Australia reduces red tape for supporting economy

The Australian Coalition government has introduced legislation and tabled documents to repeal over 10,000 "unnecessary and counter-productive" pieces of legislation and regulations for supporting its economy, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced on Wednesday. According to him, more than 50,000 pages of unnecessary and costly legislation and regulations that are a dead weight on Australian businesses, community groups and households will be removed. Abbott confirmed that this will reduce red tape across the economy by more than 700 million AU dollars (636.7 million U.S. dollars) a year, every year. "We are committed to cutting red tape costs by 1 billion AU dollars (0.9 billion U.S. dollars) a year to improve our nation's competitiveness, help to create more jobs and lower household costs," he said. Abbott said that it will be easier for small businesses to do business with government. "There will be a simplified process for tendering for contracts below 200,000 AU dollars (181,916 U.S. dollars), standardized terms and conditions and user-friendly online templates. "Cutting red tape is at the heart of this government's mission: to build a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia," Abbott said.