Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026, Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026

Ms ALDRED (Monash—Opposition Whip) (09:59): I rise today to speak on behalf of the small businesses, the family farmers and the regional communities who are about to be caught in the blast radius of Labor's latest tax changes. While those opposite try to dress this up as tax reform, people in the real world see it for what it is. This is a government that promised certainty, delivered confusion and has become known for its backflips and broken promises.

Accountants across this country are dealing with something very different. Right now, they are not preparing for tax time. They are managing panic.

An accounting practice in my electorate told me yesterday that they have never seen anything quite like it. For the past three weeks, their days have been consumed by calls from concerned clients looking for the answers, reassurance and certainty that the government has failed to provide. This is not a practice serving multinational corporations or wealthy inner city investors.

Their clients are dairy farmers producing milk for Australian families, beef producers feeding our families, contractors, transport operators and small-business owners who keep Australia running. The accounting practice states that, across the practice, around 150 clients have raised concerns or requested advice. Many of them are worried that changes to trusts and capital gains tax could fundamentally alter the way their family businesses and farming enterprises operate.

Many of these businesses operate through family trusts not because they're looking for loopholes but because family trusts have long been a legitimate and practical structure for succession planning, asset protection and the transfer of businesses from one generation to the next. These are mums and dads who have spent decades building something they hope to pass on to their children.

Long may the family farming model continue in this country; its greatest threat is this Albanese Labor government. These are family farms trying to ensure that the next generation has an opportunity to continue that family enterprise. They're farming families trying to ensure their businesses remain viable not just for themselves but for the wider community and our nation, which depends on their success.

Where I come from, our towns revolve around the dairy industry. In parts of my electorate, there are around seven dairy cows for every one person. That industry is the economic heartbeat of our communities.

The local machinery dealer depends on it. The local stock agent depends on it. The accountant, the veterinarian, the transport operator, the local cafe, the retail store and the sporting clubs all depend on our local dairy industry.

When our farmers are strong, our towns are strong. I always say healthy local businesses sustain healthy regional communities. But, when our farmers struggle, entire communities feel that impact.

Without a viable farming industry, many of our regional towns simply wouldn't exist in the form we know them today. They would be shadows of themselves. Let us not forget what is really at stake here.

Every Australian relies on farmers every single day for the milk on the breakfast table, the cheese in a sandwich, the steak on a dinner plate and the fruit, vegies and grains that feed this nation. So governments that make it harder for farming families to invest, grow and plan for their future are not just affecting farmers; they are affecting the very people who produce the food and fibre that every Australian across this nation depends on.

If farming families cannot remain viable, a simple question follows: where does your dinner come from for tonight? Why is the government making it harder to run a family business in Australia? Why are families who have spent a lifetime building a business now facing uncertainty about how they will pass it on to the next generation?

Why is this Labor government making life harder for the very people who produce our food, create local jobs and keep local communities strong? The local accountant's assessment was blunt. The proposed changes to trust taxation will force many small businesses and primary producers to consider expensive restructures.

These are businesses that have followed the rules, businesses that have already adapted to previous ATO changes and businesses that simply want certainty so they can focus on growing food, employing local people and investing in our regional communities. When one regional accounting practice is reporting 150 clients in a state of genuine distress, this Labor government should be paying attention.

If this is what is happening in one country town in my electorate of Monash, it is happening in farming communities and regional centres right across Australia. For many people in my electorate, this debate is not about tax law. It is about whether decades of hard work can be passed on to the next generation.

It is about conversations around the kitchen table. It is about whether a son or a daughter can afford to come home to the farm. It is about whether a family business stays in local hands or is eventually sold off because the costs and complexity are just too much, and that is why so many people are worried.

They are not asking for special treatment. They are not asking for loopholes. They are not asking for favours.

They just want a fair go. The Prime Minister said 'no new taxes' more than 50 times. He told us himself.

Meanwhile, one regional accounting practice has had 150 calls from those clients about those 50 promises. If that doesn't tell you who Australians are believing, I don't know what does. They want to know that, if they work hard, invest in their business, employ local people, play by the rules, those rules won't suddenly change underneath them halfway through the game.

The reality is that regional Australia is already carrying a very heavy load under this Labor government. Farmers are dealing with rising input costs. Small businesses are dealing with higher energy prices.

Transport operators are facing increased operating expenses. Manufacturers are battling with red tape and global competition. Many family businesses are still recovering from years of economic uncertainty.

At a time when confidence should be encouraged, this government is creating more doubt. At a time when investment should be rewarded, this government is creating more hesitation, and, at a time when Australia should be backing the people who produce, build and create, this government is making it harder for them to plan for a future ahead. What concerns me most is the signal this sends to younger Australians, particularly in our regional communities.

We hear speeches in this place about innovation. We hear speeches about backing aspiration. But what message is this Labor government sending when every time someone works hard, takes a risk, builds a business or creates wealth the government's first instinct is to look for another way to tax it.

The people I represent do not expect success to be easy. Farmers and small businesses understand risk. They live with risk every day.

Markets, fuel prices, labour shortages and rising costs are all part of their lives. What they should not have to contend with is uncertainty created by their own government. Regional Australia does not need more complexity.

It does not need more paperwork. It does not need more reasons for investment decisions to be delayed and undermined. It needs confidence.

It needs stability. It needs a government that understands that every decision made in this place eventually lands on the kitchen table of every Australian family. The coalition believes there's a better way.

We believe aspiration should be encouraged not punished. We believe family businesses should be supported not burdened. We believe farmers should have confidence to invest, expand and pass their enterprises to the next generation.

Most importantly, we believe governments should keep their promises, because trust matters, confidence matters and certainty matters. When governments lose sight of those principles, it is hardworking Australians who pay the price. The farmers, small-business owners and regional communities I represent deserve better.

They deserve policies that strengthen local economies. They deserve policies that encourage investment. They deserve policies that support family businesses and farming enterprises not make their future more uncertain.

For those reasons, I stand with the farmers, small businesses and families in my electorate of Monash. I oppose these measures. I want to say to family businesses and farmers in my electorate: I back you, the coalition backs you and we will be supporting you.