Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I would not have thought that the senator would say that it is a good thing to retain on the legislative books pieces of legislative instruments which are either redundant or unnecessary. Yes, I do think that it is a good thing for the government to remove those and we are doing that, unlike what occurred in those years under the Howard government.

I would also make the point in terms of productivity impact that, as the senator would be aware, the Productivity Commission has analysed the first tranche of the government's reform agenda when it comes to deregulation—that is, the seamless national economy reforms. Seventeen of those reforms would lower business costs by about $4 billion each year when fully implemented, and improvements to productivity could increase GDP by around about $6 billion per year. I am sure that the senator would be aware of those, and I again encourage him to engage with the Liberal governments, which are standing in the way of some of those reforms.