Senate Economics Legislation Committee, , 6:35:28 to 6:40:44
Debate over the government's claimed $780 million in red tape savings, the methodology for banking future savings, and the impact of EPBC Act reforms on compliance costs.
Topics: Government spending, EPBC Act
Speakers: Hon Katy Gallagher, Senator Andrew Bragg, Trevor Power, Philippa Brown, Senator Lisa Darmanin, Damien White, Senator Tyron Whitten
Um I think the 780 to my best understanding, Senator, is completed based on the regulatory sort of costing models that um is uh used across government and then the various measures and budget are put together and uh collated to combine into an estimate of of those of regulatory burden. It's obviously a composition of measures across different portfolios, the minister just referenced. Um regulatory reduction measures in other portfolios. So they're they're combined using the model that's put together, uh which I believe is held by the Department of Finance.
So this is held by the finance minister, is it?
Yeah.
There is one regulatory costing model.
Okay, and so you've got the 14 measures that sit in your BallywIC?
Um I've got overall whole of government responsibility for regulatory reform. Yep. So a coordination role that finance plays?
Yeah.
So we did this in finance estimates yesterday. I'll try and be as helpful as I can.
Yeah, so the 780 million figure is for measures taken and measures you might take, is it?
Well, they are the the decisions. So the 780 presum is that part of this number here. The 10.2?
Different 10.2.
Um so are we can we work from the 10.2 table? Is that the one that you want to work from? Terms of regulatory report? So um what is your question? Yes, finance has the overall uh whole of government regulatory reform responsibility where their individual agencies that are responsible for individual pieces of legislation that rests with the individual agency. So I think we've kind of been going through that in the last hour or so about the elements which fell within markets group.
So who did the fact do the fiscal group do the fact sheet?
Uh Philippa Brown, First Assistant Secretary of Budget Policy Division.
Um, if you're referring to the productivity fact sheet um that was released with the budget, that fact check was undertaken by markets group.
The fact that undertaken by markets, was it?
Yes.
Um who did the who actually drafted it?
Uh again, Senator, that was Markets Group.
The whole thing was done by markets.
Um there may well have been elements that were done um by other groups, but overall responsibility lay with markets group.
Okay, well, I mean, do you see I mean in terms of the EPBC? I mean, you've you've passed just because you pass a law it doesn't mean that you necessarily reduce compliance costs. How much do you allocate to EPBC?
EPBC is uh just over three billion, and that would have been uh work done uh across government, including with um Department of Environment and Climate Change uh to come up with that to you know settle that number.
Sure, but in terms of the EPBC changes, I mean that was just legislating effectively a shell and giving God like powers to a minister to make regulations in future.
So it's based on the it would have been based on the uh you know the enactment of that legislation which provided for the implementation of the environmental standards.
Okay, and does this include the new red tape you put in place, like banning SMSFs from investing in housing and those sort of things?
This is a measure of those these individual changes themselves.
Just the how many are there?
Sorry?
How many are there? The the 14, whatever it is?
Well, there's 14 is sort of a subset. If you look at the table that's uh on the back of the brochure the regulatory reform paper from the budget.
Okay.
That breaks it down into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 items, but this 780 would form a subset of that.
You're just on 10 minutes, Senator Bitcoin.
Okay, do you want to rotate?
Yes.
Oh, and 60, yeah. So it would sit under the financial sector reform and council of financial regulators plus better regulation roadmap, the 780, is it? 780 would be a subset of probably almost entirely of the 960.
Thank you. Senator Whitman?
Is this the right term for the CG2 changes?
No, Senator, that would have been a group.
That's revenue.
Revenue. Okay, so you're no questions for fiscal?
No.
Alrighty.