Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

There are two big issues in the electorate of La Trobe. One is the cost of living. People are really hurting. Recently I'm hearing on the ground that, when it comes to insurance premiums, amazingly they're going up 20 or 30 per cent again. I know sometimes there are factors when it comes to where people live. Up in the Dandenong Ranges, because of bushfires and other issues, they are going up by 20 or 30 per cent. That's really hurting people. Again, when it comes to energy bills, they're going up and up again in Melbourne. Obviously, we're here in parliament in Canberra, but it's a lot colder down there. So power bills are going up. People were promised by the Prime Minister, prior to the previous election, a discount of $275. That hasn't happened.

One of the things I'm hearing from small business and people who put trust in the Prime Minister when he made comments like 'my word is my bond' is that they took him at face value when it came to not changing capital gains tax or unit trusts. This actually really hurts a lot of people. A lot of tradies have established a trust. They've gone to an accountant, and the accountant said, 'Hey, a good way of minimising tax is to put money in a trust,' and then, if one of the partners—it could be a husband or a wife—isn't working, they can get a discount on that. Now they're going to be hit, as money goes into that trust, by a 30 per cent tax. That's a huge whack.

When I talk to my friends in the multicultural communities, a lot of my Indian friends, to use them as an example, are going to their accountants at the moment. They were advised to set up a trust through their small business. It could be a landscaping business, it could be a post office—whatever it is. They've already gone once to get advice on what's occurring with the government's changes. Now we're seeing all these changes the government's made again.

Obviously, they're copping a backlash. I warn the Labor members. You know what? If you don't stand up and speak out about this, it'll cost you your seats, because people are really hurting on the ground, especially when it comes to people who put their faith in the government, especially multicultural communities, when they've set up trusts, and they've also planned for the future when it comes to capital gains discounts. It was 50 per cent under the Howard government. Now that's all going to be changed, with indexation.

So it's a really tough time for people trying to get ahead in life, especially when it comes to cost-of-living pressures. The government are not making life easier; they're making it more difficult, especially for small businesses.