QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS
Senator KOVACIC (New South Wales) (15:24): Do you know an inconvenient truth? I'll tell you an inconvenient truth. This government has trashed the economy, this government has crushed Australian households and this government has brought Australian small businesses to their knees.
That's the inconvenient truth. The answers, or the lack of answers, that we got to the questions asked about trusts are very telling. The suggestion that this is a niche group of businesses at the top end of the town is absolutely false.
This is the everyday tradie. This is a builder, someone in the construction industry. It also crosses into other service industries like hairdressers and doctors and dentists—you name it.
Do you know what they all have in common? They're all small businesses. They're not large businesses.
They're not multinationals. They're Australian small businesses that have been targeted by this Albanese Labor government with even more tax. One of the answers that Minister Wong gave was in relation to it just being about a small group of businesses or individuals that receive their income via a trust.
I'll take a step back. We are in a housing crisis. We don't have enough houses.
That's a given. In the budget in May, instead of making it easier for young Australians to get into a home, this government decided to increase taxes across a whole spectrum of mechanisms under the shield of intergenerational equity. We all know that to be false.
They said that these taxes would make it easier for young Australians to own their own home. What they refuse to admit publicly is that they are taxing young Australians even more as they save to afford those homes. This trust tax has now impacted the companies, the organisations, the tradies, the Australian small businesses and the Australian family businesses that build those homes.
HIA's managing director, Jocelyn Martin, in a press release, said the proposal would have consequences far beyond taxation, affecting how many small businesses are structured and operated. She also said: Around three in five HIA members operate through a family trust. Do you know what HIA members primarily are?
They are builders, the people who build the homes that Australians need to live in, which we currently do not have enough of. This takes me to what I believe is the agenda of this government, and it's becoming very clear. We've spoken about this over and over.
We would like Australians to be able to own their own homes. Those opposite would like your super fund to own your own home and for you to be a perpetual renter of that home. That's what they want.
That's what the agenda is. Guess what? Your super fund can invest in property, but you can't via your own super or via your SMSF any more, because this government has said that you can't.
This is just another layer in that same agenda to make homeownership less accessible for the everyday Australian. It is totally lacking any foresight to think that taxing Australian tradies and taxing Australian builders even more will actually make housing more accessible for people in this country. (Time expired)