Doorstop 14 October 2026

Subjects: Housing supply, taxation of trusts and tradies, small business impact, construction industry regulations, Section 10 Aboriginal heritage application, Senator Price preselection.

E&OE....

Senator Bragg:

Okay, well, it's fantastic to be here with Jacinta Price and Jocelyn Martin from the Housing Industry Association. Five months after the budget, you'd have to say that the results are in, and the scoreboard is: higher rents, fewer mortgages to owner-occupiers, and fewer houses. The Government has gone out of its way to cut housing supply, despite spending billions of dollars on housing. Its taxes have crunched supply, crunched confidence, and are crunching opportunities for future homeowners.

What we have now seen with the trusts legislation is the specific impacts on the housing industry. The Government’s gone out of its way to increase taxes on housing, increase regulation on housing, and it wonders why it has fewer houses. This is a government that is in desperate need to grow a brain. The draft legislation in relation to trusts just shows how punitive and difficult it is going to be for small builders, which occupy a large part of the housing landscape in Australia, to comply with these new arrangements.

Not only are they imposing more taxes on an industry which is desperately needed to supply more houses, but they're also making it more complex and convoluted. So all the things that Chalmers talked about at his economic roundtable boondoggle summit turn out to be a complete lie. He's made the EPBC worse, not better; he's made the Construction Code worse, not better; he's increased complexity through the tax system, and he's increased taxes. When he says he's read the book ‘Abundance’, he's telling a lie. This is a guy who is no longer fit to be in the office of the Treasurer, because he has presided over this economic mess which has made the Government's stated objective of building more houses completely unrealistic. You cannot increase tax, increase regulation, and increase complexity and hope to get more things, no matter what it is. These are the rules of economic orthodoxy, they haven’t been suspended for this man. I think he should seriously consider whether he can do this job. It's clear that his colleagues have lost a lot of confidence in him. We are never going to solve the housing crisis while we have Mr Albanese, and Chalmers, and O'Neil.

I'll now invite Jacinta to make some comments, and then Jocelyn will add some industry analysis.

Senator Nampijinpa Price:

Thank you, Andrew. And Andrew is correct to say that this country is in a housing supply shortage. I'm not sure who the Prime Minister thinks builds our homes in this country, but it is small businesses in housing and construction. They're not just figures on a piece of paper; they are mum-and-dad family businesses that are already doing it really, really tough, with the cost of everything going through the roof and the cost of business going through the roof. And a government that decides to change its position on a regular basis, to change the goalposts, and to create complete uncertainty for these small business owners. This is yet another kick in the guts.

This is going to be a $13.3 billion cost to small businesses right around the country. We heard from Penny Wong in the Senate yesterday that only 90% of small businesses won't be affected by this. Well, I just don't believe this government. We can't believe a deceitful Prime Minister and a deceitful government that changes its position. Still, even if it were to affect just 10% of small businesses in this country, that's well over 270,000 small businesses. That's nothing to scoff at.

What we have, again, is an industry that is struggling to meet the demands required in this country, and this will mean that these construction businesses—these mum-and-dad small businesses—will have to understand what that impact means to them. They will have to pay for advice when it comes to understanding how these trust changes will apply to them. Once they have paid for that advice, they will then have to pay on top of that for the restructuring required for these changes for these businesses. Again, another cost, another issue, another concern that takes them away from doing the job of building homes for Australians in this country.

Not only that, but these are the people that also create the workforce in a construction industry that is struggling because there's a huge workforce shortage in terms of the trades this country needs to build the homes we require. It is a small business that takes on an apprentice and sees them through to completion so that they can be the electricians, plumbers, and carpenters - those that we need to build homes in this country. So it is a kick in the guts for them, it is a kick in the guts for the workforce, and it just keeps going, because we've got a failed Labor Albanese Government that is making life hard for all Australians, and particularly so for small businesses and the workforce that small businesses require right across this country.

I'd now like to hand to Jocelyn.

