Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Improving paid parental leave is a crucial reform for this country. It's crucial for families, for women and for our economy. The Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill 2024 introduces a budget measure announced by the Treasurer earlier this year with the launch of the government's national strategy for gender equality, Working for Women. This bill introduces superannuation on government-funded paid parental leave for children born or adopted from 1 July 2025. We all know how vital paid parental leave is for the health and wellbeing of children and their parents. This legislation is supported by businesses, unions and economists who understand the importance of this reform for our economy and for gender equality. When gender equality is embedded within policy, Australia is the winner. Better systems of paid parental leave are essential for boosting productivity and participation. The Albanese Labor government understand that providing more choice and support for families—particularly women—is vital to our economy and our country.

The legislation also builds on the reforms may last year by the Albanese Labor government. On 1 July 2023 the Albanese Labor government legislated changes to give more families access paid parental leave, made it more flexible to support parents in their transition back to work, and made it much easier for parents to share care by creating a single payment that both parents could access. This is in addition to the reform we are introducing from 1 July this year, which is the largest expansion to paid parental leave since Labor established it in 2011.

These reforms will make a big difference to the lives of constituents in my electorate of Wills. I was recently contacted by a young family in Hadfield in my electorate. The cost-of-living crisis has really been hurting people in this suburb, and right across my electorate. They told me about their struggles in juggling caring for their newborn son and trying to keep working at the same time. Ali works as a tradie while Nadia, his wife, works as a local small-business owner. Finding time off between those two jobs is incredibly difficult, as both work long hours in jobs that give them very little time off. Balancing this while caring for their newborn son is an immense obstacle to their livelihoods as well as the wellbeing of their family. Thankfully, on occasion Nadia's mother has been able to provide some assistance—we all know what a blessing it is when the grandparents step in. They have been able to provide some assistance so the pair can go to work to support the family. However, this is not always the case. This is not always possible. The result is an increased strain on the family and losing income because one parent has no option but to stay home and look after their young baby. I'm sure many in this place know stories that are similar. The Albanese Labor government recognises this, and that is why the reforms we are putting in place are targeted to ensuring that people in similar positions don't have to risk their livelihoods in order to care for their children. That should never be a choice.

When people are left out of pocket because of the difficulties in finding carers or care for their children and having to take time off work, thanks to these reforms, families like these will be better off. It's going to make a huge difference to Ali and Nadia and many, many other parents. By expanding access so more families can access an extra six weeks of paid leave, the government is also ensuring that it doesn't affect people's retirements. Through this bill, the Albanese Labor government is investing $1.1 billion over the next four years to pay superannuation on government paid parental leave from July next year.

Taking time out of paid work to care for children is a normal part of working life for both parents. Paying super on government paid parental leave will help normalise parental leave as a workplace entitlement and reduce the impact of parental leave on retirement incomes. The data is clear: when women take time out of the workforce to raise children, it impacts their retirement incomes. Women retire with, on average, about 25 per cent less super than men. Paying super on government parental leave is an important investment to help close the super gap and make decisions about balancing care and work easier for women.

The Albanese government has made some historic reforms here. They cement paid parental leave as part of Labor's legacy in government. It was Labor that first introduced paid parental leave, and it's the Albanese Labor government that knows that paid parental leave is an investment in the future of our country. It's an investment in families and an investment in gender equality.

Most of us know how difficult it is in that part of life, when you're having to raise young children while working full time. Both parents are working, trying to make ends meet, possibly trying to save for a home, trying to pay the rent, trying to put food on the table and trying to pay all the bills—the grocery bills as well as the utility bills and the energy bills. It's a difficult time in life. It's also a stressful time in life.

Fundamentally, what we're doing here, with this bill and the bills like it, is providing cost-of-living relief. We talk about that. But, fundamentally, it's also about being in their corner and being there for the people that we represent in a way that actually makes a positive difference to their lives. We know how hard it is, and we know what the challenges are. Many of us have experienced them as well. We know what kind of support they need. Paid parental leave, super on paid parental leave and extending paid parental leave are going to be such a boon for those parents going through that period of life. I think it gives them another aspect to celebrate, which is more time with the baby. That emotional connection is so important for the emotional wellbeing of that family—our mental health and connecting with our kids and our families.

You could say this social policy and these changes are, on one level, economic. Paid parental leave lifts the pressure on cost of living and doesn't force a parent to have to choose between staying at home to look after their child and going to work to put food on the table. That's certainly a big part of it. But the other part of it is deeply emotional, and that is the ability or the capacity and the opportunity for these young people, these parents, to spend that absolutely critical time with a young child, a baby. That's why this policy is so important. It's economic relief and it's cost-of-living relief, but it also goes to that fundamentally important part of life: the experience of being a new parent, bringing up the bub and spending that time with them, without the stress of having to choose—'Oh, gee, I've got to go to work; I can't spend that time, otherwise we won't be able to put food on the table.'

This is the kind of policy that the Albanese Labor government is putting in place through this bill. It makes a difference to people's lives on multiple levels. That's why it is so important for us to support this bill in this place, to make that difference to those young parents going through these challenges and to send the message clearly to all of them that this government stands with them in their corner supporting them.

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