Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

About 60 per cent of Australian businesses are sole traders and 85 per cent have fewer than five employees. All too often, the local newsagent, drycleaner, baker and butcher has to be the accountant, marketer, HR manager and cleaner for the business as well as the chief salesperson. They are virtually suffocating in red tape and it is well past time to say 'enough'.

On the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness ranking, Australia has slipped six places in four years to 21st. Australia's ranking on the burden of government regulation is 128th—yes, 128th in the world, nestled between Romania and Angola. On The Economist's productivity growth ranking, we come second last, just ahead of Botswana.

The first instinct of democratic politicians, confronted with a problem, is to promise to make it go away. Like a fence at the top of a cliff, sometimes regulation is necessary, but there is a limit to what government should do to protect us from ourselves.

More regulation is not the solution to every corporate, community or personal failing. Sometimes, we just have to accept that mistakes are inevitable and that misfortunes are unavoidable. When someone in authority gets it wrong, the best outcome might be a timely resignation rather than more regulation. When it comes to making us act responsibly, good example may be better than more rules.

As Tony Blair has conceded, government cannot guarantee a risk-free life. 'Ambiguity, uncertainty, the wisdom that comes with failing and changing your mind', he says, 'are all essential to progress'; because 'a risk averse public sector will stifle creativity and deny to many the opportunities to be creative.'

Since day one, this government has been cutting red tape. On day one, we began the process of scrapping the carbon tax. Repealing the carbon tax removes over 1,000 pages of primary and subordinate legislation and removes compliance costs from over 75,000 businesses. Repealing the carbon tax not only takes a $9 billion handbrake off our economy and gives a $550 bonus to households but will provide a direct red tape saving to business of $85 million a year. And repealing the mining tax will save businesses more than $10 million in compliance costs.

Fifty-five announced but unlegislated tax measures will no longer proceed—including the previous government's $1.8 billion FBT hit on the car industry, and the cap on self-education expenses that would have hit tradies, nurses and teachers. Every cabinet submission now has a regulation impact statement so that its potential impact on business, community groups and households can more readily be identified.

All Commonwealth government portfolios now have a dedicated deregulation unit, formed from existing staff, because it is sometimes more important to repeal old laws than to pass new ones. Each cabinet minister is expected to consult widely before finalising new policy because the first law of government should be: do no harm.

At the December COAG meeting, all states and territories agreed to create one-stop shops for environmental approvals so that major projects will only need to be assessed once, not twice. There is already a one-stop shop for offshore environmental approvals which the Office of Best Practice Regulation estimates will save businesses $120 million a year.

Soon, NHMRC grants will run for five years—not three—so that successful medical researchers will spend less time filling out forms. This government is making it easier for people to do business with government by reducing reporting requirements, by using credit cards more and by paying bills on time. This government has also scrapped the Aged Care Workforce Supplement that forced providers to sign up to union-dictated enterprise bargaining agreements.

See this speech in context