Politics With Michelle Grattan: Andrew Leigh On Competition - Economic And Political

(MENAFN- The Conversation) The Albanese government and the Australian public are currently focused on the cost-of-living crisis and its impact on household budgets.

For Australia's longer-term economic outlook, the government is looking at reforms that are needed to increase competition and our flat-lined productivity.

Andrew Leigh is in the middle of this debate. He's Assistant Minister for Employment and Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. In a speech he delivers on Thursday, Leigh homes in on one issue inhibiting competition which affects a surprising number of workers –“non-compete” clauses that ban people from competing with their former employer, for a certain time, or in a specific geographical area, or even both.

Andrew Leigh joined the podcast to talk about this and other competition issues, including the push from some advocates for the government to legislate for power to break up companies that behave badly. We also venture into the territory of Australia's duopolistic party system, where the voters are trying to inject a bit more competition by supporting“community candidates”.

On why the Australian economy needs competition reform, Leigh says:

On supermarkets, accused by many consumers of misusing their market power:

But Leigh is not a supporter of the divestiture route:

Finally, what about competition in federal politics where voters are shifting away from the major party blocs towards small parties and independents? Leigh sees both sides:

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