Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As we approach national 'repeal day' this Wednesday, I applaud the government's moves in reducing red tape for small business. In my electorate of Hume, red tape is stifling business growth. York Foods at Goulburn is a typical example. The owners, a husband-and-wife team have been in food manufacturing for decades and have produced a world-first product: an animal oil, ready for export through Europe, the States and parts of South-East Asia. An extraordinary 10 months of their valuable time has been wasted on filling in forms, inspections, audits and applications just to get basic approvals for export.

York Foods turns over $100,000 annually and employs just the two owners. But a staggering one quarter of their turnover, $25,000 every year, is spent on compliance fees. Twenty-five thousand dollars a year on compliance!

Removing these kinds of impediments and the excessive costs in time and money spent on compliance paperwork is a clear way our government can help small business.

As part of the government's agriculture white paper on competitiveness, I have lobbied strongly that we take into account the plight of producers who face an uphill battle into export markets. By removing red tape and excessive compliance, the government is giving small businesses like York Foods the confidence to again invest in their future.