Ken Ticehurst (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Treasurer. Would the Treasurer update the House on what the Australian government is doing to help businesses across Australia, including those in my electorate of Dobell, to get on with business? Are there any threats?

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Dobell for his question and his interest in the Australian business sector, because it is the health of the Australian business sector which will drive our economy and will drive our employment prospects in the years which lie ahead. Today I announced the final response of the government to the regulation task force which was chaired by Gary Banks of the Productivity Commission. The government has now responded to all 178 recommendations and accepted, in full or in part, 158 of those recommendations. This is a major report on and a major response to reducing regulation and red tape on Australia’s business sector. As part of that response, the government has announced tougher rules for making new regulations, including the requirement that there be cost-benefit analysis and the use of a business cost calculator developed by the Office of Small Business under which we will be able to assess the cost of new regulation on business. Cabinet will make the final decision on any new regulation, but it will only be after that rigorous process has been gone through. In addition, part of our response announced today is for the screening of all regulation at least every five years. So after five years every piece of regulation will be reviewed by the Productivity Commission to see whether or not it is still required and whether or not the cost can be reduced.

Some of the individual areas where we will be simplifying regulation include working towards a single regulator for mine safety; FBT reporting exclusions for pooled motor vehicles; improving advice for occupational health and safety; simplifying accounting methods for small restaurants, cafes and caterers; streamlining business names through the ABN-ABR system; aligning definitions of ‘small business’, ‘employer’ and ‘associate’; and aligning training and licensing and mutual recognition of occupations. This comes in addition to changes which the government announced in April which raised thresholds in relation to fringe benefits exemptions and reportable benefits exclusions. In addition, in April we announced a halving of the cost of incorporating a company and provision for companies to make their annual reports available on the internet rather than having to mail out hard copies.

This is part of a determined effort by the Australian government to reduce unnecessary regulation so as to free up the business sector. It comes in addition to tax cuts for the business sector which the government announced in this year’s budget and our ongoing campaign to have the states acknowledge the intergovernmental agreement and abolish those indirect taxes which were part of the original agreement to bring in the GST. Australia’s economy will be driven by the health of its business sector, and reducing unnecessary red tape is a big part of that.