Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I think when we come to this debate about ensuring that more Australians can get more benefit out of the huge changes that have happened since Labor introduced the universal paid parental leave scheme for Australia, you start by reflecting on your own experiences of benefitting from previous parliaments that made the right choice. For me and my wife, Jess, we welcomed our son Leo into our world in 2017. I was very fortunate. I was then working for a branch of the Australian Labor Party in what continues to be its most successful era. I was fortunate enough with the support of then Premier McGowan and the party president, Carol Smith, to be able to stop and have time on paid parental leave with my son. At the same time, my wife was working at Fortescue Metals. She was, with the support of then CEO Nev Power and Elizabeth Gaines, able to take time, again, to have that moment that you only get once in your children's lifetime to be with your family. I really appreciate the normalisation that has happened in this country over the last 15 years. Paid parental leave is something that every parent should seek to take and, indeed, that we seek to support every working parent to take.

I did the same again when our daughter Ruby was born at the end of 2020. I was able with the support of the new Prime Minister to take some time off from this place—something that many people now do—to again, be there with my wife, our then three-year-old and our little new baby Ruby, who is now, thanks to the wonders of early childhood education and much love from me, Jess and her grandparents in both Brisbane and Perth, a very feisty, confident three-year-old.

I share all of that because we are still on the journey of normalising that parents—men and women—should take paid parental leave and that we in this place should take further steps to support it, which is what we seek to do today, recognising that paid parental leave is about having more time with family. It's time that you only get once and it's an opportunity to bond with your children, to be there for your partner and for parents to support one another. So it is great that we celebrate the evolution that Australia has been on when it comes to paid parental leave and continue to invest in that with the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill 2023.

I'll start with the history of the Paid Parental Leave scheme. It was obviously introduced in 2011, and every year about 180,000 families rely on that support, which is a very good thing. Since that time, there have been a lot of plans put to this place—and I'll get to that later—but what we are debating today is the biggest investment in paid parental leave since the commencement of the Commonwealth scheme back in 2011. This is a $1.2 billion investment, and it's a $1.2 billion investment in families, which is something that we should all be proud of. It's investing in those next generations of Australians who will learn more and be able to spend more time with the parents that we always hope they will grow up to love—that's not a guarantee; that's on the parents to ensure that is how it turns out.

But it is a massive investment because we're doing something really big. We're expanding paid parental leave to 26 weeks, increasing the total number of weeks that parents can access by two weeks each year until we get to 1 July 2026. So, with the support of this chamber and the other place, we'll get up to 22 weeks this year, 24 weeks next year and 26 weeks in 2026. It's something that will also assist employers who can plan for a half year, or, where families choose to stretch it out over one entire 12-month period, it gives that support as well and also gives more flexibility. I think many people who've engaged with the scheme as it currently stands have recognised that there could be more flexibility in the scheme, and we seek to do that.

I think even what is described as a minor technical amendment will make a huge difference to some families, ensuring access for fathers and partners who do not meet the work test requirements only because their child was born prematurely. We've fixed that. It's a small thing, but something that makes a huge difference, particularly for families when they're going through something like an unexpected early arrival, often with children who need extra support and partners who need extra support. Again, I'm pleased that we'll do that for those few families who need that support, in addition to expanding it for the 180,000 families across Australia who rely on this scheme each year.

I also think it's worth noting that this is just one part of the government's plan to help Australians with the cost of living and help families with their household budgets. We've talked a lot in this place today—and it's good to be back in the parliament—about how you support middle Australia, how you support working families and how you make sure that people get a tax cut and get the support they need. If you think about what we're doing here with 26 weeks of extra paid parental leave and if you look at the modelling from when we released the details around the tax cuts for middle Australia, one of the examples that was used in some of the documents put forward was of Matthew and Alice, who have two kids and are working full time. Matthew's a truck driver, and Alice is a primary school teacher. In 2024-25, Matthew will expect to earn $80,000, and Alice will expect to earn $90,000. That family will get a tax cut of $3,608, supporting their household's budgets. Should they choose to have another child, they'll now have access to 22, 24 or 26 weeks of paid parental leave.

We know that many people now very carefully plan their budgets in the years before they choose to have children. If you think about someone who might be thinking about, in 2026, once this scheme is fully up and running, putting away that little bit of extra money to make sure they're ready for the arrival of a new bundle of joy—let's take someone who works at Woolworths. Not only, thanks to this government, have we not seen 200,000 Woolworths workers lose their job, but let's take the example of someone who works at Woolworths on $75,000 a year. That's an annual tax cut of $1,554 under the middle Australia tax plan, combined with the knowledge that, when we get to 2026, should they be fortunate enough to be able to have the child that they wish to have, they'll have 26 weeks of paid parental leave, plus the partner pay. That's the other piece that we continue to expand in this. If I think about what that means when you're trying to make all of those household budgets fit together, it makes a huge difference.

I've got to say: I've had strong support from my electorate for the changes we're making to paid parental leave. Equally, I've had strong support from people writing to me in my electorate, supporting the changes that are being made for a fairer tax cut for working families.

I think that it's also important noting for the House that this plan that we put forward comes at the end of a thorough policy development process. It was the Albanese government that established the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce to prioritise advice to government on issues facing women in the Australian economy. We asked the taskforce to look at the available evidence to see what was needed on the Paid Parental Leave scheme and whether or not it needed to be expanded. This reflects the consultations that that taskforce had to not only expand economic equality in Australia but also expand the support provided by government to families in those precious early months.

I also note that there was a parliamentary consultation on this; the Community Affairs Legislation Committee examined the first tranche of this legislation. Again, there was strong support in the submissions received. If I think about going home to Perth and whether I will be happy on how I voted on this bill that's before us: last financial year, 1,635 parents in the Perth electorate received paid parental leave. It will be good to be able to say to them, if they choose to have another child, that they'll get more support should this pass. It'll be good to be able to say to them that, because we've seen how much of a benefit it has in our local communities all across the country, we're expanding the scheme.

Too often we've seen people come forward with proposals to cut things back, and I can only contrast what we are seeking to do with the last time we saw someone trying to make a big change to paid parental leave policies. I note that we've seen a lot of commentary in the last few days from those in the coalition around what they think of one another. Some in the chamber right now had a starring role, and I congratulate them on that, but it did make me go back and look at the debate. Internally, at the time, there were those who now sit on the opposition benches trying to tear down not just Tony Abbott but his—

See this speech in context