Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

When it comes to paid parental leave, as on so many other issues, Labor is all talk and no action. We commend the Greens and Senator Hanson-Young, who, along with former Democrat senator Natasha Stott Despoja, have had a long commitment to paid parental leave. If the Rudd Labor government were serious about paid parental leave, we would have seen legislation by now. It is nearly 12 months since they announced their mickey mouse scheme at the last budget. This is yet another example that this government is all talk and no action.

Of course, last week we had a conga line of failed Labor ministers attacking us for blocking legislation and attacking the Senate for obstructing the government from getting its many broken promises and other policy failures through this chamber. You know what, Mr Acting Deputy President Barnett: among them was Minister Jenny Macklin. She was accusing us of blocking Labor’s paid parental leave scheme, except that there is no legislation. Minister, where is the legislation that we are allegedly blocking? If the Rudd government were serious about paid parental leave, they would join us and support the coalition’s proposal for a serious paid parental leave scheme. The coalition’s plan for a national paid parental leave scheme would be good for women, good for families and children and good for our economy moving forward. Our plan for a paid parental leave scheme would help us lift our employment participation rates and it would help us lift our productivity moving forward. These are some of the issues that the Prime Minister himself has pointed out as having been identified in the Intergenerational report.

Tony Abbott’s plan, the coalition’s plan, for a national paid parental leave scheme provides for six months leave at the actual salary level up to a certain threshold. As is pointed out in the motion put forward by Senator Hanson-Young, the World Health Organisation’s recommended minimum for paid parental leave schemes is six months, because that is the recommended minimum period for exclusive breastfeeding and it gives parents and babies time to bond. The coalition’s scheme, put forward by Tony Abbott, is very clearly a superior scheme. Labor’s scheme is a mickey mouse scheme—the sort of scheme that you put forward if you want to tick a box, like a bureaucrat does, and say, ‘We’ve delivered. We promised we would deliver,’ but you do not really. It is a pretend scheme. It is the sort of scheme that you put forward so that you can go out into the community and say, ‘We promised you a paid parental leave scheme. Here it is,’ even though it does not actually properly address the needs of families, children and our economy moving forward.

Have there been any comments supporting our scheme? Have there been any comments out there in the community? I will read just a few: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10—I have about 10 for you.