Speech by The Hon Lindsay Tanner MP
Minister for Finance and Deregulation
Speech to the 2008 Australian Trucking Convention
8:00am, Friday 30 May 2008, National Convention Centre, Canberra
It is a pleasure to be with you this morning and to be out and about after my last few months have included many long evenings preparing the Budget. The first Rudd Labor Budget was framed in turbulent economic times and is designed to put downward pressure on inflation as well as delivering on our election commitments and setting the Australian economy up for the longer term. We have delivered a surplus of 1.8 per cent of GDP, exceeding our target of 1.5 per cent. This was achieved not through revenue windfalls but across the board savings initiatives.
The Budget also takes the first steps in addressing Australia’s future challenges. It funds our election commitments to improve productivity through an education revolution and tackling infrastructure bottlenecks. This includes the creation of three nation building funds – the Building Australia Fund, the Education Investment Fund and the Health and Hospitals Fund – which are expected to contain over $40 billion in funds available for investment from 2009-10.
I started today talking about the Budget, because we see deregulation as just as important a tool for improving Australia’s productivity.
So I am very pleased that, along with my Finance responsibilities, I can address you today as Australia’s first Federal Minister for Deregulation. In fact, we have two Ministers – myself and the Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation, Dr Craig Emerson and since we took office in November we’ve been working hard on the government’s deregulation agenda and getting things done.
I know that the Australian Trucking Association has had a long interest in regulatory reform and has made submissions on a number of key regulatory reform issues, including to the Banks Review into Reducing Regulatory Burdens on Business in 2005.
We are revisiting the recommendations of the Banks Review to ensure that the recommendations have been fully implemented. We are also checking that these actions have indeed reduced the regulatory burden on business, and if not, will look to refocus effort towards that goal.
With the Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Governance, Senator Nick Sherry, I’ve set up the Financial Services Reform Working Group. The Group is working with industry and consumer representatives to cut down the voluminous product disclosure statements to the couple of pages of key information that potential investors really need to know.
Over the coming months I will be working in partnership with other Ministers on similar projects to ensure other areas of overly burdensome regulation are tackled and addressed.
We will also honour our election commitment to implement a -one-in, one-out principle to ensure no net increase in regulatory burden associated with new Federal legislation. This principle requires that a Minister seeking to impose new regulation must try and find offsetting reductions in regulatory burden.
The one-in, one-out principle will operate in conjunction with the existing processes of the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR). The OBPR is an office within the Department of Finance and Deregulation that independently monitors compliance with the best practice regulation principles and associated regulatory impact assessment procedures.
In all but exceptional circumstances, a regulatory proposal cannot proceed to Cabinet without the regulatory impact analysis processes being met. [I am very glad that the Executive Director of the OBPR, Su McCluskey is part of your panel discussion this morning.]
I am also keen to develop a culture of continuous regulatory improvement.
I know a lot of frustration from business people comes from the ‘stupid’ regulation they encounter just trying to do their jobs and run their businesses. This regulation seems stupid because it is not fit-for-purpose. It may be ineffective, overly burdensome, outdated or duplicate other regulation.
One example raised with me recently was a business who wished to transport an unusually shaped load on a specially designed trailer between Victoria and Queensland. The trailer meets the Australian Design Rules and the performance based standards developed by the National Transport Commission. It is widely used overseas to carry similar loads.
However, the company still had to obtain over 8 separate approvals from state-based transport departments, road authorities and local councils to travel the route. This process took over two years to complete.
This example also illustrates another key focus for the government’s deregulation agenda – ending the blame game between the Federal and State Governments and working together to remove regulatory impediments.
In transport and infrastructure markets, the historical and arbitrary differences in regulation between state borders hinder the industry and the nation’s productivity. While the original rail gauge problem – differing gauges on key lines between major cities - has been solved, there remain others.
The Business Regulation and Competition Working Group of COAG, which I co-chair with Minister Craig Emerson, presented COAG in March 2008 with plans to reform and harmonise 27 ‘rail gauge’ problems in areas as diverse as rail safety, electronic conveyancing, margin lending and wine labelling.
Top of this list of regulatory reforms is finally achieving national harmonised occupational health and safety laws. I know this is a key concern to the trucking industry.
At the Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council last Friday, the Deputy Prime Minister and her state counterparts agreed in principle to an intergovernmental agreement which will finally sign all jurisdictions up to harmonised OH&S laws, implemented through model legislation.
Moreover, not only has this historic agreement finally been reached, despite being a regulatory hotspot for several years, but the Ministers agreed to accelerate the timetable for reform by 12 months to 2011.
As I said before, it is my job to ensure this timetable does not slip. I am acutely aware that regulatory reform is littered with good intentions and deregulatory initiatives which have not ultimately delivered for business.
The need for a national approach and a keen eye on deadlines is also important to deliver a seamless transport market. Through the Australian Transport Council, Minister Albanese and state transport ministers agreed earlier this month to policy objectives and principles which underpin the Government’s National Transport Plan.
The National Transport Plan recognises that competitive and truly national transport markets will reduce costs for business and consumers, improve Australia’s productivity and the quality of life by better connecting Australians to their family and friends.
The National Transport Plan will encompass the existing COAG transport reform program. The March 2008 report of the COAG Reform Council reported that implementation is generally on track but recommended that it continue and be hastened where possible.
In addition, the Australian Transport Council has commissioned new work on a national registration scheme for trucks and a single national drivers licence for truck drivers. These reforms will cut red tape for drivers and transport businesses.
They will build on one of the major successes of past regulatory reform, the development of uniform national road rules by the National Road Transport Commission, now the National Transport Commission. The process continues, but we should acknowledge that much has been achieved.
These are just a few of the items on the Government’s reinvigorated deregulation agenda.
You may have further ideas or examples of regulation which is not fit for purpose. There is a lot to be done and I’m excited to be involved. I welcome the Australian Trucking Association’s continued involvement and look forward to working with you.
-ends-
| Media Contact: | Website: |
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| Nardia Dazkiw - 0418 144 690 | www.financeminister.gov.au |
