Business warns Australia needs laser focus on slashing red tape amid Donald Trump’s efforts

Business wants whoever wins the next election to keep a close eye on Donald Trump’s slashing of red tape as it warns Australia is already a less competitive place to operate.

A suite of chief executives including Wesfarmers’ Rob Scott and Kellie Parker from Rio Tinto will deliver this message to Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor in Canberra this week as they urge politicians to make election pledges.

The Business Council of Australia is calling for the next prime minister — whether Anthony Albanese or Peter Dutton — to appoint a Minister for Deregulation and task the Productivity Commission with monitoring global deregulation efforts, particularly in the United States.

Mr Trump put Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk in charge of a radical examination of government spending and regulation, known as DOGE, in one of his first acts as president last month.

The US President has also pledged to cut company taxes and free up companies wanting to drill for gas and oil.

BCA chief executive Bran Black said Australia must have a “laser-sharp focus” on cutting red tape and boosting productivity as the best way to tackle inflation.

“Other jurisdictions around the world, and especially the United States, are looking to make their regulatory systems more efficient – if we don’t follow suit then we will lose investment and see a consequent reduction in our way of life,” he said.

“I am consistently told that Australia’s regulatory settings are uncompetitive and are causing us to lose out on the critical investment needed to drive future prosperity. Fixing this has to be a national priority.”

The lobby group has been calling for leaders of all political persuasions to take a long-term view on fixing difficult problems, such as the housing crisis, and shy away from populist policies.

Its election wishlist, released on Monday, poses five “big questions” for politicians to focus on: cost of living, housing, achieving net zero while having affordable and reliable energy, a skilled workforce, and health and care services.

But it also warns against “red herring” policies, including higher wages not linked to productivity, the divestiture laws proposed by the Coalition and Greens, scapegoating international students and migrants for the housing crisis, and abandoning emissions reduction targets.

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor on Monday said the Coalition’s policy to give tax breaks for small business entertainment expenses would tackle the collapse in productivity in Australia.

“We’ve got to get productivity back on track. We’ve got to get people out, networking, working together,” he said.

One of the challenges we’ve had post-COVID is we haven’t been seeing businesses connecting in the way they need to, to drive productivity.”

Treasury estimates the policy – yet to be costed by the Opposition – has a price tag of between $1.6 billion and $10 billion a year, according to figures released overnight.

The lower estimate assumes businesses only claim deductions of $2500 a year, while the upper end reflects if they all claimed the full $20,000 allowed under the proposal.

“This shows the Liberals’ taxpayer-funded long lunches policy would smash the budget,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

“We now know this policy costs billions of dollars but we still don’t know what Peter Dutton would cut to pay for it.”

The BCA has come under fire from some within Labor for being too close with the Coalition and attacking the Government, particularly on industrial relations and environmental laws.

But Mr Black insists the BCA intends its election plan – which includes rolling back Labor’s workplace laws – to be “unimpeachably non-partisan”.