QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Dr CHALMERS (Rankin—Treasurer) (14:02): Thank you to the honourable member for his question. You can set your watch by it—late in the afternoon, onto the front of the Oz for the next day, into tactics and then into question time. They write their questions for them every day, and they've done it once again.

I'm not taking lectures on taxes from a party that's been sprung this week with a plan to increase income taxes on millions of Australian workers. That's the first point. The second point is these are the same characters that say that we should consult more.

Then, when we consult, they say that we should consult less. They've got to make up their mind; it's got to be one or the other. No wonder the Liberal Party is dying in his arms.

Now, when it comes to the changes in the budget that go to trusts, the changes in the budget don't limit the way that trusts have the flexibility to add beneficiaries in the future. The option that we've put forward in the draft legislation is about providing another way for existing trusts to set out fixed interests without requiring a restructure, something they called for.

But it is entirely optional for trusts to make use of this. Mr Taylor interjecting— The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question. Dr CHALMERS: Trusts can also nominate to distribute future income to an eligible company.

They can use the election and retain the flexibility to change their approach in the future as well. Mr Tim Wilson: Take it to the election. Dr CHALMERS: I can hear the interjections about taking tax policies to the election.

We well remember the tax policy they took to the election, which was to increase income taxes on every single Australian worker. That's been their tax policy. Mr Taylor: Relevance— Dr CHALMERS: Now, what we are proposing— The SPEAKER: Order!

The Leader of the Opposition is going to be given the courtesy of raising his point of order, and the Treasurer is going to cease interjecting because the Leader of the Opposition has the right to raise his point of order, and he shall do so. Mr Taylor: Relevance—the question was about the Treasurer's toxic tax on babies. The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully.

The Treasurer said 'what we are doing'. I'm listening to exactly what he's saying. I don't know what he's about to say, but, if he's saying what he is doing, he's not talking about the opposition; he's talking about government policy.

Dr CHALMERS: The changes in the budget are about better aligning the tax treatment of income earned from trusts with the taxes paid by ordinary workers, while limiting the restructuring costs at the same time. If you look at Treasury analysis from 2022-23, families with discretionary trusts faced an average tax rate around four percentage points lower compared with families with similar incomes who don't use a trust.

The majority of trust income flows to the top-earning 10 per cent of families, and approximately 90 per cent of total private trust wealth is held by the wealthiest 10 per cent of households—with more than $2.3 million. So more than 95 per cent of individual tax filers will not be affected by these changes in any given year. As I said at the beginning, Treasury is consulting on this legislation in the usual way.

We will work through the feedback in the usual way. But, when it comes to the tax impost that those opposite want to put on ordinary working families in this country, they don't have a leg to stand on.