Slashing regulation will cut costs
THE Queensland Government is aiming to cut regulation across the economy, which generally should be good news for the agricultural sector.
The government has launched two reviews into regulation, one conducted by the Agriculture, Resources and Environment Committee to look specifically at agriculture, and another by the Queensland Competition Authority to look at broader issues.
Both reviews face a huge task in cataloguing the various regulations that impact primary producers, and this is before they begin to measure the impact and costs of specific regulations and identify which regulations could be changed or disbanded.
The government is hoping to reduce the cost of complying with regulation by $500 million, about 20% of the estimated cost burden across the state.
QFF welcomes these reviews and this initiative, and will provide feedback into both processes. Rural industry has demonstrated best-management practices (BMP) are a valuable self-regulatory tool, delivering practical and realistic outcomes that achieve the triple-bottom line approach, without tying farmers up in the red tape associated with government regulation.
