Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Bills

Regulatory Legislation Amendment (Reform) Bill 2023

Second reading

Debate resumed.

Bronwyn HALFPENNY (Thomastown) (17:58): It is great to be able to sum up with the 50 or so seconds that I have got left. In summing up, this piece of legislation really is important. It really demonstrates the commitment that the Allan Labor government has to making sure that legislation operates as it is intended and is flexible enough to be useful and to serve its purpose in all circumstances, to making sure that consumers and the Victorian public are always protected as well as can be, to using the consultation process and the feedback from residents, businesses and other stakeholders and to listening to that to make sure that our legislation reflects their experiences and loopholes are closed.

Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (17:59): I rise to also make my contribution on the Regulatory Legislation Amendment (Reform) Bill 2023. First off, I would like to acknowledge and thank the member for Kew, who had to do 30 minutes of speaking on the regulatory legislation amendment bill, which was a great effort, and I have listened to just a few people from both sides of the house that have spoken about this reform bill of 2023.

I would just like to re-engage with everyone that is back in here just so they know what it is about. It would be remiss of me to just talk about other stuff into the ether. I think that we should all re-engage with the amendments. The Regulatory Legislation Amendment (Reform) Bill 2023 – I like using ‘regulatory’; that sounds good coming out of my mouth – is a piece of omnibus legislation that amends 14 acts across 10 portfolios. Acting Speaker Marchant, it is good to see you in the chair too.

The reforms contained in this bill are mostly minor, technical or clarificatory – which is a good word ‍– in nature and do not represent substantive changes to the acts in question. The majority of the amendments are aimed at streamlining requirements or rectifying specific instances where current provisions are not working as intended or have become impracticable. The coalition does not seek to oppose the passage of this bill through Parliament. It is important work that needs to be spoken about and done, even sometimes where it is not as enthralling as other bills that we do get to speak on. But it is work that needs to pass through the house to make the lives of Victorian workers a little bit easier as they move through. In talking about these changes – if I had the chance I would love to go through all 14 acts across the 10 portfolios, but hopefully I will not have to – I will be able to talk about a few other bits and pieces.

Being a small business owner before I came in here, I know the pressures and the time-consuming time frames that need to be met to do all the checks and balances – ‘Are you complying with your business and doing what you need to do?’ When you are a small business owner, it is the last thing on your mind. I talk to small business owners in the Latrobe Valley quite often, and their thoughts are turning to actually doing the work, getting up in the morning and making sure that their workers are right to go out and do the work. So at the end of the day when they come home exhausted and they want to – have to, not want to – spend the time doing all the checks and balances, maybe, hopefully, some of these minor changes that we have in this amendment legislation may go toward somehow helping them.

I have got a good small business owner that travels with me; his name is Martin from Traralgon, and he is a plumber. I speak to him quite often as I move around. The things that worry small business owners are obviously the real changes that they need for business. Although we do this legislation and it is just part of the bigger picture, their thoughts are on how they are going to make a living and how they are going to be able to pay wages for their staff and make a wage for themselves. At the end of the day, they have got to go out to work. As the member for Wendouree spoke about earlier today, they are going out to do a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay, so of course they are thinking about having to pay their tax bill. They are thinking about having to pay their rates if they have got a house or if they have got a workshop that they need to be able to do work. They are thinking about being able to pay the costs of power and water and gas, if they have got to pay those bills also, so there are a lot of struggles that small businesses actually have to go through to keep the doors open, for one.

Anything that we can do, if we do have these regulatory pieces of legislation, we do need to do to make sure they pass through the lower house and become part of the reform bill. We need to be able to do that to take a little bit of the pressure where we can off the day-to-day proceedings of owning a small business. As I said, trying to make a wage every week for a small business operator, that is the key goal that they are looking toward doing.

Also – it has been mentioned a couple of times here and I will bring it up – I was at the Australian Hotels Association launch last night, listening to the president of the AHA as he stood and spoke about changes that we make here in Parliament and how they actually affect his small businesses, being pubs and clubs, and how changes that we have made in the gaming sector really affect outcomes and really affect the bottom line and the day-to-day workings of businesses in the pubs and clubs sector. Another issue they did highlight for pubs and clubs was the use of gas. Obviously, the government is winding back on gas, but gas in their clubs and pubs is important so they can actually run the commercial kitchens properly so their chefs and staff are actually cooking to standard. So we need to make sure that we know that bits and pieces of legislation that we do talk about here in the chamber have real concerns and outcomes for small business. You may think I am harping on about small business, but it is something that is really close to my heart and I need to make sure that we get those points across.

