Tony Abbott has demonstrated yet again that he has no policies, recycling his idea of offering public servants incentives to reduce red tape and trying to paint it as new.
In May this year, Mr Abbott said:
"We'll cut business red tape costs by at least a billion dollars a year by requiring each government agency to quantify the costs of its reporting and compliance rules and delivering an annual savings target. Public service bonuses won't be paid unless these targets are met."
(Tony Abbott - Address in Reply (Budget) - 10 May 2012)
Today, as part of a conference about the future, Mr Abbott will yet again say nothing new.
And, ironically, today's recycled proposal for reducing red tape comes just days after the Coalition voted against deregulation of the wheat market.
This just shows the Opposition has no idea when it comes to economic policy.
Mr Abbott says the Opposition will establish a Business Advisory Council but this Government has already set up a Business Advisory Forum, where leading business groups meet with the Prime Minister and First Ministers about reducing red tape.
Regulatory reform requires hard work and ongoing discussions with business and the states and territories.
This Government is doing the real work to reduce red tape for business – not making recycled announcements.
Since 2007, the Government has worked hard to reduce the regulatory burden on business.
Already, 17 out of 27 deregulation priorities under the COAG Seamless National Economy agenda have been implemented.
The Productivity Commission has estimated that 17 of the 27 reforms, fully implemented, could reduce business costs by an estimated $4 billion per year and potentially increase GDP by over $6 billion annually, or around $250 for each Australian.
Legislation introduced by this Government has also passed the Parliament, enabling the repeal of 12,000 duplicative and redundant regulations.