MATTERS OF URGENCY

Senator WHITTEN (Western Australia) (18:50): The assault on small business continues under a Labor government that seems determined to punish anyone who dares to get ahead. The budget handed down in May was one of the worst ever for small businesses. Now another hammer is about to fall, with Labor's attack on family trusts.

Discretionary trusts are used extensively by small businesses across Australia. Around 350,000 businesses use them, and 210,000 are expected to pay additional tax under these changes. Thanks to Labor's greed and its refusal to tighten its own belt, business could face more than $13 billion in restructuring costs.

It is clear that very few on the Labor side understand what it means to run a small business. They've never had to navigate Australian tax law, pay thousands of dollars for expert advice or make difficult decisions to keep a business afloat. Let's consider a sparky who has built a business from the ground up and employs a couple of apprentices, a labourer and a receptionist.

His family trust allows him to share the business income with his wife, who manages the books part time while raising their children. Now Labor forces him to restructure. The professional advice alone could cost thousands of dollars, with the loss of income splitting adding thousands more in tax every year.

That means less money to invest in the business. Perhaps they can no longer afford a labourer. Maybe they have to let the apprentice go.

Worse still, it might become all too hard, so they shut up shop and retire earlier than planned. Jobs disappear, the family loses its livelihood and another Australian business dream is destroyed. That is the real cost of Labor's tax grab.

Behind every struggling or closed business are real people who have worked hard, taken risks and sacrificed to build something for their families. One Nation believes in small business. We believe in Australians having a go and building better lives without constantly worrying that the government will change the rules and undermine everything they have worked for.

We also understand why families use trusts. A sparky or plumber might work 60 hours a week while their partner stays at home to raise their young children. That decision may be essential to making family life and the business work.

Does Labor believe that contribution counts for nothing? One Nation believes that parents who contribute in different ways to a family business should be able to share its income fairly. That is why One Nation supports income splitting for all families with children.

Labor's approach ignores and undermines families who choose to have a parent at home raising their kids. This is about more than tax; it's about freedom, fairness and respect for the people who keep Australia moving. One Nation wants a government that supports small businesses, respects families and rewards hard work, not one that punishes independence to fill a budget black hole.

We will keep fighting for Australians who take risks, create jobs and build this country one business, one family and one job at a time.