Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

(—) (): During Labor's nearly six years in office there were more than 975 new or amending pieces of legislation introduced and over 21,000 additional regulations. At the same time, there were more than 80 examples of major policy changes that were considered in the absence of proper regulatory analysis. The carbon tax, the mining tax, the National Broadband Network and changes to the Fair Work Act were all granted exemption and escaped detailed scrutiny. But, more than just increasing regulation, the government regulators have at the same time become larger and more risk averse. Whereas regulators have had the ability to cost-recover their fees from industry, it has been business that has borne the cost of regulators' risk aversion, and this has had a significant impact on our productivity. In 2012, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked 51 countries for productivity growth, with Australia ranked 51st. That was the impact of six years of increasing cost and regulation on the Australian economy, and the Prime Minister is doing something about it. (Time expired)