Dennis Jensen (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Treasury Legislation Amendment (Repeal Day) Bill 2014 is just another example of how this government is committed to making the right choices to get the job done. Unlike Labor and the Greens, this government understands how business works and that extra costs arising from needless red tape can be detrimental to productivity. We know that a stronger economy, competitive business and lower costs mean more jobs for the Australian people. We also know that one of the greatest threats to a strong economy and free enterprise is an overbearing government.

That titan of freedom, President Ronald Reagan, once remarked:

… the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.

I agree. He knew, as do I, that state regulation and involvement can stifle creativity and free enterprise. He was also a great reformer known for his commitment to deregulation and removing red tape.

Red tape and over-regulation are the two blights on any economy. It rears its head whenever politicians think they know what is best for others and best for business. Regulation should only be considered when backed up with sound policy and only after all other alternatives have been exhausted. It should be as efficient as possible and only retained where it is proven to work in a cost-effective way. Just as the nation is being asked to trim the fat and double down productive efforts, the same should be true of our regulatory approach. We must do away with needless regulation and burdensome red tape. It is for this reason that I stand here today in support of this bill.

The whole-of-government approach, as seen through our successful red tape repeal days, has done wonders when it comes to ripping away red tape. We have seen progress through government red tape repeal days, and further efforts to ease the compliance squeeze on Australian business are encouraging. The current state of reporting requirements for payslips illustrates the sort of smothering government red tape that I despise.

Under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act, employers are required to include information in the payslip as per other regulations. The Labor government at the time indicated that these regulations would be made in due course. They said that these regulations would require employers to report the amount of superannuation contributions as well as relevant dates. The regulations that would require such reporting never came into existence. Labor created regulations mandating action as defined by another set of regulations—regulations that never came into existence. What a joke! We know that Labor cannot run a budget properly. They even struggle to run their own party properly. But worst of all they even broke promises to themselves. Employers are required to include information in their payslips, but instead of providing any solid details in the legislation about what to include all we have is a large 'watch this space' in big red writing. Employers have been waiting for years. Businesses are required to include information in these payslips, but there is no document anywhere to give an indication of what this information should be.

This is shocking for two reasons. First of all it means businesses in Australia lack certainty when it comes to reporting requirements. In theory, if those reporting requirements actually had substance, then employers nationwide would need to update their software, creating unnecessary compliance costs and needless headaches. The fact that Labor did not see the problem indicates how clueless they are when it comes to business. Not a skerrick of financial acumen can be found in their party room. The Labor Party just does not get running a business. Any compliance task costs money and work hours. These all build up and create major costs and disadvantages for our businesses.

Let us take a small-scale business that competes with foreign companies as an example. How can we expect them to maintain a competitive edge when they have to dedicate employee time and company money to complying with needless regulation and red tape? Foreign businesses in the same field do not have to worry about red tape like we do here. They do not have to waste time and resources ticking boxes and jumping through hoops. They are free to get on with the job while our companies languish in a sea of red tape. We are talking about Australian jobs and Australian money. No wonder the Labor Party could not make an accurate budget projection in their six years in office. They simply do not understand how it all works. This leads to the next problem with the current payslip regulations.

Most absurdly of all, the current arrangement is a duplication of other regulations. With the bizarre payslip red tape, which has no actual substance, we see the brand of red tape that the Labor Party holds dear: duplication. The reporting requirements that we propose to repeal already exist in the Fair Work Act 2009 and Fair Work Regulations. The purpose of the reporting requirement that we will repeal is already covered in other legislation. What a terrible indictment of the Labor Party—as clear and as bright as day. It is absurd that after six years of Labor we have to remove duplicate legislation and regulation.

In opposition Labor still takes joy in doing everything they can to keep burdensome red tape in place. We have seen this recently with the carbon tax and the mining tax. We see it here with the undefined reporting requirements that this bill will repeal. Only with the passage of this bill will we be able to see the rear end of such useless and burdensome legislation. In keeping with the government's agenda to clear away red tape, this bill also serves to remove old, outdated and burdensome taxes from various taxation acts and consolidate them into a single set of provisions in the Taxation Administration Act.

