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Monday, August 19, 2013 12:56:44 AM
Tony Abbott's paid parental leave scheme to begin July 2015
Jacqueline Maley Parliamentary Sketch Writer for the Sydney Morning Herald
Date August 19, 2013 - 10:54AM
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott meets with 4-month-old Sybil Taylor and Charlotte
Taylor during his visit to a cafe in Malvern, Victoria. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Coalition angles for baby bump in polls
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-angles-for-baby-bump-in-polls-20130818-2s4i6.html
Mothers who give birth after July 2015 will get six months' leave on full pay under Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's paid parental leave scheme, which will cost $5.5 billion a year including superannuation.
But Labor has attacked the policy as unfair, saying it advantages rich women and will be paid for by ''savage cuts'' the Coalition is keeping secret.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd walks with adviser Patrick Gorman during an early morning
walk in Adelaide. Photo: Andrew Meares View all 14 photos
The policy, which the Coalition said will make the average working mother better off by $21,000, was released on Sunday as Mr Abbott, who used to be strongly averse to paid parental leave, met Melbourne mothers in a cafe.
''I am a convert. That's why I have a convert's zeal on this,'' he said.
His policy grants working mothers six months' leave on full pay, capped at a salary of $150,000. If the father is the baby's primary carer, he will receive the payment at the mother's salary. The scheme also applies to same-sex couples.
The net cost will be $6.1 billion and about half of that will come from the 1.5 per cent levy on taxable incomes over $5 million of the 3000 largest Australian companies. This will be offset by a cut in company tax, from 30¢ in the dollar to 28.5¢.
The rest of the money will come from ''associated reductions in other outlays'', according to the Coalition's policy document. This is understood to include income tax receipts on the leave payments, savings on family tax benefit payments and not having public servants ''double-dip'' with state-based parental leave schemes.
Mr Abbott said the business levy would not be permanent but he would not commit to an end date for it. Unlike the government's more modest scheme - which offers 18 weeks' pay at the minimum wage - superannuation will be paid during the Coalition's maternity leave plan.
According to figures Mr Abbott said had been fully costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, this will amount to $50,000 extra in superannuation earnings by age 65 for any woman on the average wage.
Finance Minister Senator Penny Wong said the Coalition would make ''savage cuts'' to the budget to fund the scheme, which Labor says is elitist and unfair.
Senator Wong said the "associated reductions in other outlays" cited by the Coalition was ''code for cuts to services such as education, health and infrastructure spending''. But a Coalition spokesman said there were ''no savings or cuts from any other portfolio programs to pay for this policy''.
Senator Wong also criticised the ''pea and thimble trick'' of the Coalition's proposed business levy, which she said would be ''more than cancelled out'' by the Coalition's company tax cut.
Many within Coalition ranks are uncomfortable with the scheme, particularly Nationals MPs, whose constituencies tend to comprise more stay-at-home mothers than wage-earning mothers.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Labor's paid parental leave scheme had benefited more than 300,000 Australian families.
Poll: Which paid parental leave scheme do you prefer?
Labor's scheme 61% The Coalition's plan 39% Total votes: 6393. Poll closed 18 Aug, 2013
Vote now: Labor's negative ad campaign
Disclaimer:
These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinion only of visitors who have chosen to participate.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/tony-abbotts-paid-parental-leave-scheme-to-begin-july-2015-20130818-2s4jc.html
=====
Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme. Why aren’t feminists getting on board?
http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/why-are-feminists-opposing-abbotts-paid-parental-leave-scheme/
Jacqueline Maley Parliamentary Sketch Writer for the Sydney Morning Herald
Date August 19, 2013 - 10:54AM
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott meets with 4-month-old Sybil Taylor and Charlotte
Taylor during his visit to a cafe in Malvern, Victoria. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Coalition angles for baby bump in polls
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-angles-for-baby-bump-in-polls-20130818-2s4i6.html
Mothers who give birth after July 2015 will get six months' leave on full pay under Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's paid parental leave scheme, which will cost $5.5 billion a year including superannuation.
But Labor has attacked the policy as unfair, saying it advantages rich women and will be paid for by ''savage cuts'' the Coalition is keeping secret.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd walks with adviser Patrick Gorman during an early morning
walk in Adelaide. Photo: Andrew Meares View all 14 photos
The policy, which the Coalition said will make the average working mother better off by $21,000, was released on Sunday as Mr Abbott, who used to be strongly averse to paid parental leave, met Melbourne mothers in a cafe.
''I am a convert. That's why I have a convert's zeal on this,'' he said.
His policy grants working mothers six months' leave on full pay, capped at a salary of $150,000. If the father is the baby's primary carer, he will receive the payment at the mother's salary. The scheme also applies to same-sex couples.
The net cost will be $6.1 billion and about half of that will come from the 1.5 per cent levy on taxable incomes over $5 million of the 3000 largest Australian companies. This will be offset by a cut in company tax, from 30¢ in the dollar to 28.5¢.
The rest of the money will come from ''associated reductions in other outlays'', according to the Coalition's policy document. This is understood to include income tax receipts on the leave payments, savings on family tax benefit payments and not having public servants ''double-dip'' with state-based parental leave schemes.
Mr Abbott said the business levy would not be permanent but he would not commit to an end date for it. Unlike the government's more modest scheme - which offers 18 weeks' pay at the minimum wage - superannuation will be paid during the Coalition's maternity leave plan.
According to figures Mr Abbott said had been fully costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, this will amount to $50,000 extra in superannuation earnings by age 65 for any woman on the average wage.
Finance Minister Senator Penny Wong said the Coalition would make ''savage cuts'' to the budget to fund the scheme, which Labor says is elitist and unfair.
Senator Wong said the "associated reductions in other outlays" cited by the Coalition was ''code for cuts to services such as education, health and infrastructure spending''. But a Coalition spokesman said there were ''no savings or cuts from any other portfolio programs to pay for this policy''.
Senator Wong also criticised the ''pea and thimble trick'' of the Coalition's proposed business levy, which she said would be ''more than cancelled out'' by the Coalition's company tax cut.
Many within Coalition ranks are uncomfortable with the scheme, particularly Nationals MPs, whose constituencies tend to comprise more stay-at-home mothers than wage-earning mothers.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Labor's paid parental leave scheme had benefited more than 300,000 Australian families.
Poll: Which paid parental leave scheme do you prefer?
Labor's scheme 61% The Coalition's plan 39% Total votes: 6393. Poll closed 18 Aug, 2013
Vote now: Labor's negative ad campaign
Disclaimer:
These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinion only of visitors who have chosen to participate.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/tony-abbotts-paid-parental-leave-scheme-to-begin-july-2015-20130818-2s4jc.html
=====
Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme. Why aren’t feminists getting on board?
http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/why-are-feminists-opposing-abbotts-paid-parental-leave-scheme/
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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