November 2, 2012
The State Government is a step closer to delivering on its promise to cut red tape and regulation by 20 per cent with the release of the Office of Best Practice’s Interim Report today.
Assistant Minister for Finance, Administration and Regulatory Reform – and Member for Nanango – Deb Frecklington said the “Measuring and Reducing the Burden of Regulation” report outlined a framework for reducing the regulatory burden on Queensland businesses and taxpayers.
“The Newman Government is committed to making it easier for business and the community to understand and deal with Government regulation,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“Under the previous Labor Government red tape was allowed to grow, stifling business development and investment.
“Industry and the community have long been calling on governments to improve processes and reduce the stock of existing regulation.
“Creating the Office of Best Practice Regulation as part of the Queensland Competition Authority was a key election commitment to drive regulatory reform and help restore transparency and accountability.
“This is all about changing the culture of government from one that promotes red tape to one that actively reduces it.”
The Interim Report lists 10 fast-track reforms and eight medium-term priorities which are based on feedback received from the business community.
“The Newman Government is already focussing on reforms in several of the priority areas identified in the report,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“We have already implemented, or are currently implementing, more than 200 individual red tape reduction initiatives across government, many of them align with the Office of Best Practice Regulation’s priority areas.”
Mrs Frecklington said the Government would give detailed consideration to the interim report before providing a formal response to the Office of Best Practice Regulation.
The final report is due to be provided to the State Government by January 31, 2013.
The report is available from the Queensland Competition Authority website.