The bill is similar in composition to an omnibus bill passed by the Parliament in 2022. Like the 2022 bill, the 2023 bill brings together a number of minor and technical amendments across a range of portfolios, as we discussed before. The bill is the result of the government inviting departments to submit minor amendments to improve regulatory compliance or produce administrative efficiencies, so it is needed. When they talk to all the departments, if there is little bit of cleaning up that needs to be done to make it work better, we know that it needs to be done.

The bill has four objectives. Number one is to streamline requirements for businesses and social service providers; number two, improve emergency preparedness; three, support technology-neutral legislation to make sure we get that right; and number four, make simple and uncontroversial amendments to support an efficient regulatory system through amendments to various other acts. As you can see, it is a ripping bill to be able to stand up here and talk on – it gets everyone engaged in the chamber – but we do need to do these things.

One of the things the government estimates is that there will be an annual saving of $2.6 million for Victorian businesses that will result from this bill. We might think $2.6 million is a fair amount, but there are over 710,000 small businesses in Victoria. If you are a small business owner, you do the simple maths of dividing $2.6 million by 710,000 and you work out that the average saving for small businesses and businesses right across Victoria with these changes works out to be $3.66 per year, so the monetary side of things may not actually add up to much. We hope that the savings for everybody that is going to be affected by this bill may be done in time, but as I have read through what is in there, I am not sure whether my small business, when I used to have it, would actually have been using any of this. But as I said before, we need to make sure that when these bills do come up, we treat them with the respect that they need to make sure they do get through. Just as households grapple with the increasing cost of living, so do all businesses in general. It does not matter what field we are in, we are all grappling with trying to make ends meet.

As I said at the very start, we are not opposing the bill. It is a bill that is rather tedious, but it is a bill we need to have.

Paul HAMER (Box Hill) (18:09): That was a sad note to end on. This was described as a ‘tedious’ bill; I think it is a very exciting bill.

Members interjecting.

Paul HAMER: Look how many members have been coming in, obviously just to listen to this contribution. I am sure it will be riveting. I will try and keep it as exciting as possible. The bill does make a number of regulatory reforms. I think there are –

Sam Groth: Fifty-four.

Paul HAMER: Fifty-four of them, that is right. Thank you, member for Nepean. There are some very important regulations in relation to monetary units, the Essential Services Commission, the meat industry and the seafood industry – which have been talked about quite at length by a number of members – and of course the Food Act 1984, the Regional Development Victoria Act 2002 and many, many others. This is part of the ongoing regulatory reform agenda that has been a hallmark of this government over its close to 10 years. There are obviously other elements of the government’s regulatory reform agenda, which include the Business Acceleration Fund, rapid reviews of regulatory settings, better approvals processes for regulators and businesses and establishing an economic growth commissioner to undertake inquiries into impediments to economic growth. This is obviously something that I have become quite interested in since being given the role of Parliamentary Secretary for Economic Development. Identifying these opportunities is obviously a critical part of future success in our state.

I want to reflect on the savings that will be driven by these changes in regulation. They were dismissed quite flippantly by members of the opposition a number of times. They were talking about the total amount being $2.6 million in savings, and that was rejected because the number of small businesses is so great that it is not even the value of a cup of coffee. It did remind me of the famous repeal day – some people might remember this – back in the first term of the Abbott government. It was launched to much fanfare, but only –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is too much audible conversation in the chamber.

Paul HAMER: I know everyone is very excited about the bill, particularly the member for Morwell, and more and more people are coming to see this important contribution, and I thank them for it. As I was saying, the famous repeal day was launched with much fanfare back in the first term of the Abbott government, but all of the savings totalled only $13 million and most of it was to repeal outdated and redundant legislation. For all the talk about how effective all of this reform is, any regulatory reform that can assist with red tape and make it easier for small businesses to operate is obviously something that is going to be beneficial to the state.

As I was saying, these reforms are relatively simple and straightforward reforms, but the continuing fine-tuning of legislation is something that is the responsibility of our Parliament and of the government. It is essential to maintaining the Victorian government’s vision of a high-performing state and a regulatory system that supports increased productivity, makes it easier to do business in Victoria and protects consumers, community health, safety and the environment.

I just want to touch a little bit on the reforms that we have made over the last 10 years. The reforms to regulations include liquor, environmental protection, essential services, electricity, building and construction, health, planning, consumer affairs, fee pricing, owners corporations and more. I want to reflect on one of the regulations in legislation that we changed in relation to the liquor licensing laws that was specifically relevant to my electorate of Box Hill, and that was to remove the dry zone that had been operational.

Members interjecting.

