Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

Goodness forbid that the Labor Party would ever say to women in Australia, 'We think it is absolutely fantastic that you are successful.' Did you know that less than one per cent of women in Australia earn in excess of $100,000? Instead of saying to those women, 'Well done; we celebrate your success, because we want you to be better,' what does the Labor Party say? They say: 'Quite frankly, that's not good enough. If you take time off work we will not give you a replacement wage. Because we're from the left of society, we believe that all you are entitled to is a welfare benefit.' And that is what they give them.

We on this side of the parliament, however, celebrate the economic success of women. If there is a woman in Australia who gets an improvement in her job, if there is a woman in Australia who gets an increase in salary, we say that is absolutely fantastic, because that is a step in the right direction towards ensuring the financial security of women. That is why our paid parental leave scheme will celebrate the economic success of those women and provide them with 26 weeks at their replacement wage up to $150,000.

Despite the Gillard government's best efforts to talk up the benefits of Labor's paid parental leave scheme, the truth is that the coalition is the party in Australia that celebrates the economic success of women, and that is why it is our paid parental leave scheme that is the better scheme for Australia.