House debates

Wednesday, 23 June 2021

Statements by Members

Western Australia: Business Regulation

4:13 pm

Photo of Steve IronsSteve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Zimmerman, as you know, Swan is in Western Australia, and Western Australia is a parochial state, but Western Australians are no fools. Legislation that's before the House at the moment has seen the Morrison government come together with state and territory leaders to support green and red tape reduction. The question is: when will the Labor opposition agree to support this reduction of green and red tape to strengthen our business investments in WA?

Since 2019 the Morrison government has committed an additional $54.5 million over three years to reduce unnecessary delays and speed up approvals. As agreed by the national cabinet, the immediate priority is to streamline approval processes. We need to remove red and green tape, which doesn't serve the interests of the environment or the interests of business, and we need to speed up approvals for job-creating projects. Further delay will cost millions of dollars, with the Minerals Council estimating major greenfield projects losing $46 million per month in Western Australia.

So, with $140 billion in the project pipeline across the WA mining and resources sector, it is essential, now more than ever, that the Australian regulatory settings remain competitive and effective in attracting and securing investment and the benefits that come with those investments. Even Mark McGowan has said his government proposed changes to this bill 18 months ago. WA Labor is on board. So my message to the opposition leader is: don't come to WA; don't go to the Pilbara next week, playing dress-ups, wearing a hard hat and hi-vis, and expect that the Western Australians are going to be fooled that you support the mining industry.