Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to commend the speech just delivered by my good friend and colleague the member for Dunkley, who rose to speak on the Legislative Instruments Amendment (Sunsetting Measures) Bill 2012. I rise as well, because it is all too common an event both of us face that we need to rise in this place to explain how the government's policy differs from their rhetoric, how their actions do not meet their words and how their walk simply does not match their talk. This was never more so than in the case of regulation and red tape.

Under no circumstances can any member of the government come into the House and claim that they are cutting red tape and removing regulation when the evidence simply does not support this. I am deputy chair of the Coalition Deregulation Taskforce, which is so capably chaired by Senator Arthur Sinodinos and co-deputy chaired by Senator David Bushby. We have had the responsibility of meeting with community groups and businesses right around the nation, listening to the regulatory burden that they face. Let me tell you, it is not a pretty picture. It tells a story in which firms need to hire extra staff just to deal with administration, consultancy firms are specialising in compliance projects rather than growth projects and small business owners are spending their weekends filling in paperwork rather than with their families.

Labor's record of regulation and red tape is nothing short of atrocious. Since coming to government in 2007, Labor has introduced over 18,089 new regulations, with fewer than 86 of those regulations repealed. Yet this is before the mother of all regulatory burdens is even set to commence—the carbon tax. When we have talked about the carbon tax, what people have skated over in all of the debate to date is the over 1,000 pages of new regulations that go with this $9 billion-a-year new tax. There are 1,000 pages of regulations that have not yet been explained to business despite the fact that business has to comply with these regulations in only a matter of days. When we talk about uncertainty there is no greater example than a business not knowing what regulations they must abide by. Yet these are coming in, as I said, in just a matter of days. How can the government be taken seriously on the issue of regulation reform when they will not even talk about this themselves? They labelled the carbon tax the biggest economic reform for a generation, and yet it is totally off limits at the tax forum, the regulation forum and the business forum. They are the three most significant events on the government's calendar in relation to business and the economy, but the biggest supposed economic reform in a generation dare not speak its name in those forums. If it were not so serious, it would be simply a joke. This is beyond farce and beyond comprehension. It defies logic that the government continue to stick their fingers in their ears and ignore the very loud and very real concerns from business about this new carbon tax.

In my meetings as part of the task force I have visited Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney and of course my home town of Melbourne. The task force has met with well over a hundred associations, businesses, individuals and not-for-profit organisations, and not one has come back with a message that everything is fine, that they do not face any regulatory burdens. There is clearly a very significant need to address the red tape and regulation burden. But who faces the most significant burden when it comes to red tape? As pointed out by my colleague the member for Dunkley, it is the 2.7 million small businesses of this nation that cannot afford to employ high-cost consultants to manage the extra administration. We have heard so much evidence that many small businesses simply ignore the myriad regulations that daunt them. They simply ignore them and hope that they are not penalised if in fact they are found to be in conflict with any of the regulations they must abide by.

Why is it so important for governments to support and facilitate the growth of small business? Is it because small business employs over four million Australians and represents 95 per cent of all businesses? Is it because small business is one of the most critical elements to the engine room of any economy? It is of course because when small business is thriving our entire economy thrives. The important role of government when it comes to business is to implement policy settings that allow businesses to grow and thrive on their own, without reliance on government handouts and subsidies, so that the small businesses of today have the opportunity to become the large businesses of tomorrow. This is how true wealth is created and shared amongst the community—not by demonising the wealth creators and waging class warfare.

The benefit of removing red tape and unnecessary administrative burdens has been well documented. According to the Productivity Commission, red-tape reduction can contribute up to $12 billion to the economy and represents four per cent of all business costs. Therefore, we do commend the government for adopting a Howard government initiative to at least attempt to remove some regulation. However, this bill deals largely with redundant regulation that will not have a direct impact on current day-to-day business activities. We want to see from the government a genuine attempt to remove regulation that is restricting growth and, as a result, reducing competition.

Let me give you an example: in order to tender for $5 million or more of government funding for construction projects, firms must be approved by the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner. However, in order to gain this approval, the firm must employ an occupational health and safety officer on every project they are currently undertaking, no matter how large or how small. It could be a job as simple as digging a ditch. This position could cost a business as much as $150,000 per annum. Given that firms could have multiple projects running concurrently, the costs quickly escalate, thereby making it prohibitive for smaller firms to tender for these lucrative government contracts. It defies common sense. Consequently, only large firms have the capacity to compete for these projects, thus removing competition and forcing up prices. How can small to medium sized firms be expected to grow when they are in effect restricted from even tendering for such projects?

The government claim that they are addressing regulation through measures like this bill, even though we have already established it will not have any great effect on business, and their so-called deregulation forum—a deregulation forum that I note only occurred after our leader, Tony Abbott, announced the coalition's deregulation task force. But the government's deregulation forum was simply a forum of 2½ hours with 25 participants, which equates to a measly six minutes per presentation. It is time for the government to stop playing around the edges and participate in genuine regulatory reform that addresses the real issues that businesses and not-for-profits are facing. But we know that under this government that simply will not happen.

It needs to be said that the coalition is not in and of itself against regulation. We believe that some regulation can be good and some regulation is necessary. The coalition, though, is against regulation that has no impact on its intended consequences or, worse, actually restricts companies from conducting business, like the example mentioned before. That is why the coalition, through the work done by the coalition's deregulation task force and in conjunction with the shadow ministers, are meticulously working through, industry by industry, ways in which we can remove cumbersome and burdensome regulation. The final report will be completed later this year.

The coalition have already made significant announcements—including that we will be removing $1 billion of red tape and regulation—and the coalition deregulation task force will build on these. The coalition has already stated that, amongst other things, we will be creating a one-stop shop for environmental approvals that is, properly, overseen by the states, and provides an opportunity for the states to apply both federal and state environmental regulation in one process rather than in two, where the process can be gamed and projects can be delayed.

We have also stated that we will simplify the administration of compulsory employee superannuation contributions by allowing small business to remit compulsory superannuation contributions to the ATO, which would then distribute them to superannuation funds. We have also committed to moving the administration of the national Paid Parental Leave scheme from small business to the government's Family Assistance Office. We will end the Gillard government's attacks on family businesses and the self-employed by recognising independent contracting as a legitimate form of business, allowing them the freedom to engage in and contribute to the economy without harassment or new legislation. But, most importantly, a coalition government will rescind Labor's carbon tax—a carbon tax that will increase costs for every small business and increase red tape and regulation, which will ultimately export jobs and emissions overseas. So, although we do support this bill, there needs to be a proper, real and concerted effort to deal with the regulation and red-tape problem that is plaguing our nation's businesses and strangling our capacity to grow and prosper as Australians.

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