FED:Sinodinos to chair business taskforce

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-2011
FED:Sinodinos to chair business taskforce

CANBERRA, Dec 1 AAP - Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says new Liberal senator
Arthur Sinodinos will head a coalition taskforce to find ways to reduce bureaucratic red
tape for business.

Senator Sinodinos, who was chief of staff for former Coalition prime minister John
Howard between 1996 and 2006, will chair the business deregulation group.

"No one knows where the bureaucratic bodies are buried better than Arthur Sinodinos,"

Mr Abbott told a NSW Business Chamber function in Sydney on Thursday.

"No one knows how to keep government honest better than Arthur Sinodinos."

Senator Sinodinos recently became a NSW senator following the retirement of Helen Coonan
earlier this year.

Mr Abbott said Senator Sinodinos' time during the Howard government gave him the knowledge
and the skills to run the taskforce.

"This is a man capable of understanding the minimum requirements of government, but
the necessary requirements of business," Mr Abbott said.

The taskforce would consult business in finding examples of intrusive and burdensome
regulations, and intrusive and unnecessary compliance costs.

Mr Abbott said the compliance burden on local business was increasing, which was hitting
the productivity and competitiveness of firms.

The taskforce, which will assist opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb and opposition
small business spokesman Bruce Billson, is due to report its findings by July 1, 2012.

Liberal MP Kelly O'Dwyer and Tasmanian Liberal senator David Bushby will be deputy
chairs of the taskforce.

AAP el/klm/it

KEYWORD: BUSINESS

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