IPA: Australia Must Follow United States And Cut Tape

“President Donald Trump announced today that his Administration will significantly reduce red tape on job creating businesses. Australia must implement serious reforms to reduce the $176 billion cost red tape is imposing on our economy, or we will be rendered uncompetitive,” said Daniel Wild, research fellow with the free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs.

According to CNBC, President Donald Trump has set a budget of $0 for new regulations for fiscal year 2017, meaning there will be no net increase to the regulatory burden. This is the Trump Administration’s first step to implementing his campaign promise to cut two existing regulations for every new regulation introduced.

“If you want to have more jobs you need more job creators. The best way to do this is to cut red tape to lower business costs and encourage investment,” said Mr. Wild.

“My main concern is that Australia will miss out on attracting international investment to lower cost economies. This will cause long-term harm to our economy and jobs growth.”

“According to the World Economic Forum Australia is 111th out of 128 economies for workplace flexibility. We don’t necessarily need to be number one. But there is a lot of low-hanging fruit easily attained by making it easier for Australian’s to get a job.”

Recent research by the Institute of Public Affairs found that red tape is costing our country $176 billion each year in forgone economic output. This is equivalent to 11 per cent of GDP. Similar research found red tape is costing the US economy approximately US$2 trillion, or 12 per cent of its GDP.