Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Next time you should stand up. I could not see you.

The Parliamentary Secretary wrote a very good piece for the Herald Sun. It was entitled 'We must loosen the ties that bind'. Nothing could sum up what we are about better than that title. Those few simple words sum up what this government is about: loosening the ties that bind our nation. Through you, Mr Deputy Speaker, you lot over there had six years and you bound up this country in 21,000 additional regulations. Well, in six months this parliamentary secretary is going to do more than you ever dreamed of.

The legislation that we are debating today will save us over $700 million. The opposition has an attitude of mistrust in the ability of individuals in our society to go about their business without constant intrusion by the state, and it is this attitude that has led to an unprecedented unwillingness on the part of Australians to trust their own government. We get in their way each and every day. It is time to get out of the way. Regulations that overreach send a message to our citizens that we do not trust them. They send a message that bureaucrats in Canberra are the answer, rather than those people actually running our businesses on a day-to-day basis, the people that employ workers in this country or volunteer their time and money for charities. There is no doubt that we need processes in place to guard, but we have to do what we have to do to deregulate in this economy. We must find ways to save business time and money. We must take on board recommendations from the Productivity Commission and take on board the fact that these sorts of regulations are standing in the way of our economy. They are costing us billions upon billions of dollars. This government is going to do something about it. You might not like the detail, but you should catch up.

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