Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to offer my thanks to the Minister for Small and Family Business, the member for Reid, who last week visited my electorate of Farrer and signed off on what I regard as a landmark agreement with his Victorian and New South Wales counterparts. The aim is to ease the burden of doing business in cross-border regions. An MOU has existed between New South Wales and Queensland for seven years, but no deal has existed between New South Wales and Victoria. With new bipartisan support in Victoria for a cross-border commissioner, we now have the chance to cut the red tape which small and big businesses inevitably run into at some stage or another.

The last 117 years of federation have allowed the states to make good laws, but not always very consistent laws. The minister gave one of the crazier examples, from a Victorian caravan manufacturer who can legally carry three caravans on the back of a truck to the New South Wales border. They then have to unload one of the vans because only two caravans can be transported on the same truck in New South Wales. The law changes again at the Queensland border, where three vans can be carried again.

This new tripartite agreement formed on the border will attack inconsistent regulations confronted by tradies, local taxies, students, pubs, clubs and many more. Ensuring industry spends less time on regulation or compliance so that they can focus on growth is a key policy intent of our government and absolutely vital for the economic future of the communities that I represent.