Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always a pleasure to rise in this House to once again speak about the positive actions that this government is taking to unshackle our businesses and our economy from the pernicious burden of red tape. Before I get into the specifics of the Treasury Legislation Amendment (Repeal Day) Bill 2014, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the achievements of this government over the course of 2014.

Our starting point, which I think is very relevant to remember, is six years of debt, deficit and waste by those opposite—the former Labor government. As a result of some of the decisions that we have made in the budget, we are now reducing the potential impact of our debt load by some $300 billion. We have put together the largest ever infrastructure package, committing some $50 billion to infrastructure projects around Australia. This, together with the asset recycling scheme, leverages a potential $125 billion investment in infrastructure to build the productivity and economic growth in this country.

In the electorate of Forde, we have some $3 million going towards the Beenleigh CBD redevelopment upgrade. The proceeds of crime legislation will provide $1 million worth of CCTV camera improvements around the electorate. We have also succeeded in repealing the minerals resource rent tax, giving our minerals and resources industry certainty and clarity about the future of their business opportunities. We have repealed the carbon tax, resulting in the largest falls in electricity prices on record. We have privatised Medibank and the third largest IPO globally this year, and we are receiving $1 billion more than we initially expected. We agreed on three free trade agreements with Korea, Japan and a China.

One of the hallmarks of our election campaign was the delivery of smaller government. We started work on achieving that by abolishing 76 agencies, authorities and boards. None of these organisations produce a single cent of wealth for our country. They survive because of the productive capacity of the productive sector—our manufacturing sector, our resources sector and our services sector. Removing the cost impediments and the regulatory burdens and oversights from our business sector allows it to get on and do what it does best, which is generate wealth for this great country.

In addition, we have approved over 300 projects worth nearly $1 trillion through our environmental approvals processes and speeding that up. We have rebuilt the employee share ownership framework to drive start-ups, innovation and productivity and, in the longer term, to share the wealth not only with the owners of those businesses but also with the shareholder employees. This will give them a genuine economic interest in the business which they work for and truly spread the wealth that this nation can generate for everybody. We have dealt with Labor's tax backlog of almost 100 unenacted tax measures. We have proceeded with some 32 of those measures, and we have sought to rid the system of the others in order to give clarity and certainty to taxpayers and for the future. This will assist the ATO in simplifying the complexity of the taxation act and in dealing with the uncertainty created by those unenacted tax measures. We have been successful through the G20 process in developing a framework to crack down on tax cheats through international leadership, with a 15-point OECD action plan.

In addition, nearly 75 per cent of the over 400 budget measures have already been implemented, with another 50 or so measures currently before parliament. This will result in an improvement in the budget bottom line of around $15 billion over the forward estimates. In contrast, we have those opposite opposing savings to the tune of $28 billion, currently, including $5 billion of their own. Those opposite, the Labor Party, want an additional $15 billion of spending restored. This is worsening the budget bottom line by $43 billion. We saw six years of economic mismanagement, waste and profligate spending when those opposite were in government; yet, in opposition, they have not learnt the lessons and continue to do the same thing.

We have also succeeded in rolling out a Direct Action Plan, with practical environmental projects and without slugging the Australian people with a carbon tax. The Green Army has been established. We have a project being run by North-East Albert Landcare at the Pimpama River in Ormeau. The NBN is being rolled out in a way that is efficient, affordable and less costly to taxpayers. In the electorate of Forde, with the recently updated national roll-out plan, areas such as Chambers Flat, Munruben, North Maclean and Park Ridge South are going to benefit from the improved roll-out schedule. We have stopped the boats—which many claimed was impossible—and one of the results of that has been to stop deaths at sea. We have responded to the threat of extremism with new counterterrorism measures, because it is our duty to do everything we humanly can to keep Australians safe.

