Interview with Jaimee Rogers, News 24

Event: Interview with Jaimee Rogers, News 24

Date: 9 August 2026, 7.45pm AEST
Speakers: Denita Wawn, Master Builders Australia CEO

Topics: The damaging impacts of the Federal Government’s proposed trust changes

E&OE

Jaimee Rogers, News 24 host: Welcome back. Australia is in the middle of a housing crisis. We need more homes and more builders and fewer barriers to get projects off the ground. But Master Builders Australia is warning proposed federal changes to the taxation of trusts could do exactly the opposite. So, for more, joining me now is Master Builders CEO Denita Wawn. Denita, let’s start with an extraordinary figure, which you say small family businesses that are in the building industry earning $400,000 a year could see its tax bill increase by up to 70 per cent under these changes. How does that happen?

Denita Wawn, Master Builders Australia CEO: Yeah, these are the extraordinary consequences of the tax announcements of the federal budget that have not had as much scrutiny as capital gains tax, negative gearing, and we say this is a significant no-win situation for small businesses currently working under a trust for their business. We’re estimating, with the assistance of accountants, that if you stay in the trust arrangement, you will be paying up to an additional 70 per cent in tax. But worse off, if you do what the Government tells you to do, and that is you should be working under a company structure, that restructuring can be as high as $175,000 in restructuring costs. So, 20 per cent of building and construction businesses operate under a trust. We say that they are going to be faced with this no-win situation, but they’re not alone. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of small businesses in the same situation, not just confined to building and construction.

Host: Denita, you did tell Treasurer Jim Chalmers about some of these unintended consequences that you found. What was the response when you did tell him?

Denita: Well, unfortunately, the Treasurer has got form about not listening to industry at the moment. He refused to engage with the property industry when it came to negative gearing, capital gains tax, and the SMSF impacts on residential investment. Likewise, on trusts, we haven’t had an opportunity to speak with the Treasurer direct. As with many other industry associations, we are simply putting our submissions to Treasury. But more importantly, MPs need to be listening and understanding the implications for small businesses around the country. This has got massive ramifications that really have been swept under the carpet and that need to be taken into consideration. The Government needs to, at the very least, grandfather these provisions so they’re not putting hundreds of thousands of small businesses at peril because they’re stuck in a no-win situation.

Host: And Denita, just quickly before I let you go, you did also raise a concern about consumer protections. That if a builder needs to establish a completely new entity, what could that then mean for existing contracts and licenses?

Denita: It’s interesting Jaimee, the Government talks about transition costs, but then they totally forget about State and Territory laws, and also business-to-business ramifications as well. And for us, this is all about issues relating to home warranty insurance and other types of insurance as well. In many parts of the country, where on one hand we put in provisions to ensure that people don’t phoenix, and there is consumer protections in terms of the construction of their home, but yet the Government, on the other hand, is trying to put you into a new structure, and thereby as a consequence, that then erodes those consumer protections that are there in the first place. So, we say there are perverse outcomes if you change structures, not only for the business but also for consumers as well.

Host: Well, Denita, I really appreciate your time tonight. We will definitely get you back on for more on this topic.

Media contact: Dylan Hafey, Adviser, Media & Government Relations

0497 330 064 |  dylan.hafey@masterbuilders.com.au