Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Collins interjects and asks why we didn’t do it when we were in government. We did not do it for one simple reason: we had to pay back $193 billion worth of Labor debt. The Australian Labor Party always want to forget the debt. They always want to forget the debt that they incurred for this nation without introducing paid parental leave. They racked up the debt without even introducing paid parental leave. Given Labor’s recklessness, we have proposed a source of funding on which we are consulting. But seeking the support of Australia’s large companies is based not only on their capacity to pay but also on the fact that they will be the major beneficiaries through increased workforce participation.

What is Labor’s response to all this, having been left flat-footed and wallowing in the wake of Mr Abbott’s announcement? It is to bring in Senator Pratt to claim that Elizabeth Broderick does not support our scheme. I suggest that in the time available Senator Pratt ring the commissioner to find out what the actual position is, and she might like to come back into the chamber to make a clarifying statement.

Mr Shorten, the brains trust of the Labor Party, was on Q&A last night. To Mr Peter Dutton, who accidentally said ‘paid maternity leave’ instead of ‘paid parental leave’, Mr Shorten said:

Yeah, but Peter, just Liberals use the language of the women have got to stay—it’s women’s responsibility …

He tried to make a big point of it. Unfortunately, Mr Shorten forgot that Mr McClelland, the former shadow Attorney-General who is now the Attorney-General, when in opposition and announcing Labor policy said:

The Labor Party is committed to introducing paid maternity leave …

‘Paid maternity leave’ were the words Labor used. Mr Shorten’s response to Mr Dutton was intended as a cutting riposte—there is no other way to attack the coalition’s policy but to seize on an accidental slip of the tongue and say that using the phrase ‘paid maternity leave’ is a heinous crime. But what do we find in Labor’s own documentation? They refer to ‘paid maternity leave’. I dare say that Mr McClelland will now be taken out to re-education classes courtesy of Mr Bill Shorten. Really, the Labor Party are scrambling all over the place on this issue. They have been left wallowing in the wake of Mr Abbott’s bold announcement. It is a bold announcement for the 21st century and something that will assist individual families, society at large and also our economy.

I am very proud to be associated with this forward-looking policy. Never have I seen a government and a leader after only 2½ years in government run out of puff and run out of words. This government is all about words and never about action. We have shown, whether on climate change or on parental leave, that we have the answers. We are ready to step up to the plate in the event that the Australian people support us at the next election. We are ready to take over from Labor.