MOTIONS

Mr MATT SMITH (Leichhardt) (19:11): I move: That this House: (1) recognises that lifting productivity requires governments to remove unnecessary costs and barriers that make it harder for businesses to invest, hire and expand; (2) welcomes the Govemment's productivity reforms, including measures to: (a) make standards referenced in Australian legislation free to access; (b) reduce duplicated regulatory reporting and paperwork; (c) streamline foreign investment and major project approvals; (d) make it easier for skilled workers to use their qualifications across state and territory borders; and (e) support faster housing approvals and modern construction methods; (3) notes that: (a) national competition policy reforms are estimated to add around $13 billion to the Australian economy each year once implemented, equivalent to an average benefit of around $1,200 per household; and (b) making construction standards free will save some small trade businesses up to $1,600 each year in access fees; and (4) supports continued cooperation between the Commonwealth, states and territories to build a more seamless, competitive and productive national economy.

Imagine driving your car on the open road. I like doing it up in the far north, although the red dust is hard to get out of a black car. You know, instinctively, that if you don't follow the speed limit, you'll get a fine and possibly, depending on how fast you're going, lose your licence or, worse, end up in jail.

The only way to discover that speed limit is to pay a fee. That doesn't make a lot of sense in the real world. You want to do the right thing.

You're trying to do the right thing. You want to follow the rules to keep yourself and your community safe, but you have to pay to find out what the rules are. You see, when it comes to the mandatory Australian Standards, this is the strange position that many of our tradies and manufacturers find themselves in.

In order to produce safely and in order to obey the rules, they have to pay a fee, paying for access to the rules. These standards are the instruction manuals that keep everything humming along. They tell us how a product should be made, how the system should perform and how the work should be carried out.

They keep our homes, workplaces and communities safe. These standards are all around us: on our building sites, in our electrical work, plumbing, transport and manufacturing and in the handling of hazardous materials. The seatbelt that you wore on your way to work this morning?

AS/NZS2596. The playground that the kids play on on the weekend? Australian Standard 4685.

The exit signs that you see all around the place? Australian Standard/New Zealand Standard 2293. These are the rules that you don't think about.

They're the rules that you don't really even know about until something goes wrong. The Australian government estimates that under the current arrangements, it's costing small business owners around $1,600 a year just to access the rules that they have to work under. Just so they can do their jobs.

For a tradie in Weipa, that's a new tool that might get the job done a bit faster. For a small-business owner in Cooktown, that could help pay the electricity bill. Commonsense would say that access to these rules should be free.

The good news is, that's what's happening. The government is removing the paywall to access these standards. This move supports the government's broader reforms to the National Competition Policy, a joint reform program between the Commonwealth and the states and territories with the aim of boosting productivity and therefore lifting wages and living standards.

Now I'm going to get into story time. People love story time. I want to tell you about a bloke I know named Jack.

Jack has been a builder for about 15 years. He's a good tradesman, steady with his hands and decent on the half-back flank. He's the sort of fella who says he's going to stand up and does.

Jack moved up to Cairns from Coffs, and why wouldn't you? It's the best place on Earth. He and his wife were chasing a bit of warmer weather.

It's a magnificent part of the world. Jack wasn't worried about work. Tradies are in high demand in the Far North.

We are open for business. There are houses to be built, a new hospital to be built and a new university. It's going great.

But, much to Jack's surprise, he sat on the couch for two months, not because there was no work—there's plenty of work—but because his licence stopped at the border. I'm not the handiest person you've ever met in your life, but I'm pretty sure that timber south of Coolangatta is the same as the timber north of Coolangatta. The man knows how to wield a hammer.

So he paid his fees, filled out the forms and patiently waited for his 15 years of experience to be properly recognised in the state of Queensland. While he waited, there were homes not being built and bills not being paid. The Productivity Commission has reported that the number of homes completed per work hour is 53 per cent lower today than it was in the 1990s, and this is in a country where we need more homes.

Making sure men and women like Jack can take their skills, knowledge and experience right around the country, wherever the work is, is what this government is committed to. These aren't flashy reforms. They're not going to make headlines.

But they are reforms that will ensure this country keeps making things, making them quickly and making them safely. The changes to the National Competition Policy alone are expected to add around $13 billion to the economy every year. That's around $1,200 for every single household in the country—not from a mine and not from a boom but from clearing the regulatory pipes.

These are good reforms. Let's back them in. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Dr Haines ): Is the motion seconded?

Mr Repacholi: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.