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| Hospitality Magazine column Cutting Compliance Costs The Minister of Commerce Lianne Dalziel has announced the results of the Government’s review of business regulation. Many will be disappointed that while the process has been robust and much over-regulation identified, there appears yet to be little action in terms of cutting the red tape. This is a very fair observation, however the results of this review are the start of a process, not the end. Business has created a very long agenda of areas of business regulation which are unnecessary and which can and should be addressed. This is an agenda for the future which the Association will continue to take to Government and Government’s departments demanding action. The Government itself has recognised that there is much more work to be done and that the agenda identified by the industry is a valid one. Significantly all new regulation will be subject to much closer scrutiny as to its compliance costs before it is implemented. This approach provided it is not treated with lip service will do much to ensure that future regulation assists the industry rather than become part of the ever increasing burden of red tape. The much vexed issue of the confusion and complexity of the interaction of the Holiday’s Act, the Shop Trading Hours Act and the Sale of Liquor Act over Easter is still under consideration by Government with a report due out shortly on how the anomalies can be addressed. If this issued can be satisfactorily resolved then that in itself will have made the effort of this review worthwhile. Meantime, all of the other items identified on the agenda are still very much alive and I would expect that a diligent opposition will be seeking to use this agenda as it prepares its policies going in to the next election. While the outcome of this review is far from satisfactory it has very effectively created an excellent starting point. Bruce H Robertson |
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