FEDERAL Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce has welcomed the Government’s announcement it will strengthen its regulation reform agenda so that it focusses on changes that increase innovation and productivity.  

 

Speaking on the Coalition Government’s fourth Red Tape Repeal Day, Mr Joyce said the Government’s agenda to cut red tape and reduce regulatory costs has been an overwhelming success.

 

“The Coalition made a commitment to reduce red tape by $1billion annually and I’m pleased to announce today that we have already achieved that target with almost $4.5 billion in red tape savings in our first two years alone” he said.

 

“Recent significant savings include our reforms to the Renewable Energy Target and streamlining the Australian Taxation Office’s activities which will reduce annual compliance costs by $519.6 million and $185.2 million respectively. Measures like these will assist businesses to grow and invest.”

 

Mr Joyce said the Government is introducing legislation to make it easier for terminally ill and injured people to access certain ATO-administered superannuation monies. Measures like these reduce the burden of red tap in times of hardship.

 

“For every $1 added to the cost of regulation, the Government has made decisions that cut over $11.

 

“We have repealed more than 10,000 legislative instruments and introduced legislation to repeal over 3600 spent and redundant Acts from the Commonwealth books. It is not ‘mission accomplished’ but we have certainly achieved a great deal in two years.”

 

Mr Joyce said now was the time to strengthen that agenda. 

 

“Now is the time to focus on productivity and the States. We need to have regulation reform policy working in lock-step and supporting the Government’s other economic and social policies,” he said.

 

“Cutting red tape has been a major part of the Government’s overall strategy to build a stronger, more productive and diverse economy. Now is the ideal time to build on this policy.

 

“From 1 July 2016, the Government will broaden its focus to regulation reforms that directly enhance innovation, competitiveness and productivity. Over the coming months we will consult stakeholders on the priorities, the tools to assess and prioritise change and the schedule of reform.

 

“An important area to look at will include working bilaterally with a state or territory or with all states and territories together to remove duplication and regulation that hamper innovation and productivity. “

 

Mr Joyce said the Government has already reformed a lot of regulation.

 

“That’s less time required by individuals and businesses to fill out forms, ensure they comply with regulation, seek external advice and invest in systems and equipment,” he said.  

 

“We have established a Regulator Performance Framework that provides a common set of performance measures to assess and audit the performance of individual Commonwealth regulators.

 

“All major regulatory decisions are informed by a Regulation Impact Statement that lays out the costs and benefits of regulating or not regulating.

 

“While our focus on removing red tape will continue, we will be applying ourselves to other significant areas of reform that will assist in growing productivity,” Mr Joyce said.

 

More information is available at http://cuttingredtape.gov.au