ENERGY: How Australia can become fuel self-sufficient

Over recent decades, Australia has seen a vast proliferation of regulation and bureaucracy. While some serves a useful purpose, much of it has achieved no worthwhile result, or else has proven to be a net loss in the balance of costs and benefits.

Regulatory demands and red tape are now major obstacles to almost any productive activity. Worse yet, they have ossified around existing circumstances and are major impediments to change and innovation.

What was tolerable in prosperity will now, during a recession, often become unbearable. This situation did not exist in past recessions and will have to be addressed.