Grant Chapman (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I direct my question to the Minister representing the Treasurer. I refer the minister to Labor’s decision to reverse the Howard government’s family trust changes. Is the minister aware of the punitive capital gains tax consequences of trusts having to vest their assets once generations up to and including grandchildren have died, under their changes? Is the minister also aware that this will have a devastating impact on farmers and small business proprietors whose business or farm is held in a family trust structure? Is this by deliberate design or is this yet another unintended consequence from a government that does not know what it is doing?