Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. First the Prime Minister told Australians that paid parental leave would be introduced 'over his dead body'. Then the Prime Minister told Australians that he was committed to his 'gold-plated' parental leave scheme. Now the Prime Minister's cuts to paid parental leave will leave 80,000 mums worse off every year. So when it comes to paid parental leave, Prime Minister, Australians just want to know: what do you actually believe today?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question because, as I think all members of this House would well know, I am very committed to paid parental leave. I have actually got quite a few political bruises as a result of my commitment to paid parental leave. But the important thing is to do what is right for these times, and something that might have been right under different circumstances is not necessarily right in these circumstances.

This budget will be measured, responsible and, above all else, fair. Fairness will be the hallmark of this budget. Maybe it would be okay—under different circumstances, for argument's sake—for Commonwealth public servants to claim a generous paid parental leave from their employer, the Commonwealth, and then in addition to claim paid parental leave as part of the general population scheme. Maybe, under different circumstances, that might be fair. But at a time of fiscal stringency—a time when this government is still dealing with the $123 billion worth of cumulative deficits and the $667 billion of peak debt that we inherited from members opposite—I am afraid it would not be fair. It would not be fair under these circumstances, and that is why we will end this double dipping. We will not allow Commonwealth or state public servants to claim generous paid parental leave from their employers and then go to the Commonwealth taxpayer and claim more. Under these circumstances it simply is not fair. It is passing strange that the Leader of the Opposition should want the double dip to continue. If he wants the double dip to continue, he is going to have to tell us how he is going to pay for it. Where is the money coming from? That is the point. If he wants to see a double-dip paid parental leave scheme, he has to tell us exactly how he is going to pay for it.