Limits to the number of taxi licences in a particular area and rules preventing other services from competing with taxis raised costs for consumers and blocked innovation, the report said. The recommendations also mean retail trading hours could be extended in evenings and on weekends. The review recommended remaining restrictions on retail trading hours should be removed. While the ACT, Northern Territory, Victoria, Tasmania and NSW have almost completely deregulated trading hours, the report said Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland still had significant restrictions. "To the extent that jurisdictions choose to retain restrictions, these should be strictly limited to Christmas Day, Good Friday and the morning of ANZAC Day, and should be applied broadly to avoid discriminating among different types of retailers," the review recommended. "Deregulating trading hours should not prevent jurisdictions from imposing specific restrictions on trading times for alcohol retailing or gambling services in order to achieve the policy objective of harm minimisation."

Professor Ian Harper, who chaired the review, says his 56 recommendations should be adopted as quickly as possible if the country wants to reap the benefits from the changes. The changes are designed to help Australia deal with the rise of Asia and other emerging economies, an ageing population, and new 'disruptive' technologies. "Australia has enjoyed continuous economic growth since the early 1990s and weathered the global financial crisis of the late 2000s without a recession," the report says. "This performance has led some to question whether there is a 'burning platform' for a new round of microeconomic reform. "Evidence presented to the panel throughout the review suggests that reform is not only overdue, given stalled reform efforts in the 2000s, but critical to improving Australia's productivity performance and to sustaining our living standards into the future.

"With Australia's terms of trade receding from their peak and the boom in mining investment past, we must look to productivity-enhancing reforms to underpin rising living standards and to strengthen Australia's fiscal outlook." The report said road user charges should be imposed with the money going towards new roads and maintenance. Co-operation between the state and federal governments in easing fuel tax and registration fees could ensure there is no overall extra impost on road users. Road congestion in cities is estimated to cost business almost $6 billion a year and motorists about $3.5 billion. Small Business Minister Bruce Billson said on Tuesday the report was an "objective evidence-based examination of our competition policy, our competition laws, the constitutional framework, and frankly what stands between us and our economy, and achieving all of its potential and seeing durable benefits are available for consumers".

"We instigated this examination with some clear ideals in mind," he said. "One, that our economy should support efficient businesses, big and small, to thrive and prosper, to offer enhanced value, better pricing, new offerings and the opportunity to delight customers here and internationally, and to be competitive and in a fair and healthy competitive environment in doing so." Mr Bilson said there would be eight to 10 weeks of consultation and he would hold talks with his ministerial colleagues and state governments before the government constructed a "game plan" to respond to the report's 56 recommendations. with AAP Follow us on Twitter