Paul HAMER: Minister for Health, you could not find a place to have an alcoholic beverage without getting some food.

The SPEAKER: Order! The time has arrived for the joint sitting to choose a person to hold the seat in the Legislative Council rendered vacant by the resignation of Dr Matthew Bach MLC.

Sitting suspended 6:15 pm until 6:22 pm.

Paul HAMER: Obviously I was going so well that even more members, including our friends from the Legislative Council, have come to join us. And as I was referring to briefly before, an important reform agenda in our previous term was actually removing the dry zones from the areas of Box Hill and the old city of Camberwell, which now means that you can order a drink without having to order a meal, as you can anywhere else in Victoria, which is fantastic.

There is another important regulatory reform that we have made as part of these reforms, and that is about simplifying Victoria’s food safety requirements, which will save 25,000 businesses nearly 40,000 days per year in preparing and managing their food safety programs. Now, I do want to give a shout-out to the food businesses in Box Hill, because they are fantastic. I know the Minister for Small Business has come out; every Friday we try to go out to a local Box Hill restaurant and sample the fantastic dumplings. We have got many, many members; I know the member for Croydon wants to come and join me for dumplings, because why? They are the best dumplings in Melbourne, and I will not take any other complaints or issues with that, they are definitely the best dumplings. The breadth of the Chinese cuisine that is available in Box Hill is just fantastic. A lot of people that are migrants; they come to Australia and start food businesses and they are in many ways the heart and soul of our community.

Many of these restaurateurs and many of the other business owners have joined forces and become part of the Asian Business Association of Whitehorse, which is a fantastic organisation. I think it is about 30 years strong this year. In the lead-up to Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, I do want to give a special shout-out to the Asian Business Association of Whitehorse because they really do a fantastic job not only with the local businesses that they represent but the entire community. They do try and get out and provide information to the community about what they are doing and how to grow their businesses. Particularly at the moment, when we have got the Suburban Rail Loop project underway in Box Hill, they are just making sure that the business community have the information that they need during the construction disruption.

A member interjected.

Paul HAMER: Yes, as the minister said, it is a fantastic festival. Every year the Asian Business Association of Whitehorse do host the Lunar New Year festival right in the heart of Box Hill, and each year close to 100,000 people turn up. It is the biggest and best new year festival in Victoria, and I know I will be joining the Leader of the Opposition there. He will be very proud to be out in Box Hill in a couple of weeks time.

A member interjected.

Paul HAMER: That is right, it is an amazing time. It just shows the strength of our local business community and particularly the Asian business community in Box Hill. Anything that we are able to do to assist those small business operators and the business communities that they create is of benefit to the state.

Unlike what someone was saying in referring to this bill as a tedious bill, I know everyone is in the chamber – the whole chamber has arrived for this bill – because they have listened to what I have had to say and they have realised how important this bill is. They realise how significant it is to the restaurateurs and the businesses in Box Hill, and I could not commend the bill to the house in a more wholehearted fashion.

Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (18:27): How lovely that everybody is here for the thrilling speech I have prepared about this regulatory reform. I was going to go through it piece by piece in thrilling detail –

A member: Fine detail.

Jade BENHAM: fine detail with a fine-tooth comb – in the approximately 2 minutes I will have. Usually when you put yourself down the speaking list, everyone has tuned out, so I had better actually perform.

A member: Read your notes.

Jade BENHAM: I will not read my notes. I listened to all of the speakers performing today.

A member: No, you did not.

Jade BENHAM: No, I have not. Member for Kew, I listened to you describe this omnibus bill in thrilling detail, and I got a lot from it. Actually, the member for Murray Plains I did listen to, particularly around the small business regulatory reforms and the cutting of the red tape, as a former business owner well aware of how hard it is to own and operate a business. I see it day after day, being in a border community in Mildura on the Murray River. We see people every day selling their businesses in Victoria, having exactly the same market, going over the river and setting up shop over there with far less red tape, far less taxes and far more support. They get a lot of love in Far West ‘outback’ New South Wales. To us it is a mecca and a city in the far north-western state in Sunraysia and that bit over the river.

But it happens every day, so I was paying attention to the thrilling omnibus bill that is the Regulatory Legislation Amendment (Reform) Bill 2023 today. When we talk about the savings from cutting the red tape that sometimes strangles small businesses in Victoria, when the government says it is going to save $2.6 million, it sounds like a lot. But given that there are 710,000 businesses in Victoria, that adds up to about $3.66 per business per year. Even in Mildura that is not going to buy me a cup of coffee. It certainly will not buy me and my staff a cup of coffee.

Business interrupted under resolution of house of 6 February.