Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Sterle should be very embarrassed about the eastern-states-centric performance of this very eastern-states-centric government. The reality is that we would much rather introduce this scheme and fund it out of a surplus, but this reckless-spending government has put the budget in serious deficit. It has lumbered future generations of Australians with serious debt. The responsible way for us to introduce Tony Abbott’s and the coalition’s responsible plan for a paid parental scheme is through a temporary levy on big business. As I said in the introduction, this is an important proposal. It is a positive proposal which would be good news for women, good news for families and children and good news for the Australian economy moving forward.