The Liberal Party today announced a comprehensive deregulation agenda to get Australia's economy moving again, lift productivity, and reverse the decline in living standards under Labor.
At the heart of this agenda we will cut red tape so tradies, farmers and businesses can spend less time dealing with government and more time doing their job, saving time and saving money.
This will help small business and large businesses reduce compliance, and get government out of the way of enterprise by:
- Establishing a clear target to reduce the overall red tape burden
- Conducting the first comprehensive regulatory stocktake since 2014
- Cutting the existing stock of unnecessary and duplicative regulation
- Stopping the flow of new red tape through stronger regulatory discipline
- Introducing a national red tape tracker to improve transparency and accountability
- Using technology and AI to simplify compliance and reduce regulatory burden
After nearly four years of the Albanese Government, Australians are working harder but getting ahead less.
Australia has experienced the largest decline in living standards in the developed world, while economic growth and productivity have stalled.
Since Labor came to office, GDP per capita has been flat or falling in 10 of the past 13 quarters, including no growth at all in the most recent quarter.
Productivity has gone backwards, falling by 0.8 per cent over the last year, undermining wages growth, business investment and long-term prosperity.
The Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley said Australia is being weighed down by a growing web of red and green tape that is choking enterprise, investment and innovation.
"Australia cannot grow its way to higher wages and better living standards if productivity continues to fall," the Leader of the Opposition said.
"Right now, our economy is being smothered by regulation with businesses spending more time filling out forms than investing, employing and growing.
"Labor's answer to every problem is another rule, another process, another layer of bureaucracy and that approach is failing."
Research shows the cost of complying with federal regulation has risen to around $160 billion, equivalent to 5.8 per cent of GDP, up sharply over the past decade.
Since coming to office, Labor has introduced thousands of new regulations and hundreds of new laws, adding billions of dollars in compliance costs to the economy
Under Labor, Australia's global competitiveness has slipped, productivity growth has declined, and living standards have gone backwards.
Small businesses, farmers, tradies and manufacturers are on the front line of this failure.
The Liberal Party's deregulation agenda is focused on one clear goal: getting the economy moving again by lifting productivity and restoring confidence to invest and grow.
Today, the Liberal Party is releasing a discussion paper outlining a practical plan to cut red tape and reboot Australian enterprise.
Shadow Minister for Productivity and Deregulation Senator Andrew Bragg said deregulation is not about lowering standards, but about ensuring rules are fit for purpose and work for Australians.
"Good regulation protects the public interest while bad regulation crushes initiative and holds the country back," Senator Bragg said.
"Australia's economic recovery will not come from Canberra writing more rules.
"It will come from backing Australians to take risks, start businesses, build homes and create jobs.
"We cannot lift wages, restore living standards or strengthen the budget unless we fix productivity and we cannot fix productivity unless we cut red tape."
The Liberal Party is inviting businesses, industry groups and the broader community to make submissions on where red tape is doing the most damage and how it can be cut, streamlined or modernised
The Liberal Party's door is open to businesses, industry groups and the broader community to contribute practical ideas and real-world examples from those who deal with regulation every day and understand where the system is broken.
This agenda is about restoring economic momentum, rebuilding confidence and getting Australia moving again.
