Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

'What would they know!' as the member for Herbert points out. This is our concern with this body. Once again in the last parliament, the Labor Party, in its alliance with the Greens and the Independents at the time, rushed in pieces of legislation that were poorly thought out, without proper consultation with the sector, and in this case we are talking about the best of our organisations in society: charities and institutions that help the most vulnerable. What is the Labor Party's plan for this vital sector and these institutions that do so much for so little? They do far much more than government does, because they deliver services so efficiently. They take money from people and turn it into great outcomes for people in need. The Labor Party's solution was to put in a new regulatory body, to make the sector fill out more paperwork and to make them employ people to fill out paperwork for the federal government in Canberra—information that government already has at state and territory level. There is already plenty of regulation of charities and not-for-profit organisations, and there are plenty of requirements and burdens.

The member for Fraser got up in this House and said, 'Actually, this has been a recommendation of everybody. There has been a major report and everything else for years and years.' The idea was to bring in a regulatory body that would reduce regulation and reduce duplication, but the Labor Party just does not get it. Every time they try and do something they add regulation, they add a burden and they add duplication. Cost and time is taken out of a vital sector—

Mr Frydenberg interjecting—

The parliamentary secretary reminds me that 21,000 new regulations were brought in under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government. We are talking about a vital sector: the charitable sector. This is a good approach from the new government to get rid of this burden on the most vital of charities and organisations doing the most and giving their best. I recommend the legislation that the government is presenting through the red tape repeal day to ensure that the regulatory burden on our charities and the not-for-profit sector is reduced so that they can get on with the vital work that they do.

Debate adjourned.

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