James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The government does not support the motion. The coalition government knows that trusts are a legitimate structure providing asset protection and flexibility in cash flow. They are also commonly used in succession and estate planning. Labor's plan to impose a minimum 30 per cent tax on distributions by discretionary trusts is just another Labor tax grab on small businesses. The Leader of the Opposition, who once supported trusts, needs to explain why he's changed his mind and why Labor is exempting farm trusts but not those small businesses providing farmers with farm supplies such as fertiliser for crops or stockfeed for livestock. They also experience lumpy income. There is no rationale for this referral, which will only add strain to the existing workloads of Senate committees and the committee secretariats in particular.