Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

In relation to the Omnibus Repeal Day (Autumn 2014) Bill 2014, I move:

That all the words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading the House notes that:

(1) the former Labor government had a strong record of deregulation reform which significantly improved the competitiveness and productivity of the Australian economy. In particular, the former Labor government:

a. repealed 16,794 acts, regulations and legislative instruments during its time in office; and

b. through its Seamless National Economy reforms was delivering significant cost savings to businesses—just 17 of these reforms were estimated by the Productivity Commission to lower business costs by $4 billion per year with the full reforms to increase Australia's productivity and deliver a $6 billion boost to GDP per year;

(2) a vast majority of the changes in this bill have no impact in terms of costs or regulatory burden on businesses, individuals and the community sector in Australia;

(3) the parliament supports sensible deregulation which removes cost and regulatory burden, but does not support the removal of protections for seniors, consumers, workers and investors under the guise of cutting red tape; and

(4) the government is using these bills as a distraction from cuts to protections for seniors, consumers, workers and investors."

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