Mal Brough (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Minister, will you inform the House of the action you are taking to cut the red-tape burden for the 13,000 small businesses in my electorate on the Sunshine Coast and how you are also assisting hardworking small businesses right across Australia?

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is great to get a question from the member for Fisher. Isn't it great to have him back in this parliament? What a great representative. The member for Fisher would know that we are well on our way to implementing an election commitment—a crucial election commitment to cut $1 billion worth of—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the members on my left are interested to stay for the MPI, they will remain silent.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

red tape and compliance costs out of the economy, as a central part of our Economic Action Strategy. There can be no contest about the need for this red-tape reduction task. You might remember, Madam Speaker, when the Labor government was initially elected, they promised one in, one out. That was the commitment. But after spectacularly failing to achieve that ambition, they thought they would change the goal posts. And then it was about a regulation count. When we reminded the previous government that they had implemented 21,000 new and amended regulations, they then said, 'We don't like that way of measuring the red-tape burden either.' But who could argue with The World Economic Forum's assessment? Who could forget that, after six years of Labor, the Australian economy is 128th in the world in terms of the burden of government regulation. There are only 127 other economies that have less gummed-up impact of government regulation than our own. This is why this red-tape reduction task is a whole-of-government obligation, where every minister is making a contribution and where every portfolio is making a contribution. Regulatory burdens land no more heavily than on small businesses. The small businesses of Fisher, as we travel around and talk with them, describe this overwhelming compliance obligation that takes them away from growing their business and nurturing opportunities in their electorate.

Mr Bowen interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for McMahon!

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is why Labor contributed so much in its red-tape overreach to 519,000 jobs lost in small business under Labor. We have started well: We have more than $700 million worth of compliance savings already announced and already booked, but we have to keep that momentum going. We have seen 300,000 small businesses relieved of unnecessary PAYG and also BAS reporting obligations. We have seen the need to improve and fix the overreach in the Personal Property Security Register. We have seen changes in the area of franchising—all of these aimed at reducing the red tape burden.

We have in the Senate another opportunity to end the burden on business being the double-handler of paid parental leave payments. There is another $48 million worth of red-tape savings to be had there for businesses big and small for the not-for-profit obligations. We are evangelical about our work in relieving small businesses of that red-tape burden and re-energising enterprise, realising that these businesses need to be world-class every day to thrive and prosper. That is the discipline we should apply to our task, and not do what Labor did—whenever there was a problem, after spending all the money that was left from Howard government, just go and add some more regulation to it and hope it goes away. We are the only friends small business has in this chamber.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.