Taylor Pledges 25% Red Tape Cut Worth $40 Billion a Year

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has promised to cut federal red tape by 25% in a Coalition government's first term, a target he says would save Australian businesses $40 billion every year. The pledge arrives with no accompanying list of which regulations would actually go.

Taylor announced the plan in a speech to Business Sydney on Monday. A "red tape razor gang," headed by Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume, would drive the cuts across portfolios.

"Each of my shadow ministers will identify red tape within their portfolio that we can slash," Taylor said.

What would actually be cut?

The opposition has named few specifics. Taylor said the Coalition would cut the National Construction Code from 2,000 pages to fewer than 100 — a reduction of more than 95%. It would also scrap some emissions regulations and reform environmental approval processes.

Beyond those examples, the plan is thin on detail. The Coalition has not detailed which regulations it would remove or how it would deliver the proposed $40 billion in annual savings. That gap matters: a 25% cut is a headline number, not a costed program.

Taylor framed the stakes in dollar terms. Business compliance costs, he said, have risen from $65 billion in 2013 to about $160 billion today — roughly a 145% increase in just over a decade.

Who is backing the plan?

The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) welcomed the proposal. "For small businesses, less red tape means more time to serve customers, invest, employ and grow," COSBOA said in a LinkedIn post.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black backed the 25% target and its estimated payoff.

"Cutting red tape by 25 per cent would deliver savings of around $40 billion a year and at a time when productivity and living standards are sliding it is exactly the kind of policy ambition Australia needs," Black said.

He also argued the cuts would shrink the administrative state. "It also means you don't need as many people in Canberra administering it. That's a sensible way to shrink the public service, which takes pressure off the federal budget and helps tame inflation," Black said.

The Alliance of Industry Associations, which comprises about 30 business groups, also endorsed the commitment. The alliance has previously urged all governments to reduce unnecessary regulatory costs by 25% by 2030.

"Regulation has an important role in protecting workers and consumers, but the balance has tipped too far, and excessive red tape is driving up costs and hurting businesses," the alliance said.

How does Labor compare?

The Albanese government is pursuing its own regulatory reform agenda. It aims to save more than $10 billion a year through streamlined approvals, tax compliance and building regulations.

That puts the two parties' targets an order of magnitude apart: the Coalition claims $40 billion annually; the government claims more than $10 billion. Both figures rest on assumptions neither side has fully published.

What happens next?

The Coalition's credibility on this pledge will depend on detail it has not yet provided. Cutting a 2,000-page construction code to under 100 pages, scrapping emissions rules and overhauling environmental approvals would each trigger pitched battles with unions, state governments and community groups.

The business lobby's enthusiasm is unanimous; the mechanics of delivery remain undefined.