Australian Red Tape Mayhem

Commentator and director of the documentary ‘Am I racist’, Matt Walsh recently criticised Australia, saying it is "the weakest, wokest, lamest country on earth." His comments came after Victoria appointed a "Minister for Men's Behaviour". Raising the question of how Australia, once known as a land of opportunity with abundant resources and wealth, and previously regarded as one of the best places in the world to start a business, has come to face such critiques.

Some attribute these changes to increasing government regulation, which critics argue has hampered economic growth. There are concerns that excessive bureaucracy may be stifling the economy, while government spending strategies are viewed by some as a means of avoiding the negative connotations of a recession, rather than addressing the underlying economic challenges.

There is a growth in concern over increased administrative burdens across all profiles of entrepreneurs. Most complained of the ever-increasing number of surveys and reports that needed to be submitted to government agencies and the huge fines imposed on them for non-compliance. This growing regulatory landscape is echoed by professionals in public services, such as doctors and teachers who feel they spend more time filling out paperwork and responding to efficiency evaluations—often perceived as counterproductive—than focusing on their core duties of teaching or providing care.

In fact, under the current government, reports suggest bureaucracy has increased significantly, and that up to 50 new posts in government are created each day. That’s 50 more people to answer to.

This is in no way unique to Australia, but it does seem to be more pronounced here with no solutions being offered. In the U.S. – Trump has put forward Elon Musk as a potential candidate for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) but many hurdles need to be jumped before we see any result of this (including the U.S. election).

Business Council of Australia Annual Dinner

In a scathing speech about the government's excessive red tape, which has stifled businesses with overregulation, Geoff Culbert, President of the Business Council of Australia, stated

“rather than celebrate that success and support our most globally competitive industries we seek to slow them down. 

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan the narrative for doing business in Australia cannot be, ‘If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidise it.

But that is the direction we’re heading.”

Anthony Albanese responded by saying, Labor is “proudly pro-business and pro-worker”

The lack of enthusiasm from Australia's business leaders has left people unconvinced by the positive spin being presented.

Some examples to make your blood boil

Gilmour Space Agencies

Gilmour Space Agencies, a start-up from the Gold Coast that designs rockets to carry satellites had to delay its first rocket launch due to excessive red tape. The launch was set for May this year, with no update as to whether it had occurred. In April, CEO Adam Gilmour stated that the launch was bogged down in regulatory paperwork, with ridiculous questions being asked by the regulator including:

‘Like, what if a cruise ship comes out of Hawaii and goes in the path of the rocket as it’s going up [from the North Queensland coast]? And how are we not going to hit the International Space Station?’

His engineers were forced to answer regulatory questions, rather than designing the next rocket, with Gilmour concluding ‘Regulation definitely kills innovation. The government is extremely risk-averse, even in the power market. People are talking about clean energy, but it takes two years to get a wind turbine approved or 18 months to get a solar farm approved.’

Farmers wanting to walk away

A September 2024 survey from AUSVEG has claimed that up to 34% of vegetable farmers in Australia are looking at walking away from their farms. What’s the culprit – once again red tape and regulation;

”While the economic challenges and uncertainty which have hit the wider Australian community have played a role in the difficulties facing commercial vegetable growers, many of the issues contributing to this crisis … are the result of legislative, regulatory and policy settings … imposed upon the industry”

To which Victorian Labor senator Raff Ciccone, who co-chairs the Parliamentary Friends of Fresh Produce, responded by saying ‘the AUSVEG report was concerning, and he encouraged consumers to eat more vegetables.’

That’s right – eat more vegetables or ‘look over there’. Don’t fix the mess that has been created from over-governance.

Business Failures - Westaflex

The recent closure of Westaflex, a long-established company in the HVAC industry, highlighted the challenges that businesses are facing under increasing regulatory pressure. The family-owned business, which had been operating since 1974 and was well-known for producing high-quality, Australian-manufactured products, ceased operations in February of this year. In 1999 they won an award for ‘Most Successful Business’ at the Victorian Business Awards. 

In a letter to their customers, the company cited Australian regulations and compliance requirements as the primary reasons for their closure. Pointing out that many businesses are increasingly worried that doing business in the country is becoming too difficult, even for those companies with outstanding track records.

The letter read as follows:

“Our closure is a consequence of outside factors, which are out of our control,” the letter reads. “This includes successive governments that do not inspect nor regulate their own minimum acceptable standard of quality – the Australian Standards – which are mandated by law in the Australian National Construction Code. This in turn allows questionably compliant products to be installed into homes and businesses around Australia.”

Think about the ‘pink batts’ fibreglass and the number of inferior products that were used during this scandal, Australian manufacturers needed to stick to Australian standards and were checked and monitored adding huge costs to their businesses, where a fly-by-the-night business could import inferior, non-Australian standard meeting products, install them and disappear. Apparently, Australian standards only apply to Australian-made products – I wonder why Australian manufacturers are so much more expensive.

The examples are numerous. Australia puts regulations and rules around products but doesn’t get importers to prove their quality under Australian Standards, and strongly enforces that Australian companies meet these levels. If there is a problem with the product, the importer can liquidate without major capital and infrastructure in Australia, whereas the Australian manufacturer loses everything.

So it begs the question – why put in regulations and standards if they are not followed? If Australia continues down this path – the Australian government is going to need to spend a lot more to keep us from a recession.