Treasurers in push to slash green tape

CUTTING green tape that is strangling approvals for jobcreating dams and mining projects will be high on the agenda when the nation’s treasurers meet in Canberra today.

In the first meeting since the Coalition’s shock election, which saw the Palaszczuk Government approve the Adani mine after years of delays, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will raise with his state colleagues slashing environmental approval waiting times.

This will include finding ways to remove any unnecessary green tape duplications.

It follows the Productivity Commission being ordered to investigate hold-ups in approvals in the resources and mining sector.

Boosting productivity as the economy faces difficult headwinds is the key goal of the talks, which will also look at possible reforms for health funding as well as kickstarting the economy through fasttracking road, rail and other infrastructure projects.

There are 94 projects in planning or under way in Queensland at the moment, more than in any other state.

The Prime Minister wrote to the premiers on August 28, saying the Commonwealth would consider bringing forward infrastructure spending if the states could give assurances they would actually be delivered more quickly.

Mr Frydenberg said he would work with the states towards getting “better-quality roads … and more timely approval of major projects”.

“A key enabler of higher productivity is publicly provided infrastructure, which is why all levels of government need to work together so we can get goods to market more efficiently,” he said.

The Federal Government has so far been reluctant to fast-track its infrastructure spending, despite economic pressure, as it seeks to deliver the first surplus in a decade.

Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers this week reiterated his calls to bring forward spending on major projects “as part of getting the economy moving again”.

There will also be continued discussions around developing a national population framework between the treasurers and Immigration Minister David Coleman following the meeting.

The population plan was first raised in February, with the intention of monitoring population growth and migration levels, while sharing data between the states.