The Business Council warned Australia could get left behind if clunky regulatory systems are not stripped back, particularly for environmental approvals and business licensing.
Fixing it has to be a national priority, chief executive Bran Black said as he unveiled the council's priorities for the 2025 federal election.
"This election and the period beyond must prioritise reforms that will make our economy stronger and more resilient, boost living standards and, overall, make Australia a better place to invest and do business," he said.
The council identified five big questions the parties vying to lead Australia over the next three years needed to answer.
They were how to ease the cost-of-living crisis; tackle housing unaffordability; achieve net zero by 2050 with affordable and reliable energy; develop a skilled workforce for the future; and, deliver health and care services for an aging population.
Making these priorities more urgent were anaemic economic growth and plummeting labour productivity, which has fallen back to 2016 levels.
Mr Black said Australia should follow the US in increasing regulatory efficiency - a nod to Mr Trump's appointment of the world's richest man Elon Musk to lead a "Department of Government Efficiency", tasked with slashing red tape and government spending.
"If we don't follow suit then we will lose investment and see a consequent reduction in our way of life," he said.
Removing red tape and reforming the inefficient tax system were essential to increasing productivity growth, he argued.
While the Business Council did not endorse either major party, and called for some measures that resembled Labor policies such as universal childcare, the proposal for a minister for deregulation was more in line coalition policy.
Jacinta Price will be minister for government efficiency if the coalition wins office. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
In a pre-election reshuffle in January, Opposition Labor Peter Dutton named NT senator Jacinta Price as shadow minister for government efficiency - a role closely mirroring Mr Musk's appointment.
Capping government spending growth and reinstating the tax-to GDP ratio cap of 23.9 per cent was also needed to bring ballooning budget deficits under control, the BCA said.
The coalition has also promised to restore the tax-to-GDP cap and slash government spending.
The BCA's other regulatory-busting recommendations included following deregulation measures of global peers, assessing productivity impacts of all new regulation, fast-tracking housing approvals and removing regulation duplicates across government.
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