Jocelyn Martin:

Good afternoon, everyone. Look, we know that the majority of homes in this country are built by small businesses. And out of those small businesses, we also know that three out of five of those businesses use a trust structure. And it's not to avoid tax, it's not to avoid paying their way. It's actually a legitimate structure that was advised to them by their accountant to set their business up. They are using those structures to manage the business cycles in housing, and they're also using it for things like succession planning and managing their cash flow. Trusts are a very complex vehicle, and there's a lot of different reasons why businesses are structured in that way.

And if we are to believe that only 10% of businesses will be impacted by the changes to trusts, I beg to differ. The other 90% of people will still need to seek advice from their accountant, from their lawyer, and potentially restructure in order to change their exposure and meet their business requirements. That's not nothing. Those businesses are telling us that they're spending around $10,000 to $25,000 to get that advice. But it's not just the advice, it's the unknown. We still don't fully understand what these changes mean to business, so they're really struggling to get advice in an environment where they actually don't even know what the legislation is saying. And businesses don't work week to week; a good business runs with a long-term plan. How can business plan when we're making these changes to them all the time?

But this is not the only thing hitting small business in residential construction. Just recently, we had to deal with the changes to the ATO credit card and then the backflip on that, with the potential that it will still change. We're looking at regulatory changes all the time. In fact, the layers and layers of productivity reform agendas and studies have all identified enormous barriers around regulation and red tape that small business in residential construction is dealing with. That's on top of things like skills shortages and insurance premiums - that are all going up.

In addition to that, since the Budget, the industry has seen a significant slowdown. That's because investors have basically left the market at the moment. Now if we're going to build 1.2 million homes, which is a target that we have supported and is a legitimate number of homes that we need, we need to get out of the way, we need to stop creating more barriers for small business, and we need to recognise that there are businesses, families and consumers behind these changes that keep getting thrown at the sector. We need it to stop.

Journalist:

Can I put to you [inaudible] that former Environment Minister Sussan Ley placed a section 10 protection near Bathurst... is this different or similar?

Senator Nampijinpa Price:

Oh look, this current issue is the issue of the gold mine, which I know is going to ensure that there are huge economic development opportunities for that entire region. That is where things were put on hold, it went to the courts, it's come out now, and I'm pleased to see that the opportunities are going to come about. Like I said, I wasn't involved in that prior issue and the previous minister's involvement. With this one, I'm really pleased to see that it's come forward.

Senator Bragg:

I might just add to that, it's now incumbent upon Murray Watt. Murray Watt can now make a decision to get this mine moving. He and his government are the only people who are against this mine. The Indigenous people, the Land Council support it, the town supports it, the state Labor government supports it, we support it. So the only person standing in the way now is Murray Watt and the Albanese government, and they should get on with this and make the mine happen because it'll be good for the Indigenous community, it'll be good for the people of western New South Wales, and it'll be good for Australia. We have to develop this country. This was a spurious claim, as Jacinta set out, and Murray Watt now has the ability to walk the walk. He says he supports the development of this country, he supports mining—let's see.

Journalist:

Can I ask Senator Price, there's been a lot of speculation about moving to the lower house. Are you planning at the next election to run in a lower house seat?

Senator Nampijinpa Price:

Well, first of all, I'd just like to understand who's talking about these things behind my back. These individuals obviously haven't spoken to me about anything that I'm doing. Like I've always said, my focus is on the Northern Territory. I'm pleased to be representing the Northern Territory as part of the Country Liberal Party, and in the Liberal Party party room here in Canberra, but my focus continues to be with the Northern Territory. And I will absolutely be ensuring that I'm preselected to the Senate for the Northern Territory once more.

Journalist:

So you're not planning to run in a lower house?

Senator Nampijinpa Price:

No. If anyone would like to say things behind my back, please come to me first, whoever that might be making these suggestions. It's been said before about me in all kinds of parts of the country, but no, my heart's in the Territory, that's where I will be.

[Ends]