Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Minchin, Minister representing the Treasurer. Can the minister confirm that the government is reviewing the use of managed investment schemes? Is the minister aware of concerns within the government that these schemes severely disadvantage rural Australia by encouraging investment in areas which allow investors to claim large tax deductions, such as plantation schemes, rather than in traditional farming businesses? Does the minister agree with the member for Moore, who said on 14 June, ‘The lucrative MIS tax breaks need to be pruned before rural industries are wiped out’? Does the minister accept the position of the member for Forrest, who claimed that those opposed to the schemes ‘are trying to stop a disaster happening in traditional agriculture’? Does the minister accept the advice of his own backbench that these Howard government tax schemes are damaging Australia’s rural industries, and what action will the government now take to address this?