Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in favour of this legislation, the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill 2024, which commits to superannuation being paid on government paid parental leave for children born or adopted after July 2025. I also commend the very sensible suggestions put forward by the member for Deakin, which provide those eligible women with choice as to how they take that financial contribution. I have been advocating for the government to commit to including superannuation on paid parental leave payments for the two-and-a-bit years that I have been privileged to be in this place. I am very glad that the government has now so committed.

Having a baby, becoming a mum, is one of the most wonderful and precious experiences for women. However, it has traditionally come at a huge financial and professional cost. That financial cost can be in the short term and also in the longer term where superannuation has not been paid on parental leave payments.

New babies are very lovable, but, especially for first-time parents, they can also be extremely stressful, and alleviating financial strain will remove some of that stress. In this place, we need to do as much as we can to improve the lives of Australian families and to make it far easier for Australians to have children. Paid parental leave, in that vein, changes lives.

I was not able to get parental leave, back when Michael and I had our boys in 2006. I was very glad when the Paid Parental Leave scheme did come in in 2011, because, while we may all have differences in this place—we have come here from different backgrounds and with different ideologies and philosophies—and, as much as I disagree with some on the other side, I think that everybody I have met in this place is here genuinely to see that those who come after us have a better time of it than we did. This is certainly one area on which I am very committed, because numerous studies have shown that Paid Parental Leave schemes provide invaluable assistance to Australians—Australian parents, Australian workers, Australian employers and the Australian economy. Without doubt, paid parental leave is one of the most important economic measures that governments can adopt to support women, including Australian women. And when Australian women do well, their families do well, their communities do well, our economy does well and our country does well.

Parental leave is currently the only income upon which superannuation is not paid. This legislation will correct that anomaly. While this will make life a little bit easier for Australian mums, particularly first-time mums, it is also important to note that this will provide invaluable assistance to dads as well, to enable them to spend some time, particularly in those early months, bonding with their new baby.

Women should not be financially punished in retirement with lower superannuation because of their intrinsic role in childbearing. Despite many recent paid parental leave reforms, women primarily remain in the caregiving role and are faced with economic insecurity due to taking time away from the workforce to care for children. Women with children experience an average 55 per cent drop in their earnings in the first five years of being a parent. Having been a lawyer—I'm now a 'recovering lawyer', having been elected to this place—I know that many of my professional friends did have to make difficult choices as to whether, for example, they had additional children or whether they had a child in the first place. Often, they felt compelled to return to work to ensure their career progression and often at a time when they would have preferred to have had the choice to stay home looking after their children for a little bit longer.

It is estimated approximately 180,000 families will benefit from the changes to this legislation when the Paid Parental Leave scheme reaches 26 weeks in 2026. The legislation also has support from key stakeholders. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has recognised that addressing the superannuation gap is an important step in bridging the financial retirement gap many women face.

It is important to note as well that this does only apply to women employed by the Commonwealth government, and, in that regard, the government sector has lagged behind the private sector. It's currently estimated that about 86 per cent of employers offer an employer funded paid parental leave scheme on the additional PPL. So employers overall in our country are to be congratulated for supporting their employees and Australian women and Australian families.

I, and the coalition, support the economic security of women and families. However, at a time when the cost of living is so high, the member for Deakin has moved an amendment so that Australian parents who are eligible to get government funded paid parental leave will also have a choice as to how the proposed superannuation contribution is to be received. I'll just detail briefly the nature of that amendment. It is proposed that Australians entitled to this leave will have the choice to take that superannuation in one of three ways. It can be taken as a superannuation contribution and paid into their superannuation fund, or it can be taken as an additional two weeks of government funded parental leave, or it can be a one-off payment equal to the total value of the superannuation entitlement. In this way, women will have a choice as to how that financial contribution is paid.

This reflects the overall philosophy of the coalition towards superannuation and towards people having the ability to have choice around the superannuation. Superannuation does not belong to the government. It does not belong to the superannuation funds. It belongs to the Australian who has earnt that superannuation. Therefore, they should have some choice as to how that superannuation is to be used.

One of the major crises addressing our country at the moment is housing affordability, and that is why the coalition has proposed the very sensible policy that an element of superannuation can be withdrawn to enable first home buyers and also women who may need to start their lives again after a divorce or some other major life impact can utilise superannuation to purchase a home. We've put very careful caveats around the use of that to ensure that superannuation balances will be replenished. I think that's a very sensible alternative.

I've been particularly interested to hear some of the comments from those on the other side in relation to the coalition's proposal, particularly the member for Canberra, who spoke passionately about people on low incomes—that they should really be compelled so that they in no way have any choice over the way this superannuation contribution is to be paid to them. She spoke about people on low incomes struggling to pay rent and to pay for food. I would say that is precisely the reason why the coalition have proposed this amendment. It may be now, at this time in a woman's life, that she may need the extra leave or she may need that extra financial payment, which will mean a lot more to her in the short term than invested in a super fund down the track. That does not mean that we do not support the underlying philosophy of superannuation and of ensuring that Australians can, as far as possible, be self-funded into retirement. What it does do is reflect the coalition's underlying philosophy that Australian adults are more than capable of making their own choices. I would say to the member for Canberra that Australian women on low incomes are very capable of making a choice around whether or not they want to put the money into superannuation, whether they need the leave, or whether they need the financial contribution now.

For all of these reasons, I commend the philosophy and the underlying principles of this legislation. Superannuation should be paid on paid parental leave. I commend the fact that the government is now stepping up in line with a lot of the private sector employers; however, I do also commenced the very sensible amendments that have been put forward by the member for Deakin, in light of the fact that this will provide recipients with choice and flexibility. Choice and flexibility have been the two keywords we have heard over and over again from those on the other side about the importance of paid parental leave. This amendment will provide choice and flexibility to Australian women as to how the utilise that payment. For all those reasons, I do commend the bill with the amendment to the House.

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