A potentially effective way to remove the burden of red tape off Australian businesses and individuals is for the politicians who impose red tape to focus, instead, on removing them.
With red tape restrictions embedded in over 103,000 pages of federal legislation alone, and not to mention the regulatory impositions of state and local governments, there is plenty of opportunity to convene and repeal redundant and unnecessary red tape.
More parliamentary sitting time for repealing red tape should be the way to go.
The Abbott‑Turnbull government introduced twice‑yearly red tape repeal days in parliament, only to drop them later on the questionable claim that much of the reform work has been completed.
The only problem is that the economic cost of Australian red tape, as estimated by the Institute of Public Affairs, stands at a massive $176 billion (or 11 per cent of GDP).
The Australian Government should extend the timeframe for red tape repeal by introducing a Red Tape Repeal Week, following the week‑long parliamentary repeal in Western Australia as part of their #ShredtheRed campaign.
Dedicating an entire week to repealing red tape would signal a political commitment to easing the red tape barriers to growth and innovation, and provide a genuine impetus for cost savings for the Australian economy as a whole.
The next Australian Government must commit to initiatives cutting red tape to unleash prosperity. It should instigate a red tape repeal sitting week in the Parliament to eliminate unnecessary red tape.
