Monday 13 January 2014

Australian Politics 2014: Der Führer marches on and on


On 19 March 2014 it is expected that Australia’s own little führer will present to Parliament the as yet unsighted Omnibus Red Tape Repeal Bill and a series of specific bills proposing the repeal of an estimated 8,000 legislative instruments.

These bills will be passed by the House of Representatives because the Coalition has the voting power to do so easily.

As yet there is no indication as to what specific regulations will be abolished, however the financial sector, road transport industry, coastal shipping, education, agriculture, environmental approvals and trading hours have been mentioned in the media today.

The only certainty is that, with Abbott Government’s track record, one can be sure that any and all negative impacts of this mass repealing will fall heavily on the shoulders of ordinary wage earners and the poor, allow foreign multinationals further access to Australian markets, possibly lead to job losses in some industries and limit measures protecting Australian consumers and workers.

The Murdoch press reports:

The repeal day comes after Mr Frydenberg, who has been charged with implementing the government's deregulation agenda, conducted more than 100 meetings and a string of roundtable forums over the past three months with sharemarket-listed companies, multinationals, big private companies and business lobby groups to determine the pieces of regulation that need to be scrapped.
They include firms such as Westpac, Wesfarmers, IAG, Ten Network, Aldi, Dow Chemical, Incitec Pivot, the big four accounting firms and lobby groups such as the National Farmers Federation and the Minerals Council of Australia.
Mr Frydenberg has also had meetings with the likes of Rio Tinto, Orica, BHP Billiton, BG Group, Telstra, Medibank Private and Credit Suisse, as well as Woolworths chief executive Grant O'Brien, Coles managing director Ian McLeod and food group Goodman Fielder's Chris Delaney.

The Abbott Government asserts that it has also consulted with the not-for-profit- sector. This alleged consultation appears to be solely in relation to regulations concerning this sector’s funding applications and grant provisions.
  

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