Senator SINODINOS (New South Wales—Assistant Treasurer) (14:35): It is business as usual on this side of the house, getting on with reducing red tape. For the first time, the national parliament will be holding a red-tape repeal day as a special sitting. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: If you wish to chew up the time of question time by calling across the chamber, that is how we will proceed. Senator SINODINOS: The Prime Minister will be making, tomorrow, a statement to the parliament on red-tape cost reduction. We will be announcing details of more than 8,000 pieces of spent and redundant legislation and regulation to be repealed. This has followed extensive consultation with business and the non-profit sector and other stakeholders. We are determined to reduce the level— Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Sinodinos, resume your seat. Senator Conroy! Senator Faulkner! Senator SINODINOS: The coalition is committed to cutting at least a billion dollars off red and green tape for all Australians. Excessive and unnecessary regulation will increase business costs and reduce productivity, and that means fewer jobs. It is all ultimately about the impact on Australian consumers, taxpayers and workers. So it is a very important part of our commitment to the families and the workers of Australia, because regulation is not a free lunch. You pay for it through increased costs, and that affects the capacity to generate jobs. The Productivity Commission has estimated that reducing the burden of unnecessary regulation could generate as much as $12 billion in additional gross domestic product. Unlike those opposite, the coalition understands that the best thing that government can do to increase the rate of economic growth is to promote innovation and get out of the way of private businesses to grow and to flourish. By reducing regulation, the government is also— Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! When there is silence, we will proceed. Senator SINODINOS: For example, Minister Greg Hunt is working with the states to implement a one-stop shop on environmental approvals. That does not derogate from environmental standards, but it means proponents have only one government to deal with, not two pieces of paperwork and all the rest of it that goes with getting environmental approvals in Australia. (Time expired)