Federal Assistant Treasurer Nick Sherry says Australia shouldn’t miss the opportunities provided by current independent reviews such as the Henry tax review to tackle the issue of inefficient state-based levies on insurance.

But he added a note of qualification in his address last week to the Insurance Council of Australia’s 2010 Regulatory Update conference in Sydney, saying the Federal Government didn’t make any specific commitment to abolish such taxes when it was in opposition.

Opposition Financial Services spokesman Luke Hartsuyker says Australia’s constantly changing regulatory environment is a disincentive to insurers’ investments in systems that reduce compliance costs.

Promising a Liberal/National coalition government would be “positive, purposeful and consultative” if it is returned to power, Mr Harsuyker told delegates that regulatory change “requires a light touch, a very light touch on the wheel indeed”.