Insurers have backed Coalition plans to ease regulatory costs, invest in apprenticeships and change the prudential regulator’s capital settings for loans backed by lenders’ mortgage insurance.

Last week, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the Coalition “will undertake one of the most significant changes to how government facilitates private sector investment” if it wins the May 3 federal election.

It plans to create Investment Australia, a statutory agency within Treasury to consolidate and streamline investment.

“Central to Investment Australia’s competitiveness mandate will be a mission to make it cheaper and easier to build, to finance, to power our country,” Mr Taylor said. “Within 100 days, we’ll appoint the Investment Australia chair and establish three investment taskforces to reduce regulatory costs in key enabling sectors – financial services, construction, and resources and energy.”

He said the taskforces will focus on unlocking productivity.

“It’s not an inquiry but rolling structural red tape reduction to reduce cost to consumers and bring down the cost of doing business and the cost of living.

“The costs in these sectors are embedded in absolutely everything we buy.”

Mr Taylor said a Coalition government would “pursue a clear ambition to make Australia a financial centre for our region.

In recent months, I’ve outlined policies to drive this agenda reforming our capital markets to strike the balance between financial stability and affordability of getting into a home, getting insurance and starting a business.”

The Corporations Act would be changed to simplify financial services law, he said in an address at the National Press Club.

Insurance Council of Australia CEO Andrew Hall said: “We support the Coalition’s commitment to reform capital markets and reduce regulatory costs in financial services to ensure Australians can more easily obtain the insurance coverage they need.

“Ensuring a right-sized regulatory framework is in place will support better access to critical financial services for all Australians throughout their lives.”

The industry also backs the Coalition’s target to have 400,000 apprentices and trainees in critical skills areas. “Investing in apprenticeships and training will ensure supply chains remain strong, and particularly across the motor supply chain where labour costs now contribute around 30% of claims costs,” Mr Hall said.

He says the plan to adjust the capital treatment of loans backed by LMI is “welcome news, not just for the insurance industry, but for those eager to step into the housing market”.

ICA’s federal election platform calls for action to review regulatory settings, address motor industry skills shortages, and rethink capital requirements for home loans guaranteed by LMI.

It says LMI-backed loans are given poor capital ratings by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, which can mean higher costs for borrowers who use LMI compared with those who have access to the Commonwealth-backed Home Guarantee Scheme or parental guarantees.