After declaring that paid parental leave (PPL) would only happen
over the Howard government’s 'dead body', Tony Abbott is now determined to
introduce one that is meeting with opposition from many quarters.
Highly
regarded economist, Saul Eslake, maintains that Abbotts scheme is unlikely to increase
productivity or workforce participation. Big business representatives such as
Business Council Australia and the big four banks are also hostile, the latter
even indicating they will pass on the annual costs of $80-$115 million each to
customers and shareholders.
Ged Kearney,
president of the ACTU, questions its fairness as well as Abbott’s motives for
delaying it until 2015. Even members of the Coalition have indicated they might well
cross the floor when the legislation is introduced.
Research has also exploded the
myth of it being a 'catch-up exercise' with OECD countries. The UK and New Zealand do not even have
schemes comparable to Labor’s present arrangement and the US does not offer any
paid parental leave.
Abbott’s PPL is a mega-version of Peter Costello’s middle
class handouts which were an important factor that contributed to the onset of
Australia’s structural deficit in 2006-7. Given its $5.5 billion cost per year,
one has to wonder what happened to Abbott’s slogan of “no new taxes”.
Frank Carroll
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