Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Productivity) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure that I take the opportunity today to sum up on this package of repeal day bills: the Omnibus Repeal Day (Spring 2015) Bill 2015, Amending Acts 1990 to 1999 Repeal Bill 2015 and Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 3) 2015. In total, these three bills repeal just over 900 Commonwealth acts, ensuring regulation remains in force only for as long as necessary. Making regulation easily accessible and removing old and unnecessary provisions means that business individuals and community organisations spend less time trawling through regulations and more time contributing to the economy and to society.

The omnibus bill repeals a range of redundant and spent acts, as well as spent and redundant provisions in Commonwealth acts.

The Amending Acts 1990 to 1999 Repeal Bill 2015 continues the government's efforts to streamline the statute book by removing over 877 amending or repealing acts enacted between 1990 and 1999.

The Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 3) continues the work of repealing spent or redundant legislation and correcting minor errors in the Commonwealth statute book. By removing obsolete provisions and correcting outdated terminology, the bill also makes sensible improvements to the acts it amends without making substantive changes to the law.

Together, the three bills include significant changes, but they are just a part of a broad range of initiatives that we outlined on the spring 2015 repeal day. In total, this government identified over $2 billion in red tape reductions in the spring 2015 repeal day, meaning the annual cost for businesses and individuals in complying with Commonwealth regulations has been reduced by around $4.5 billion since September 2013.

This achievement has been accompanied by the institution of significant transformation across government since 2013. The Commonwealth government's regulatory gatekeeping, including the application of regulation impact statements to assess the costs and benefits of policy options, has been strengthened. Regulators are also required, under the Regulator Performance Framework, to look at how they administer regulation and minimise the cost this imposes on taxpayers, customers and other affected and regulated entities.

The strength of our frameworks is being recognised globally too. The recent OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook 2015 placed Australia in the top grouping of countries for each indicator, including regulatory impact assessment, stakeholder engagement and post evaluation of new regulations.

I want to particularly acknowledge the member for Kooyong, the now Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, and the member for Pearce, the now Minister for Social Services, for their important contribution to this agenda. There is still much work to be done, and we are focused on nurturing innovation and growth and on creating jobs. As Assistant Minister for Productivity, I look forward to continuing to foster this important cultural change across both the Commonwealth and state and territory governments.

This package of repeal day bills, along with other key regulatory reforms that the government plans to implement, reduces costs on businesses and removes regulatory impediments to competition and innovation. Through a comprehensive regulatory reform agenda we can continue to free businesses, improve productivity and transition to a stronger economy.

I commend the bills to the House.

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