| The Hon Lindsay Tanner Minister for Finance and Deregulation |
The Hon Craig Emerson MP Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation |
01/2008
31 January 2008
The inaugural meeting of the Commonwealth, State and Territory Business Regulation and Competition Working Group (BRCWG) was held today in Canberra. The Working Group aims to drive the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agenda for the reduction of the regulatory burden on businesses by accelerating and broadening regulation reduction work program, and improving processes for regulation making and review.
Lindsay Tanner and Craig Emerson, the Commonwealth Ministers who co‑chair the BRCWG expressed satisfaction at progress made at the meeting.
“Today’s meeting resolved to widen the existing COAG regulatory reform program and to accelerate the implementation process. This is an important part of Labor’s agenda to cut red tape and deliver benefits for businesses and consumers,” Mr Tanner said.
“We discussed specific actions that governments can take to accelerate COAG’s existing regulatory ‘hot spots’ agenda and began a process to identify a first tranche of additional new regulatory reform initiatives”, said Dr Emerson. “The timetable for implementing reform to reduce regulatory burdens in important areas is in the process of being finalised. It will set an ambitious agenda to complete reforms in a timely manner which business groups have been calling for”.
The BRCWG is one of seven new working groups established by the Prime Minister and state and territory heads of government at the 20 December 2007 COAG meeting for pursuing COAG’s 2008 work agenda. The other working groups were established to accelerate reform in the sectors of health and ageing, productivity, climate change and water, infrastructure, housing, and indigenous reform.
The BRCWG is tasked with providing an implementation plan on regulatory reform and improving competition for consideration by COAG, in March 2008.
