EDITORIAL: Red and green tape is holding Australian businesses hostage
EDITORIAL: Australian businesses are hostage to a web of red and green tape that results in time-consuming and expensive compliance work.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was right about the economy being held hostage.
But the hostage takers he laid the blame on did not constitute the full list.
After returning from talks with counterparts in Washington, Dr Chalmers on Monday bemoaned the impact of the war in the Middle East by saying Australia’s economy was being held hostage to “decisions taken in Washington and Tehran”.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.But the truth is, Australian businesses are also hostage to a web of red and green tape that results in time-consuming and expensive compliance work.
And the Albanese Government’s industrial relations agenda has emboldened a union movement that is now flexing its muscles to an extent not seen for decades.
The Nightly this week reported that Australian businesses are being drowned by $160 billion a year in red tape regulation.
In a pre-Budget submission, a group of nearly 30 peak bodies in Australia, including the Business Council of Australia, called for a regulatory overhaul.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black said there were 25 different regulations to pour a cup of coffee in NSW, while cafe owners in Victoria have to jump through 37 different hoops to gain a licence.
Council of Small Business Organisations Australia director Wes Lambert pointed to Australian Institute of Company Directors research that found the overlap of local, State and Federal regulations was leading to a $160b-a-year hit to businesses.
And this week BHP’s WA iron ore boss Tim Day sounded a warning as the company battles the re-emergence of unions at its Pilbara mine sites.
The warning came days after the first strike at a Pilbara mine this century.
BHP has long argued against many of the Albanese Government’s industrial relations changes, which have emboldened unions to encourage well-paid mine workers to organise and take action.
The Electrical Trades Union action kicked off on Thursday, with about 50 specialised high-voltage and power workers demanding $20,000 for night shift work, $7000 for working in hot weather, a $6240 BHP contribution for private health insurance, 200 per cent penalty rates for overtime and 300 per cent for public holiday work.
The Federal Coalition has vowed to create super-fast-track environmental assessments for “national interest projects” and unwind legal changes that bar oil and gas projects from using more streamlined processes.
But the Coalition remains a long way from taking office and being able to implement such a policy.
That leaves the field open to deals such as that touted on Tuesday by Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt, who proclaimed that the Albanese Government’s environmental law reforms paved the way for the development of new and improved bilateral agreements with States and territories.
To back it up he said a new Memorandum of Understanding set out a pathway to new assessment and approval bilateral agreements for WA.
A MOA. For a pathway.
It doesn’t sound like too many green tape barriers will be slashed there any time soon.
And the urgent calls for productivity improvements get ever more urgent.
