Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I join with the member for Deakin in saying that I, too, am delighted today to speak on the Omnibus Repeal Day (Autumn 2015) Bill 2015 and other key red tape reduction measures announced by the government in its third repeal day package. I am proud that we continue the good work begun last year of removing inefficient regulation that cripples our economic growth. However, I am even prouder of the contribution this legislative bundle and its related measures will make to improving the lives of our hardworking small business people.

In 2013, there were 7,165 businesses employing fewer than 200 staff and 13,690 non-employing businesses in Higgins. When I see this legislation, I think of the many men and women in my electorate who rise early and work late to keep their businesses afloat and who employ people, pay taxes and provide essential community services. I think of the printers, the pharmacists, the restaurant owners, the hairdressers, the retailers and the myriad of other small business people whom it has been my privilege to meet as the local member for Higgins.

Red tape repeal days mean that these people get to work on their businesses rather than on wasteful compliance activities. They get to go home to their children rather than search opaque websites for hard-to-find help with government requirements. They get to engage with their customers and communities rather than wait in queues. All of this helps people personally and makes for a more productive Australia.

The coalition has already introduced a raft of measures to help businesses: 402,000 small businesses no longer have to interact with the pay-as-you-go instalment system; there is now a one-stop shop for environmental approvals; and the mining and carbon taxes have been repealed. In addition to this, the government has sought to reduce the duplication of regulatory arrangements where existing international standards from trusted bodies have already been met. For example, Cochlear, the manufacturers of the bionic ear, is able to have all of its products verified under the European Union certification process and does not have to also seek TGA certification in addition to the European certification. This is saving both the manufacturer and the TGA valuable time and money and, most importantly, in the case of Cochlear, gets necessary products out to the people who need them in a shorter period of time.

Imagine a small business owner who runs a high-tech printing shop in my electorate. It is a local institution, but the owner has a heavy load. On top of managing staff, property, printing operations, service and the organisation's finances, this printer must submit her tax paperwork, including her PAYG instalments. On top of this, she has a raft of other compliance related work, such as that relating to two 457 visa workers she wants to hire, who will fulfil roles which are both critical to the business and cannot be filled locally. This is only the tip of the iceberg of her administration and compliance activities, most of which is done on weekends or in the dead of night. She struggles to juggle her time running the business with her time with her family, so every second liberated is of incomparable value. So far our measures have helped her by establishing a small business helpline to give advice on employee wages and workplace laws. Changes to SuperStream regulations mean that it is now easier for her to pay her employees' super contributions. Legislation has also been introduced to reduce the administrative burden on employers, like our small business owner, who can now administer paid parental leave payments directly through the Department of Human Services.

Our third repeal day package takes our promise to reduce burdensome regulation even further by making it easier for our small business owner to be 457 visa compliant, with the streamlining of the processing of sponsorship, nomination and visa applications. She will also find business easier in several ways over time. She can find information from the tax office more readily and can more easily keep her personal details up to date for online government dealings. It is even easier for her to buy prepaid mobiles for her business. The government has also announced that it will expand access to the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House, meaning that 27,500 businesses will benefit from a cost-free solution to meet their super obligations. This all leads to a happier and healthier small business owner. I have no doubt that her children will also benefit. Furthermore, it makes great economic sense to free up time from low-value compliance to high-value business activities and time with family. One step at a time, we can strike a more sensible balance for our hardworking small business owners, who account for nearly one-half of private sector industry employment.

The coalition's economic agenda centres on building a stronger, more diverse economy, reducing taxes and creating jobs. Removing red tape is at the heart of this agenda. However, it is also at the heart of a value set which encourages us to see small business people as invaluable contributors to our communities, and that we should not be putting unnecessary obstacles in their way. Business and individuals suffer unnecessary costs each day due to poorly designed regulation. By reducing this burden, business can grow and create more jobs. Our attitude to this stands in stark contrast to the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government. Under Labor, much was promised on the management of regulations, including a promise to remove a piece of compliance for every one that was added. Yet, at the end of the day, we saw 21,000 new regulations put in place. This was not sustainable.

Step by step, in a practical way, the coalition has sought to make it easier for business to do business, to employ people and to lift local communities because we know that every change counts. The red-tape reduction measures that I have discussed today are just one element of the coalition's third repeal day agenda. These measures go hand in hand with the repeal of outdated legislation. The Omnibus Repeal Day (Autumn 2015) Bill we are debating today will, along with its related legislation, repeal 890 Commonwealth acts. In repealing redundant acts, we help businesses, community organisations and families who waste valuable time sifting through outdated regulations to try to determine whether they still apply.

The bill repeals acts in a number of areas including agriculture, environment, Prime Minister and Cabinet, Treasury and veterans' affairs. Today I will not undertake to summarise the legislation's many components, but I will point out that the estimated cumulative savings so far from red-tape reduction now amount to around $2.45 billion. What you are seeing with this legislation is practical government at work: doing the job that it should be doing. That is why we were elected to be a government in this place: to make sure that we do not block the aspirations of Australians, but in fact encourage those aspirations. We do that with this bill, and I commend it to the House.

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