Panel Releases Report - 11 July 2001
[ Last Updated 20 February 2006 ]
Media Statement from Alan Dunn, Panel Chairman.
11 July 2001
The businessman appointed by the Government to recommend ways to reduce the costs of complying with government regulations says he believes the Panel has succeeded in producing ideas that can have a practical and positive effect for business.
Alan Dunn, Managing Director of McDonalds New Zealand, was speaking at the handover today of the Business Compliance Costs Panel's report to Commerce Minister Paul Swain.
Entitled Finding the Balance: Maximum Compliance at Minimum Cost, the report is a consolidation of business opinion and experience on issues ranging from environmental protection and accident compensation, to workplace safety and tax.
"We have ended up with a solid and practical set of recommendations that taken together have the capacity to make a real difference to the difficulties some businesses, particularly small to medium enterprises (SMEs), face in their dealing with central and local government. At the same time, they will help government ensure that its goal of maximising compliance is met," Alan Dunn said.
Mr Dunn thanked Panel members for their contribution to the report and to the panel's intensive consultation process.
"This Panel brought together a mix of skills and experience from around the country and across the economy. With that behind us we were able to go out to business as their peers and ask for their views on compliance costs and their priorities for action.
Mr Dunn said the recommendations fell into two categories: "If you like, there are those aimed at prevention and those aimed at cure."
"By prevention, we mean improving the legislative and administrative process to ensure that business is consulted early in policy development and that compliance cost issues are considered as an integral part of policy development.
"By cure, we mean measures that can be taken to improve existing legislation and administration."
"Producing this report has shown us that reducing compliance costs is a matter of finding a balance. Businesses did not disagree with the need for regulation but they were concerned to ensure that those regulations were implemented efficiently and fairly. They recognise that Government has its own policy objectives, that it must balance a number of calls on its resources and a number of competing interests, but ask that that be done at the least possible cost to business.
"That said, a positive response by Government must be matched by a responsible attitude from the business community. Business has a key role to play in ensuring improvements in compliance costs. Moves by Government to act on the concerns we've raised must be supported by businesses who need to be prepared to spend time understanding government initiatives and utilising the resources that are available.
"With continued good will all around, we can, I hope, make some real progress on these issues," Mr Dunn said.
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