This is just a snapshot of what this government has achieved over the past 12 or so months, but we recognise that there is still a lot of work to do. We continue to be focused on growing our economy through continuing to reduce red tape and regulation, which is exactly this bill is about. The Treasury Legislation Amendment (Repeal Day) Bill 2014forms part of our whole-of-government commitment to repeal counterproductive, unnecessary and redundant legislation and regulations. We made a commitment at the last election to cut over $1 billion in red and green tape. We have gone beyond that target by more than double, to over $2.1 billion in red- and green-tape costs removed from our economy. It has also resulted in some 57,000 pages of legislation being removed from the statute books. During both the autumn and spring repeal days we set out to dismantle the legacy left to us by the previous government, which oversaw 40 new or increased taxes and the introduction of 21,000 additional regulations, despite former Prime Minister Rudd promising in 2007 a one-regulation-in one-regulation-out policy. The former small-business minister, Mr Emerson, notably supported this ambition in 2008, saying that he would take a giant pair of scissors to red tape that was strangling business. In fairness to Mr Emerson, the end result was that they brought multiple rows of red ribbons that they wrapped business up and tighter and tighter bows of red and green tape. As with much the previous government did, it was style over substance. However, it has been a coalition government—this government—that has delivered for small business.

I find it hypocritical that those opposite seek to disagree with our deregulation agenda when they once, in the dim, dark, distant past said that they had similar intentions. It is amusing to hear claims that out deregulation agenda is merely fanfare. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the savings appointed and announced since our first repeal day. We have assisted small-business through the Fair Work Ombudsman Small-Business Helpline, which has had more than 100,000 calls, to date. This has led to a reduction in annual compliance costs of over $2½ million, according to the Department of Employment. Additionally, small businesses are to benefit from the improved ATO communications strategy, with the government's Digital First. Small businesses will benefit from a reduction in the amount of time spent reading ATO communications and we will reduce the need to store paper correspondence. I know from my discussions with the ATO that it has been moving rapidly to a digital communication strategy and achieving some very significant successes and some very positive feedback from their small-business customers.

Local pharmacies in my electorate, such as Waterford Discount Chemist, the Chemmart at the hyperdome and Murphy's Health Care Pharmacy, have benefited from the increase in the PBS claims threshold as a result of the reduced paperwork. We have also moved requirements of vocational education and training sector, which includes RTOs, to apply to update the registration when changes to training packages are made but the training outcome remained the same. Furthermore, the minister has announced that the Australian Skills Quality Authority will remove the requirements for financial viability assessments to be undertaken as part of the re-registration process. This will certainly benefit local RTOs in Forde such as Brisbane Business & Hospitality Training and Evocca College.

One innovative step, which, in fairness, started under the previous government, is the MyTax process whereby small taxpayers and people with simple tax affairs can lodge their tax returns through MyTax. That has provided an enormous benefit to some 1.4 million Australians and resulted in some $156 million in compliance-cost savings. My two sons have both lodged their tax returns this year via MyTax. I was sitting with them when they did it. The process is very simple where you have a simple tax return. A lot of the data is prefilled from various sources.

Local charities will be better off with the removal of duplication and financial reporting to the Australian charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Our charities do not want to be stuck behind a desk; they want to be on the front line, assisting the people in our communities who need it most. Charities such as Lighthouse Care, Twin Rivers Centre, Red Cross, Rosies, Soul Centre, Multilink Community Services and Canefields Clubhouse will benefit significantly from these changes.

The next lot of repeals, contained in this bill, go further in reducing the red-tape compliance of business. They include payslip reporting provisions in superannuation law which would have increased the regulatory burden on employees beyond that currently imposed under the Fair Work legislation. They simplify taxation laws by removing inoperative provisions, consolidating duplicate provisions and moving longstanding regulations into primary law. There is a broad base of changes that will significantly reduce red tape and regulation in our economy.

At the end of the day, it is our business community that generates the wealth of this country. The best thing that we as governments can do to facilitate growth and economic welfare for the future of this country and create long-term economic growth opportunities for businesses and for individuals is for us as governments to get out of the way of business and let them do what they do best—that is, employ Australians and create wealth for the future generations of this great country.

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