House debates
Tuesday, 28 March 2017
Questions without Notice
Workplace Relations, Paid Parental Leave
2:15 pm
Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister supports cutting the penalty rates of nearly 700,000 Australians by up to $77 every week, and, under this Prime Minister, a nurse in New South Wales would lose eight weeks of paid parental leave, a cut of around $5,300—
Ms Flint interjecting —
Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
No, it's the Fair Work Commission.
Mr Pyne interjecting—
Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The member for Ballarat will resume her seat. Take a seat. Members on my right will cease interjecting—the Leader of the House, the member for Boothby and others. I cannot hear the question. The member for Ballarat will begin her question again.
Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is again to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister supports cutting the penalty rates of nearly 700,000 Australians by up to $77 a week, and, under the Prime Minister, a nurse in New South Wales would lose eight weeks of paid parental leave, a cut of around $5,300. When will the Prime Minister stop fighting other Liberals—
Government members interjecting—
Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The member for Ballarat will resume her seat. I am going to caution those members on my right again. We are going to do it a third time. I am going to hear the question. This time, if there are any interjections, members will be removed.
Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The Prime Minister supports cutting the penalty rates of nearly 700,000 Australians by up to $77 every week, and, under this Prime Minister, a nurse in New South Wales would lose eight weeks of paid parental leave, a cut of around $5,300. When will this Prime Minister stop fighting other Liberals and start fighting for Australian workers?
Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The Minister for Social Services has the call.
Tim Hammond (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
He's not even the health minister.
Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The member for Perth will cease interjecting.
2:16 pm
Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The question was obviously in two parts, and, despite a very clumsy effort to pretend that they were the same thing, they are very different. One was with respect to penalty rates, which, of course, does not affect nurses at all in any way, shape or form.
Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Notwithstanding what members opposite would like to be able to twist and manipulate and lie about here in the House, it has absolutely nothing to do with and has no reach whatsoever with respect to nurses.
Ms Kate Ellis interjecting—
Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
With respect to the portion of the question that dealt with paid parental leave, what the Labor Party presently does not support with respect to paid parental leave—that is to say, the government's proposition and policy with respect to paid parental leave—is near to 60 per cent of all families who receive paid parental leave having a very substantial average gain of $1,300 during the period of paid parental leave. That is what you are opposing. That group of 58 per cent, which is 96,310 recipients, is the lowest income earners inside the paid parental leave system.
Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
We're talking about cuts to nurses.
Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
What the members opposite oppose is a policy position which is two extra weeks and $1,300 extra to 60 per cent of the recipients of paid parental leave, where those recipients of paid parental leave are the lowest income earners in the system. There once was a time where members opposite believed that welfare, that payments, that paid parental leave should focus on those in the system that are the least well off themselves, that earn the lowest incomes themselves. There once was a time when members opposite believed the focus of payments in the government system should be on those who are unable to provide for themselves, and what we say is that the focus should be on those people who earn the least and who receive the least. That has been the focus of our reforms in paid parental leave, those have been the reforms that we have focused on in child care, and they are the reforms that you oppose: reforms that benefit those people at the lower end of the system.
Ms Burney interjecting—