Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks so much to the member for Holt for her question. I know she is a huge supporter of paid parental leave, and it was lovely to see Baby Ilija yesterday. He is growing up so quickly.

Before the Rudd and Gillard governments, Australia was one of the very few developed nations that had no paid parental leave scheme. Labor started paid parental leave, and we are expanding it. And from 1 July this year, we will expand it again. Families will get the benefits of a full six months of paid parental leave.

Under this Prime Minister, people who are receiving paid parental leave are already $12,000 better off—just since 2022. We have almost doubled paid parental leave since coming to government, and 180,000 families are benefiting from our changes. Our changes mean: more time—the full six months; more money; higher payments, and also superannuation, on paid parental leave; more flexibility, so more time for mum and dad to take off together; and more people eligible as well. And, of course, when they go back to work, mums and dads get cheaper child care as well, saving thousands.

Of course those opposite have not been clear on paid parental leave—not ever. It was in fact former Treasurer Joe Hockey who called mothers 'double dippers'—on Mother's Day! It was former prime minister Scott Morrison who called them 'rorters'. And when those opposite tried to introduce their own scheme, the member for Mitchell called it 'unaffordable and unsustainable and an albatross around the neck of the party'. And the member for Goldstein said to me: 'It's a very bad scheme. It's not my choice that women have children; it's genetic.'

They have always been a mess on paid parental leave. And if we needed a reminder of that, we had a tragic one during the debate on Baby Priya's bill when we had the member for Canning, the member for Bowman and the member for Barker hijack the debate on Baby Priya's bill. While the Liberals and the Nationals have always been ambivalent about paid parental leave, we are absolutely clear on this side: we support new families; we support new parents; we support this investment. We are delivering. They are in disarray.

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