PM Transcripts

Transcripts from the Prime Ministers of Australia

Abbott, Tony

Period of Service: 18/09/2013 - 15/09/2015
Release Date:
16/03/2014
Release Type:
Media Release
Transcript ID:
23341
A message from the Prime Minister - Cutting Red Tape

Later this month a special sitting of the Parliament will be held.

For the first time, the national Parliament will be holding a red tape Repeal Day.  Over 9,000 regulations will be scrapped benefiting our businesses, our schools, our hospitals and our community groups and cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from their compliance costs.  It’s part of the Government’s plan to build the strong, prosperous economy that our country needs.

We are determined to cut $1 billion every year in red and green tape costs.  This will improve our nation’s competitiveness, help to create more jobs and lower your household costs.

I’ve listened to people across Australia tell me about the impact of red tape on their businesses, schools and community groups.

Child care centres, for example, are subject to 1,280 pages of law, 345 pages of regulation and 1,149 pages of guidelines.  Inevitably the result is fewer services and higher fees for parents.

Local cafés that serve alcohol and have outdoor seating must negotiate a total of 75 sets of local, state and national regulations.  Again, the costs are passed on to you.

Now, all too often, governments second guess the good sense of the Australian people and it doesn’t have to be this way.

As Sir Robert Menzies once said, ‘we want less forms and more reforms’.  Less forms and more reforms means less costs and more jobs.

This will be our first Repeal Day but there will be many more.  We are doing this to make your life easier and our economy stronger.

16 March 2014

23341