Red tape is a disease. Instead of innovation we get legislation. The business of government should be governance—nothing more. Government should not be pretending to be butchers, bakers, or candlestick makers. There is no good economic reason why government should be interfering in the normal, healthy functioning of the market and crowding out investment capital. My coalition colleagues also agree that governments should not be running businesses—hence the successful float of Medibank Private. I am encouraged and anxious to see more assets disposed of as soon as possible. We have a debt problem and, more troublingly, a spending situation. If Labor was all about bringing government into business, then the coalition is about bringing business into government.

Small business is the engine room of growth in our economy. This is particularly true of our regional areas and our smaller towns and villages. Small business is critical to a sustainable, high-value export orientated growth strategy. That is why the Minister for Small Business set up the small business helpline. The helpline assists small business owners to improve their knowledge and operate in line with relevant laws. The core of Liberal philosophy is: fewer forms and more reforms. One simply cannot tax a country into prosperity, and by extension one simply cannot regulate a country into growth, innovation and creativity.

In Tangney, my constituents have one clear message: please make things simpler. This spring, I had the pleasure of speaking in support of the government's second red-tape repeal day. On that day, I detailed my strong and continued support for innovative, new measures being introduced to address red tape and speed up the business of government. We are listening and we are acting. Over five million people have already created a myGov account, which provides a centralised, online point of access for reporting and claims for seven government services: the Australian Taxation Office, Medicare, Centrelink, eHealth records, child support, veterans affairs and the NDIS. Around 1.4 million MyTax users will now be able to use automatically pre-populated tax returns with information already provided to the ATO, such as income from employment, interest on bank accounts and share dividends.

We need to reduce the footprint of government to enable the community to get on with creating jobs and building a stronger society for all. The fundamental recipe for economic success that so underpins the basic functioning of our social contract is not rocket science; it is a question of incentives. Regulation, while necessary in certain and restrained circumstances, should be the last resort, never the quick-fix solution. Education is by far a cheaper, more efficient way of doing things. The provision of this education to consumers can be done in cooperation with business. Government should focus on the root cause of a problem, not the symptoms of a problem. That is the economic way; that is the common-sense way.

This great sunburnt country is dying from regulation suffocation. Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets. When Australia ranks 124th out of 148 countries on the World Economic Forum burden of government regulation ranking list, it is not a problem; it is a crisis. The only time a ranking of 124 out of 148 would not be a crisis is if it were in net terms of government debt and rate of government spending—neither of which are true today thanks to the lost years of Labor and their internecine intifadas.

Deloitte's Building the lucky country report calculated that rules and regulations cost the country $250 billion annually, with one in 11 employees now working in compliance. In fact, Deloitte estimates that one million Australians are employed in compliance. Australia is becoming a high-cost place to do business. A recent ACCI red-tape survey found that 42 per cent of businesses spend more than $10,000 per year on complying with government regulations and 44 per cent spend five hours per week complying with government regulations. If you look at the Business Council of Australia's submission to the Harper review of competition, you will see that hardware stores cannot open before 11 am on Sundays if they stock light bulbs and light fittings. In WA, a petrol station can sell pantyhose after 9 pm on Thursdays, but it is illegal to sell underpants. A petrol station can sell flashbulbs on Sundays before 11 am but not a digital camera memory card. These are points made time and again by Deloitte Perth partner Monish Paul.

I wish to highlight in particular schedule 3 of this bill, which amends the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act 1998 so that persons who do not hold a direct control interest in a financial sector company will no longer be deemed to have a stake in that financial sector company as a consequence of their associates' direct control interest. Currently, the law requires that the associates of a person, such as a person's relatives, partner or related companies, who is seeking a shareholding in excess of 15 per cent to also seek approval from the Treasurer for the shareholding. This is required irrespective of whether an associate has any actual shareholding or financial interest in the company in which the new shareholding is sought. Associates will no longer be caught in a technical trap that requires them to hold approval from the Treasurer.

I commend this bill to the House.

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