“The Business Council of Australia (BCA) welcomes Council of Australian Governments (COAG) commitment to progress work on infrastructure policy and supports the council’s move to a more focused agenda and streamlined machinery.

“The commitment by all state governments to negotiate bilateral agreements with the Commonwealth under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is a long overdue breakthrough, which will begin the process of securing Australia’s massive investment pipeline, without lowering environmental standards.

“The next step for COAG is to develop a concrete agenda and work to streamline state government approval processes.

“After five years of development, we are disappointed that the states will not progress the National Occupational Licensing Scheme (NOLS), which would have enabled trades to operate seamlessly across state borders.

“The BCA will now work with the states and territories as they develop an alternative to NOLS, which must now be done with urgency.

“Labour flexibility is vital to our competitiveness and productivity. We simply cannot have these artificial barriers to recognising trade qualifications in different states.”

For further information contact:
Scott Thompson, Director, Media and Public Affairs
Business Council of Australia
Telephone (03) 8664 2603 | Mobile 0403 241 128