Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Deregulation) Bill 2014 and the Telecommunications (Industry Levy) Amendment Bill 2014. These bills form an important part of our government's deregulation agenda. This is all about cutting red tape, unnecessary and outdated regulation, making life easier for individuals and businesses. All in all, our government has identified $2.1 billion of savings in red-tape reduction. The bills before the House include measures dealing with the abolition and transfer of the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency to the Department of Communications, and also deregulatory measures in relation to extending the Do Not Call Register registration period, reducing the scope of telephone pre-selection obligations, reducing reporting and record keeping requirements on telecommunications companies; and other related amendments.

I have to say in Corangamite, the electorate I so proudly represent, the government's very strong deregulation agenda has been welcomed very warmly. Recently, the small business minister, the member for Dunkley, visited Corangamite and held a small-business forum. There were small businesses from all around the Geelong and greater Corangamite region who attended to talk about their issues. There is nothing more significant for businesses and for individuals than feeling that they are being listened to by government. It was a great opportunity for small businesses to say directly to the minister: 'This is what is concerning me. This is what the problem is.' It is all very well to talk about a deregulation agenda, but there is so much in the way of regulatory burden that is imposed on small businesses.

The only way that we as a government are dealing with this burden and delivering the $2.1 billion in savings—which is what we have delivered so far—is by identifying the specific regulatory burdens, and that is what we are doing. We are systematically and methodically going through these regulatory burdens, addressing them one by one and providing the appropriate remedies. I particularly want to thank the Minister for Small Business for visiting Corangamite, for listening and for sending out the strong message that no matter whether it is a form, not matter whether it is a piece of legislation, we are there as a government addressing these issues. If we strip away unnecessary regulations from businesses, be they small or large, we will free up business owners and people who work in business, we will give more opportunities to create jobs and we will unwind unnecessary red tape, which of course is adding so much to the cost of doing business. In the region I represent, and particularly in Geelong, there are some real challenges at the moment but there are also some great opportunities—there are so many thousands of wonderful small businesses creating jobs—and I know this legislation has been very welcomed.

In my electorate and, I think it is fair to say, right across Australia, there is concern about unsolicited phone calls. There are few things more frustrating than sitting down to eat dinner with the family and the phone rings, and it is one of those calls. We understand that frustration and, again, we are listening. The Australian people have embraced the Do Not Call Register. There are 9.3 million current registrations, with around one million numbers added every year. It has been a remarkable success. More than two-thirds of Australian households have listed their number on the register, demonstrating the popularity of this initiative, which was introduced by the Howard government. We have introduced legislation to change the Do Not Call Register so that it will only be necessary to place a phone number on the register once, as opposed to reregistering after eight years. This change means that households will no longer have to remember to renew their registration. It will help to avoid frustration, it will help to make the whole process more seamless and it will send the very strong message that we are there as a government to make life easier for Australians. While this may seem a reasonably straightforward initiative, it is also important. This significant new initiative will save $3.4 million a year over 10 years in administrative costs. Of course, it is just one more reform as part of the $2.1 billion in savings that we have delivered.

On our second red tape repeal day, on 29 October, we outlined nearly 1,000 pieces of legislation and regulation, totalling over 72,000 pages, which are to be removed. This has been very warmly welcomed by business owners, local community groups and individuals in my electorate and right across the country. It really is making a massive difference. I want to reflect on a really good example—and I would really encourage small business owners in the electorate of Corangamite to see me if they have a problem they want to address—and that really good example is Gary Kerr of Kerr's Hire. He addressed this issue under the previous government, but I think it is fair to say there was not perhaps the appropriate traction that he was hoping for. He raised a particular issue concerning the Personal Property Securities Act, which was forcing hire companies to register short-term leases. This was really imposing an enormous regulatory burden on them. It was time and money that small businesses like Kerr's Hire could not afford. I took these concerns to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Josh Frydenberg, and the government was very responsive. In our very first red tape repeal day, we made some very important changes to the legislation, such that Mr Kerr will now only need to register the goods when they were hired for more than one year rather than the 90-day period. I acknowledge that there is some more work to be done in relation to this particular legislation, and there is a review of the entire act being undertaken at the moment. I am very keen that Mr Kerr and other members of the hire industry are engaged in this process. It is a very good signal that we are absolutely determined to listen to the concerns of businesses and to take the appropriate action.

I want to particularly note the comments of the Chief Executive Officer of the Geelong Chamber of Commerce, Bernadette Uzelac. I have to say it was wonderful to have the Geelong delegation in parliament yesterday—the Committee for Geelong, the chamber, the Mayor of the City of Greater Geelong and other civic leaders—to talk about our great city and our great region. We were all very engaged in looking at what we need to do as a city to grow and to go from strength to strength. As I say, it is all about jobs. What our focus is on and what the coalition government and the Victoria government are firmly focused on is jobs. Ms Uzelac was quoted in a story in the Geelong Independent on 28 March, saying: 'There is a real cost burden for Geelong business owners who spend hours doing unnecessary paperwork or who are forced to pay staff or contractors to comply with irrelevant and outdated regulation. Geelong small businesses need the best opportunity to grow into big businesses.' The chamber represents about 800 different businesses, so it is a very important organisation and perhaps one of the oldest in Australia; it is very significant.

The Prime Minister in this House on 19 March said in relation to Mr Kerr's particular concerns:

… Kerr’s Hire’s concerns, because under the rules as they stand, many short-term leases have to be registered which means more form filling, more time wasting and more unnecessary expense.

…   …   …

… Red Tape Repeal Day will fix this, as it will tackle many other instances of redundant and unnecessary regulation.

…   …   …

… no one likes filling in forms. It costs time, it costs money and it costs jobs, and that’s why Red Tape repeal Day is so important.

The regulatory burden on the telecommunications industry is especially burdensome. A build-up of red tape over almost two decades has left us with a number of outdated and onerous requirements which limit innovation. This bill delivers by lowering the cost burden on industry and on consumers, with expected savings in this regard of some $6.9 million a year.

I wish to commend the Minister for Communications and his parliamentary secretary, who is here in the House to day, for their hard work in working with industry to come up with these regulatory savings. That is what it is all about—strong collaboration, listening to these important stakeholders and taking the appropriate action to deliver the savings and to generate jobs growth. In line with the government's current policy to consolidate smaller agencies to reduce administrative and governance costs, the government, as part of the May 2014 budget, announced its intention to abolish TUSMA and transfer its responsibilities to the Department of Communications. This will enhance lines of accountability, help the government focus on its core responsibilities and priorities, ease the cost burden on business by modestly reducing the amount of the telecommunications industry levy that industry pays to help fund the cost of delivering the universal service obligations and other public interest telecommunications services. It will also create greater certainty for industry by having a single agency responsible for policy and implementation of telecommunications universal service matters.

The bill will also remove arrangements for ACMA to register e-marketing codes, given that this is no longer relevant. Consumers will still enjoy strong consumer protection measures, of course, under the regulatory regime established by the Spam Act of 2003. Preselection allows consumers to choose a different provider for local calls, line rental, long-distance and international calls. There are 10.3 million landlines in service in Australia, but only 30,000 consumers who still choose to vary their service providers under preselection. The amendments contained in this schedule are proposed as deregulatory measure to relax the future requirements to provide for preselection. These bills are important because they reflect our government's strong commitment to reducing the red tape burden and they are important because they are part of $2.1 billion of savings that we are delivering already in just some 12 months. For these reasons I commend the bills to the House.

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