturers, before we brought in the scheme said, ‘no it’s impossible. You couldn’t possibly allow independent repairers through’. But what independent repairers have shown over recent years is they’re able to work carefully and ethically with the whole range of different models, and that’s been good for consumers.
Solly:
The other issue – by the way, it’s 23 past 7 on ABC Canberra Breakfast. Can you give us an update Andrew Leigh on the Food and Grocery Code Supervisor’s situation. Now, in I think it was the first of April, you brought in the new code to try and make things fairer for producers and farmers who were providing food items et cetera, for supermarkets. Is it working?
Leigh:
Yeah, just a bit of background for your listeners Ross, when we came to office, there was a Food and Grocery Code covering the relationship between the big supermarkets and the suppliers, but it was toothless. There were no penalties attached to it. We took that toothless code and replaced it with a code with significant penalties; a mandatory Code of Conduct and under that, we’re now calling on suppliers to give us more feedback about how that’s working.
There’s an anonymous survey taking place, and we’re encouraging anyone who supplies to the big supermarkets to take part in that survey. People won’t necessarily have answering a government survey as top of their list, but it really is important to ensure that the new system is working as well as intended for suppliers and farmers.
Solly:
What’s the general feedback you’re getting from suppliers and farmers? I mean, I know that’s what this survey is all about. But we heard some horror stories, didn’t we Andrew Leigh, before you changed the rules about farmers basically being forced to barely break even on some of their products because of the some of the barriers that the supermarkets were putting up?
Leigh:
Absolutely Ross and it was worst for the fresh produce suppliers, who would sometimes find themselves having produce turned away from some of the big supermarkets on grounds of quality, with no‑one to appeal to, and prices changed at the last minute. So, for those suppliers, it’s been a real game changer. The Coalition voted against the mandatory Code of Conduct in parliament. We think it is one of the best reforms for farmers that we’ve been able to deliver during our term in government.
Solly:
Well, I’ll be interested to hear what the farmers say when you finish conducting this survey. Andrew Leigh, good to speak with you this morning. Thank you.
Leigh:
Likewise, thanks Ross.
Solly:
That’s Dr Andrew Leigh, who’s the Assistant Minister for Productivity Competition, Charities, and Treasury. He’s also the Member for Fenner, on ABC Canberra Breakfast.