Prime Minister Tony Abbott axes expert advice on firearms, infant formula, high-speed rail, housing, insurance and animal welfare Prime Minister Tony Abbott is ditching several advisory bodies. THE Abbott Government is to axe expert advice on firearms, infant formula, high-speed rail, housing, insurance and animal welfare. Prime Minister Tony Abbott risks a community backlash but he said some of the 21 groups being abolished had "outlived their original purpose" and it was part of his pledge to cut bureaucracy and red tape. The Commonwealth Firearms Advisory Council, formed in 2010, evolved from a group set up to advise John Howard after the Port Arthur shooting and his historic crackdown on guns. Its seven members advise the government on a wide range of gun issues and include former police firearms specialists, gun dealers and sporting shooters. Mr Abbott has dumped it amid growing concern about gun crime. The PM said the government will still get advice from a broad range of sources including industry, community groups, government departments and other advisory councils. Some of the advisory groups being abolished have existed for nearly 25 years, while some were created in the past 12 months. The advisory panel on the Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula was established in 1992. The High Speed Rail Advisory Group was formed earlier this year and includes former Deputy PM and Nationals leader Tim Fischer. It is being axed because the Abbott Government is not keen on high-speed rail. "Many of these non-statutory bodies have outlived their original purpose or are not focused on the government's policy priorities," Mr Abbott said. As a result, their work is best carried out by the relevant government departments or agencies. Mr Abbott is scrapping the Australian Animals Welfare Advisory committee created when he was in Cabinet in 2005. Others to go include the National Housing Supply Council and the Insurance Reform Advisory Group set up by Bill Shorten after the 2011 floods in Victoria and Queensland. Expert advice groups on positive ageing, maritime workforce development, inter-country Adoption and Corporate Wrongdoing are also being chopped. Mr Abbott said the activities of these bodies "are no longer needed or can be managed within existing departmental resources." He said this would deliver more efficient and effective government. Mr Abbott also said Cabinet submissions will now require regulatory impact statements that set out the cost of red tape. "Regulation won't be the default position for government and will only be imposed where unavoidable," he said.