The mobile telecommunications industry, like many industries, is monitoring the current ideological political debate on reregulation, the role of free markets and government intervention as politicians joust for the policy high ground in the midst of unprecedented economic conditions.

AMTA, which represents members of an industry that generates revenue of $14.5 billion a year and plays such a pivotal role in driving productivity across the economy, has more than a passing interest in any debate on regulation.

AMTA firmly believes that our industry will reach its full potential with public policy outcomes that are achieved with less regulatory effort and complexity and with greater reliance on principled outcomes allowing for flexibility in business response.

We already work in a complex co-regulatory system – which is not a self-regulatory system as described by some – and we firmly believe in the principle of regulatory forbearance – refrain from regulatory intervention in the absence of demonstrated market failure.

This should be the default position of Governments until such time it can be clearly demonstrated that a durable market failure exists, and that regulatory intervention will actually deliver superior outcomes.

The industry is subject to a complex co-regulatory model with the inevitable potential for duplication, overlap and inconsistency between jurisdictional and agency responsibilities.

AMTA, will participate in any debate on the role of regulation in the economy.

To assist this process, we believe there are some key practical rules to guide any such debate and keep it on track to not lose sight of importance of achieving practical policy outcomes. These rules are from the Productivity Commission’s good practice regulation.

To qualify as good practice, regulation needs to exhibit several characteristics, including:

• It must have a sound rationale and be shown to bring a net benefit to society, requiring costs as well as benefits to be brought into account.
• It must be better than any alternative regulation or policy tool.
• It should be clear and concise. It should also be communicated effectively and be readily accessible to those affected by it.
• It must be enforceable. But it should embody incentives or disciplines no greater than are needed for reasonable enforcement, and involve adequate resources for the purpose.
• Finally, it needs to be administered by accountable bodies in a fair and consistent manner…important features of good governance include clear statutory guidance, transparency of both process and judgement, and public accessibility.

Finally, we would hope that any ideological debate is not sidetracked by a meaningless political pointscoring exercise.

The key to any such debate is not to lose sight of the importance of raising productivity, creating wealth, employment and driving economic growth. It is vital to push on with economic reforms rather than be distracted by calls for reregulation.