Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I really want to commend this motion on deregulation, because it speaks directly to residents and to businesses in my electorate of Robertson. As the member for Swan noted, the previous, Labor, government introduced more than 21,000 additional regulations in just 5½ years—not, of course, that the member for Gellibrand admitted this in his contribution, but these regulations left Australia down the bottom of two global indicators. The 2013 World Economic Global Competitive Index ranked us as 128th out of 148 countries for burden of government regulation, and we were second last in a 2012 ranking of productivity growth by the Economist Intelligence Unit. In the last year alone of the former Labor government, Commonwealth regulation was costing us approximately $65 billion per year, a massive 4.2 per cent of GDP. That is why this government has a strong agenda to cut red tape by holding two repeal days every year.

I am pleased to say that after the first three repeal days this government has delivered more than $2.4 billion worth of red-tape reductions. In fact, on the most recent repeal day we repealed more than 10,300 legislative instruments and introduced legislation to repeal over 2,700 acts of parliament.

For people living in my electorate, red-tape reduction means we can help ease the burden on Central Coast businesses, community organisations, families and individuals. It means less time filling out forms, less time waiting in queues and less time searching for government information. We have also been really open about how we have done this so people on the Central Coast can be confident that there is a precise, comprehensive and transparent program to reverse the growing costs of red tape on the economy. For individuals there are simple changes that make sense, like making identity checks easier for retailers and consumers when purchasing new prepaid mobile phones. That has an annual compliance saving of $6.2 million. On flights, restrictions have been lifted for using electronic devices so travellers can use them during all phases of flight. It is simple but it also has an annual compliance saving of $17.7 million. Students who receive government payments are now able to change their details online at a time that best suits them without being required to wait for hours contacting a call centre or attending a service centre. That is an annual compliance saving of $2.7 million. There are really benefits for industries on the Central Coast, so they can get on with what they do best without being weighed down by unnecessary paperwork.

One such area is aged cared, an important sector in my electorate. Our changes will result in millions of dollars in compliance savings for aged-care providers. For example, we have increased the proposed thresholds above which aged-care accommodation prices must be approved by the Aged Care Pricing Commissioner. We have also proposed a simplified accommodation-pricing process, which removes the requirement for aged-care providers to follow a strict process in setting prices. This also ensures consumers receive clear information on accommodation prices. We have repealed provisions in the Aged Care Act 1997 that required approved providers to notify the Department of Social Services of any changed in key personal in their employment within 28 days of the change occurring. We have also streamlined the forms for the Aged Care Approvals Round process, reducing the overall size of the application forms by 50 per cent. This recently led to more than 70 new aged-care places being offered in Point Clare in my electorate, with the particular focus of every single one of these places on supporting people with dementia.

For each resident in these aged-care homes there is a great need for people to care for them and slashing red tape helps makes their job easier. For example, Andrew from Terrigal was telling me recently with experience working in an aged-care facility on the coast. He spoke about his desire to build a positive experience based around real friendships and relations with the people who live there. He said his role was not just task focused but was also about supporting our local residents who make aged-care facilities their home. The coalition government recognises that with an aging population we need to ensure aged-care providers are able to get on doing what they do best without being weighed down by red tape. That means that people like Andrew can focus on doing their job well and local residents in aged-care facilities in Robertson get the best possible quality of care.

Time does not permit, but I could mention similar case studies and examples in small business, the health sector, tourism, finance, building and construction, and many, many other industries. But by tackling this burden we are putting into motion a stronger, more prosperous economy. I commend the motion to the House.

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