Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the previous speaker, the member for Wannon, and his comments. He made some very salient points. I want to start by saying that this repeal day legislation—and, as we know, this is the third one that we have had so far—is one of the most important things that we as a government are doing.

Since we have been in government we have made a lot of the Australian saying 'have a go'. In fact, we need everybody in Australia to have a go. We need them to, we will encourage them and we as a government will do everything we can to make sure that people who are having a go in a business or in a commercial sense are successful. For every business that a person has put their time and often some of their money into starting, a lot of wonderful things flow when they are successful. Obviously there are jobs created, there is commercial activity created and there is tax generated that we as a government need to redistribute, as we do. As a government, we do not create wealth; we simply redistribute it. We can redistribute that wealth to people and programs in our community, to those who need it.

So why is that important in relation to the red tape repeal day? I think if any person who has been in any level of government, whether it be local, state or federal, speaks to anyone from private enterprise in this country—big, medium or small—that person would say: 'I have too much paperwork. I have too much red tape to complete or fill out.' What does that mean? That means that the person in the company who is dealing with that red tape, especially when it is a small business that does not necessarily have a lot of resources, is taken away from being productive.

Yes, we obviously need certain red tape. There need to be protections in a whole array of areas to regulate businesses and regulate commercial activity. We are certainly not going to say we do not need regulation at all but, just anecdotally, if you were to travel around the globe and go to other countries, many people would say that Australia has unfortunately become one of the most expensive countries in the world to do business in. That is certainly not doing us any favours in this country or making us productive and competitive, because we are not operating in a vacuum. Almost regardless of what business you are in, you have if not domestic competitors then certainly international competitors. We need to remain nimble and, as I say, encourage people in this country to have a go and be successful.

We have announced that the total deregulatory saving since we were elected in September 2013 is $2.45 billion. I have quoted this figure a number of times as I have walked around my community, and the sad thing—and why this is a wonderful figure to achieve and to announce—is that people's main response to me is, 'Keep going,' because they have not noticed. That again highlights the importance of the fact that we are repealing unnecessary legislation.

Very importantly, for the first time we have a federal government that has undertaken a thorough and accurate stock take of the cost. We put a dollar amount to the regulatory burden that we are lifting. It is important that people can realise the cost of this regulation. We also have a very high degree of accuracy in publicly reporting to the parliament a downturn in the total amount and cost of federal regulation. We have a comprehensive and transparent program to reverse the growing costs of red tape and our goal, as I say, is to make things easier. One of the main things we think cutting red tape will do is help small businesses create more jobs and increase productivity, which is what they are telling us they want.

Under the former Labor government, Commonwealth regulation was costing Australians approximately $65 billion. That is about 4.2 per cent of GDP. Given that this is our third repeal day, we have made decisions to reduce the $65 billion cost burden by $2.45 billion. To date we have implemented $1.57 billion of that $2.45 billion, with $880 million still to be implemented by repeals that we have already announced. Following our third repeal day, we will have repealed more than 10,300 legislative instruments and introduced legislation to repeal over 2,700 acts of parliament. During the previous government, some 21,000 new regulations found their way into national life. So again we are reversing that trend.

As a result of our efforts in removing all this red tape, deregulation units have been established in every portfolio from existing resources to drive red-tape reduction across the Commonwealth. We are also working with the states and territories, because these red-tape costs traverse all levels of government.

As part of our commitment, we have dedicated two parliamentary sitting days as repeal days every year. The first repeal day, on 26 March 2014, announced measures that would result in gross savings in excess of $700 million in compliance costs. The second repeal day, in October 2014, resulted in net savings in excess of $2.1 billion in reduced compliance costs. As I said, the third repeal day, in March 2015, the lifts the regulatory burden by $2.45 billion in reduced compliance costs.

What are some of the key measures in this repeal day? Firstly, we are making it easier for certain businesses to pay monthly PAYG. This is going to deliver annual compliance savings of $2.7 million. We are reforming the 457 visa program by streamlining the processing of sponsorship, nomination and visa applications. We are reforming sponsorship requirements to reduce the time and cost to businesses and increasing the sponsorship approval period from 12 to 18 months for start-up businesses. We are providing greater flexibility in relation to English language testing and skill requirements. The annual compliance savings of that will be nearly $30 million.

We are also removing the requirement for heavy vehicle operators of B-double truck combinations registered under the Federal Interstate Registration Scheme to fit additional spray suppression devices. The annual compliance savings are $8.3 million.

We are also improving the ATO website so that six million Australians can find relevant information more quickly. Again, there are savings of close to $50 million.

As far as individuals go, we are implementing additional functionality for myGov users to allow customers to update their details in one place using the myGov Tell Us Once service to obtain secure and convenient access to online services with a single account and one set of credentials. Annual compliance savings there are $5 million.

We are making identity checks easier for retailers and consumers when consumers purchase new prepaid mobile phones, with savings of over $6 million. Restrictions on using personal electronic devices have been lifted so travellers can use their PEDs during all phases of flights, with annual compliance savings of $17.7 million.

There are also some specific ones for students.    Students who receive government payments are now able to change their details online without being required to contact call centres or attend a service centre, with annual compliance savings of $2.7 million.

For farmers and the agricultural sector—and, as we know, this is another sector that always has to remain very competitive in a globally competitive world—there are certain types of low-risk animal feed for both stock and companion animals that are now excluded from the need for Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority regulatory assessment. This change better aligns the registration requirement for stock and pet food with the well-understood risk associated with their ingredients and intended use patterns. The annual compliance savings are nearly $8 million.

The education sector does not miss out either. We are developing an online assessment platform which will deliver the National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy, NAPLAN, online, scheduled to be available from 2017, with compliance savings are nearly $10 million.

Among the major measures announced in the first years of the government's agenda on cutting red tape, obviously we repealed many taxes. There was also the government's Document Verification Service, and we introduced a one-stop shop for other approvals.

For individuals, there was also the myTax initiative and measures to make it easier for Australians to access government services, especially Centrelink. Farmers and the agricultural sector also benefited from the reform of Australia's biosecurity arrangements. The Australian economic partnership agreement and the Korean free trade agreement delivered benefits for that sector as well.

We have also streamlined grants administration processes in the health sector for the National Health and Medical Research Council and made a range of other changes, resulting in a net red-tape saving of more than $150 million.

There were also some changes made in the building and construction industry. We removed some costly and time-consuming requirements under the Australian standard AS4801 or the equivalent prior to applying for a scheme accreditation, which made things easier for them.

Going forward—and I commend the minister responsible—we will continue with this. This is a very important part of the government's legislative agenda in the sense of repealing legislation. Again, we want to encourage every person in this country who has a go and who is putting their own money and time at risk to start up a business or, in fact, to carry out private enterprise. We want to get out of their way as much as we physically can, while still maintaining standards in what they do.

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