Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Omnibus Repeal Day (Spring 2014) Bill 2014. Australia has been blessed. We have achieved an economic position in the world, built on good fortune, hard effort and a good economic platform built by successive good governments—the Hawke-Keating years and the Howard government. It was supported, at least in the Hawke-Keating years, by a reformist opposition with an eye to the future and what was in Australia's best interest. That is in contrast to where we sit today. The Rudd-Gillard years by comparison not only lacked any agenda to increase productivity; it unwound many of the reforms of the previous 20 years.

Disturbingly, the World Economic Forum tells us that Australia has slipped to 124 out of 148 countries on the burden of regulation table. That is a disgrace. It is a clear illustration of why Australia is losing the manufacturing industry out of Australia today. We are losing projects on a world-wide scale because we have lost our competitive edge. The previous government, the Labor government, in just three years—2010 to 2013—introduced 21,000 new regulations. I am not sure if this is a new record but I certainly hope so and I hope it is not one that is repeated soon.

Last year we had our first repeal day; 10,000 acts and regulations gone—that was 50,000 pages. What an achievement. This time it is 1,000 acts and regulations abolished—7,200 pages and, in total, more than $2 billion worth of compliance burden. For me—one who has railed against stifling regulations—it is an exciting time. It is almost an 'Empire strikes back' moment. It is great to see the little guy get a chance to breathe.

Almost instantly when I walk in the door of a small business, the first thing they tell me—after we say, 'How are you going?' and 'Good morning'—is: 'You have to get the red-tape monkey off our back. We are being strangled by red tape, paperwork, workforce compliance, workforce policies—for almost every conceivable occurrence, no matter how remote the possibility—tax compliance, industry compliance.' I have met truckies who are dazed and confused by loading regulations, driver management rules—sometimes policed by zealots who think the country can run without trucks. I have heard from television aerial installers—this is a good one—who are now no longer able to use a ladder to climb on to a roof unless it is tied at the top. Don't ask me how they are supposed to tie a ladder at the top without climbing the ladder in the first instance. The list goes on and on and, depressingly, on.

So today is instalment 2 of a government finally having a red-hot go at trying to get the red-tape monkey off the back of the citizens of Australia. Huge numbers of useless acts and regulations will be going out the door today, delivering $1.2 billion worth of savings. For instance, the one-stop shop for environmental controls will save $426 million upfront. Even more importantly, it is expected that over the next 12 years we will deliver $120 billion worth of benefit to Australia.

For agriculture—an industry I am vitally interested in—improvements to the farm management deposits, implementing the mandatory port access code, and getting rid of a duplicated cattle-tagging system are just a start, but they will all help.

With simplified documents, there is a huge range of issues covered: simplified documents for marriage certificates, a choice as to whether a consumer has a battery back-up on the premises for a fibre-to-the-node connection to the National Broadband Network, e-tendering for defence supply contracts and simplified paperwork for Job Service Providers all provide savings and efficiencies to individuals, business and government, as will speeding up Export Finance Insurance Corporation approvals and PBS medication charts for public hospitals will save $40 million. These are big figures.

The myGov site will make life easier for welfare recipients and save $88 million, and people will be able to lodge their tax returns on this site 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Simplified import permits for defence procurement will save $27 million. Getting rid of the red tape in the VET sector will save $30 million. The government will be reforming the apprenticeship support schemes, aligning state and federal gambling regulation and PAYG thresholds will be adjusted. Better cooperation with the US on tax arrangements will yield $58 million. Duplication for reporting of charities will be reduced. Efic will be simplified and be able to underwrite all supplies and not just capital equipment.

The list goes on but I will hone in on one issue that is of particular interest to me, and that is the move to harmonise Australian design rules with other developed nations' procedures. Last year, I sat on the agriculture committee inquiry into the legislation to amend the Agriculture and Veterinary Chemicals Act. The bill—in the previous government's eyes at least—was aimed to improve efficiency but in fact added considerable cost and regulatory burden to the sector. This government, since that time, has unwound that legislation. But, during the debate, it was made clear to me that Australia faces all kinds of issues in the registration of chemicals for agricultural use in Australia. We think of ourselves as big food producers when in fact we are medium to small food producers. We are big exporters of certain products like wheat, barley, sugar and cotton—even though you do not eat that of course. You may, but it may not be very good for you!

We are big exporters, but we are not a significant market for many other commodities. So when you get a chemical that is registered internationally it costs a lot of money to get it registered in Australia for relatively small markets. As a result of this, Australian farmers are not always accessing the best chemicals on the market. This move that starts to recognise other countries' assurance systems, their registration systems, is a great move for us. It is not in this agvet area yet, but this is one of the things that I will be pursuing, because I believe it is in our benefit. The world is a place that seems to be decreasing in size. We are increasingly linked to our trading partners. We should be recognising each other's standards in the way we do business and in the way we register products. With that, I will commend the bill. I will just point out that this government has commenced this tough job. In contrast to the last six years, where Labor gave us more regulation, more government, more red tape and more strangulation of the economy, it is a breath of fresh air.

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