Red tape cuts 'to make business easier'

The Government is moving to streamline approvals and licensing processes for outdoor dining areas.

The ACT Government will abolish motor vehicle registration stickers as part of a plan to cut business red tape.

The day before it goes into caretaker mode ahead of next month's election, the Labor Government has issued the first changes to come out of its Red Tape Reduction Panel.

High on the list is abolishing motor vehicle registration stickers.

Treasurer Andrew Barr says police scanning technology means the stickers are no longer needed.

"This requirement, that's particularly onerous on businesses who have fleets of cars, will be removed," he said.

"Registered car owners will continue to receive registration papers that give indications of when registration expires, but they'll no longer be required to display that."

Other measures to lift the regulatory burden on businesses include an online feedback system called 'Fix My Red Tape'.

There will be provision for the electronic lodgement of rental bonds.

Other plans include longer licence terms for business activities, reducing signage requirements and minimising the need for multiple police checks.

The approvals and licensing processes for outside dining areas in the city centre will also be streamlined.

The Government says it is part of a plans to stimulate "the cosmopolitan transformation" of the city.

It says the changes will make it easier to do business in Canberra.

The Government's announcement coincides with a warning from the Master Builders Association that the ACT's construction industry is being suffocated by red tape.

The MBA is calling on the next ACT government to take immediate action to address the inefficiencies and delays that are plaguing the industry.

'Not enough'

The ACT Opposition says the plan does not go far enough.

Liberals spokesman Brendan Smyth says the hospitably industry is still being plagued by red tape.

"Look at the new liquor licensing regime, look at the outdoor cafe regime," he said.

"We've got a scheme now where if you want to set up an outdoor cafe you have to submit the sort of chairs people are going to be sitting on so the Government, some bureaucrat, can determine whether or not it's amenable to the setting it's put in.

"It's bureaucracy gone mad."

The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) agrees.

General manager Brad Watts says red tape is still burdening the Territory's hospitality industry.

"If you want to change your seating, you actually need to take photographs of your seats to pass on to bureaucrats to sign off on those," he said.

"Some AHA members has been battling with the Government for several months now to erect some umbrellas in an outdoor setting area.

"They've spent thousands of dollars and had to deal with quite a few bureaucratic hurdles to get through."

Mr Watts says new food safety laws have added another layer of bureaucratic process.

"The Government's looking now to get people to have food safety officers and looking at signage for food safety," he said.

"So really in a case of red tape, what it gives you with one hand, it takes away with another."

Source: ABC News, 13 September 2012