Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. The same is true of paid parental leave. The scheme is already at 24 weeks for children born or adopted after 1 July last year, and that will expand to 26 weeks from 1 July this year. Four weeks can be taken concurrently, giving families more flexibility to share care. Superannuation is now also being paid on government paid parental leave, directly addressing one of the long-term financial penalties that caring has imposed, especially on women. Our cheaper childcare reforms follow the same principle. They are ensuring around one million families receive more help with childcare costs, and the three-day guarantee means 100,000 families will receive more subsidised early education and care.

These policies reflect how families actually live. They support children, parents and workforce participation. Income splitting does the opposite. It rewards stepping back from paid work, particularly for the second earner in a household, who in Australia is very often a woman. Treasury's tax review stated clearly:

Individual assessment supports workforce participation by secondary earners …

and that a progressive individual tax system is far more efficient than family taxation.

Then there's the cost. The Parliamentary Budget Office costed a similar proposal in March last year—

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