Humphries, Sen Gary

Senator HUMPHRIES (Australian Capital Territory) (14:51): Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. In the same global competitiveness report Australia has plunged from 66th in the world on the burden of government regulation criterion to 96th in the world. Can the minister explain how the government's promise to reduce the burden of red tape is reconciled with the fact that, in the overregulation stakes, Australia now ranks behind countries such as Burkina Faso, the Kyrgyz Republic, Botswana and Chad?