Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

and undistinguished tenure of 'Rudd the second', he never quite got around to delivering on that promise.

There is ample evidence of the pressure that this incremental regulatory burden was imposing on participants in the Australian economy. The October 2012 National Red Tape Survey was conducted by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This was a survey of 870 businesses across all states and territories, which found that 73 per cent of businesses believed that the overall regulatory compliance burden had increased in the previous two years and that 60 per cent of businesses spent more than $5,000 per annum directly on costs related to regulatory requirements.

There is a very long list of regulatory burdens that were in place at the time that the previous government came to an end, burdens which had been incrementally imposed on Australian business thanks to the work of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government. To pull out a few examples: the national childcare law of 180 pages was supplemented with 345 pages of regulations and 1,149 pages of guidelines. In Indigenous service delivery at the time that the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government left office, there were more than 200 Indigenous related programs administered by 17 Commonwealth agencies. Each program had its own application form and processes. In the resources sector, one particular project required 4,000 meetings before approval was granted, and ultimately 12,000 state and 300 Commonwealth conditions were placed on that project. Under the previous government, there was a relentlessly enthusiastic set of regulators who added substantial new regulatory burdens to Australian business on a continuing basis every day they turned up for work.

On this side of the House, we approach these issues with a very different perspective. We want to carefully look at the laws and regulations that are in place and ask: are they still fit for purpose? Are they still delivering benefits which exceed their costs? That brings me to the second proposition that I want to put today: the determination of the Turnbull government to reduce red tape, to have a process which acts as a corrective to the institutional factors which drive red tape to increase. That is why we came to government with a commitment to repeal $1 billion worth of red tape per year. As part of this commitment, the government dedicates two parliamentary sitting days as repeal days each year. I am particularly pleased to be in the chamber with my good friend and colleague the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, who has responsibility for the deregulation agenda.

In March of this year, the government announced that the total deregulatory savings since September 2013 had reached $2.45 billion, a very significant achievement and one that is having a real and positive impact on businesses, community organisations and families. On the third repeal day, in March of this year, the government had made decisions to decrease the regulatory cost burden by some $2.45 billion, and to date over $1.5 billion of those measures have been implemented, with some $880 million yet to be implemented.

Let me take a moment to touch on some of the key measures in the bill which is before the House this evening. The bill amends or repeals 14 acts across a range of portfolios, some of which are spent and redundant and have remained on Commonwealth statute books long beyond the date of fulfilling their purpose. Other acts contain provisions that have been superseded by other legislation that took effect years ago. Also included in the omnibus bill before the House this evening are a range of amendments to legislation which will reduce complexity and reduce compliance costs.

In particular, there is a measure that will result in over $41 million of deregulatory savings. The proposed amendments to the Health and Other Services (Compensation) Act 1995 will remove the requirement for compensation recipients to separately submit a statutory declaration when submitting a claim for benefits provided under Commonwealth programs for Medicare, nursing home services, residential care services and home care services. Presently, there is a requirement for a statutory declaration to be signed and witnessed for every compensation claim. This results in a process that could take several hours per claim in correspondence and in phone calls through legal representatives to obtain a valid declaration. It is already an offence in these cases to provide false or misleading information to the Commonwealth, so having separate statutory declarations is unnecessary.

The result of the amendment contained in the bill before the House this evening will be to reduce the regulatory burden on both compensation payers and around 50,000 claimants per year and allow automation of certain compensation recovery procedures by the government. Compensation recipients will save time by being able to declare that the information provided is true and correct, using existing forms. The legislation that is affected by this bill is the responsibility of the Department of Health, but the services are delivered by the Department of Human Services. I want to acknowledge that here we are seeing a collaboration between different departments and portfolios on cross-portfolio reforms to reduce red tape.

Another example worth highlighting is the Meat Export Charge Act 1984 and the Meat Inspection Arrangements Act 1964, both of which are now redundant. The inspection of meat and meat products for export was overhauled in 2011. The Commonwealth no longer employs any domestic state meat inspectors, and cost-recovery arrangements are now set out under the Australian Export Meat Inspection System, with fees being collected under other Commonwealth legislation.

In the brief time available to me before we conclude this debate this evening, I want to come briefly to the third point I want to make, which is the active program of deregulation measures that have been pursued in the Communications portfolio under the guidance and stewardship, until very recently, of the former Minister for Communications, the member for Wentworth, now of course the Prime Minister. The Communications portfolio has achieved significant deregulatory reform since the coalition came to government. In 2014, cumulative annual savings of over $94 million and a removal of some 3,400 pages of unnecessary regulation were achieved within the Communications portfolio.

There is continuing work to reduce the regulatory burden in communications, and I want to note particularly a decision taken recently to repeal the legacy retail price controls. These formerly applied to the retail prices that Telstra charges, but, following independent analysis obtained from the centre for independent economics, the government concluded that the price control regime no longer had any impact on the prices Telstra actually charged—in other words, they were below those that would have been required by regulation—so the regulation has been removed. That is one of the many ways in which we are lightening the regulatory burden in the Communications portfolio.

More broadly, across every aspect of government, the Turnbull government is working to reduce the regulatory burden on business. This is a very important part of the government's economic agenda, with a view to reducing the burden on business, increasing efficiency, increasing productivity and letting business get on and generate the prosperity which is so important for jobs and for Australians.

Debate interrupted.

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