The Business Council is today releasing the first edition of Regulation Rumble, our jurisdictional guide to national best practice in planning and regulation.
"Our report's key intention is to give an impetus for reform, to help drive competitive federalism and to point to examples of national best practice across the country for others to adopt, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.
"As our recently released Seize the Moment report makes clear, the cumulative burden of regulation is a significant issue for companies around Australia.
"This burden ultimately impacts Australian consumers, who are already struggling with cost-of-living pressures; with additional costs; unnecessary delays and limited flexibility.
"Our report recognises that governments around the National Cabinet table have acknowledged the need to reform their planning and housing systems; and understand the urgent need to ease the burden of regulation on business.
"Our report aims to look at the problems beyond the headlines and provide solutions to many of the complex problems facing our state and territory governments.
"We also acknowledge that the governments in the two most populous states in NSW and Victoria have flagged they intend to pursue reform to help deliver more housing. If these reforms hit the right mark, then they will deserve applause given the urgent need.
"As the report makes clear, it is possible for a state or territory to lead in one aspect of regulation - providing lessons for others - and to come last in others.
"We strongly support the National Planning Reform Blueprint, the Housing Support Program, and the New Home Bonus announced in August.
"However, in some states, it currently takes far too long to get a planning approval, which delays construction and increases the cost of new housing.
"We firmly believe that planning system reform is urgent if Australia is going to address the housing supply crisis and we support National Cabinet's recent commitments on housing supply.
"What is clear from our report is the urgent need to address the patchwork of regulation and planning systems across the nation in order to encourage investment and remove barriers for companies to expand and trade across state lines or overseas.
"This hurts our competitiveness, hurts our productivity and will drive down investment.
"In light of this week's concerning national accounts data, which show Australian households and businesses are doing it tough, we urge each member of National Cabinet to pull out all stops in considering what these results mean for the people of their state or territory.
"We hope this scorecard can serve as a guide and provide examples of national best practice and areas for improvement."
