QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator GATENBY (Tasmania—Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate) (15:33): I rise to take note of Minister Wong's answers to questions from Senators Blyth, Colbeck and Ruston on tax on trusts. The Albanese Labor government has once again shown how little it really understands about small businesses and the pressures that they're facing. I, like a multitude of many small-business owners out there at the moment, have seen the tin ear that the Labor Party and the Labor government have shown towards small businesses in recent times.

Let's take trusts for the moment. Labor's approach to discretionary trust taxation is causing serious concerns across small businesses, farmers, tradies and many others. Even Labor state governments are now scrambling to protect small businesses from Jim Chalmers latest tax grab.

That tells you just how badly this has been handled to date. Small businesses, including franchises and even small builders, are being given three bad choices: pay more tax, pay accountants and lawyers to restructure or give up the flexibility they've relied on for generations. The NFF says there are more than 37,000 trusts operating in agriculture, fisheries and forestry, but it's still not clear what sorts of farming activities are covered under primary production income.

They're asking for certainty, sensible rules and a government that understands the realities of running a business. I know those opposite don't understand this, but for a small-business owner cashflow is everything. It determines whether suppliers are paid, whether rent is met and whether another employee can be hired.

I've worked in small business, including our own former family business, and I know the pressures they face. Unlike this government, small-business owners cannot simply spend more money when the numbers don't add up. Yet Labor keeps adding costs, uncertainty and frustration.

Take the recent changes to card surcharges. Banning a surcharge doesn't just eliminate the cost of accepting a card. Just fancy the facepalm when the Prime Minister claimed that the changes would make everyday purchases like your coffee cheaper.

One female owner of a Tasmanian hospitality business has told me this week that across two venues her business has now absorbed just under $3,000 in 10 days, including some new fees. This is up from $129 in the corresponding period last year. It forecasts an annual impact of over $120,000, factoring in seasonality—a $120,000 impact!—unless it passes those costs on by increasing prices.

Yet Labor thinks the surcharge has simply vanished. It hasn't. Someone pays.

In my short time here, I've heard of so many small businesses saying the same thing under the weight of this government's reforms. If Minister Wong is not hearing those concerns in her office, she should ask herself why. We're listening; the question is whether this government is also listening.

Then came the ATO's plan to stop accepting direct credit card payments for tax. For businesses waiting on overdue invoices, a credit card can provide vital short-term cashflow flexibility. The government was left scrambling on its position.

Then there was the hypocrisy. While small businesses were essentially being told to absorb their card processing costs, the ATO wanted to walk away from its own. Small businesses deserve respect, not another round of Labor's moving goalposts and tax grabs on trusts.

They don't deserve your higher taxes and energy bills. Labor should back, not break, small businesses. Question agreed to.