QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Ms PLIBERSEK (Sydney—Minister for Social Services) (15:03): It was so lovely to see the member for Canberra this morning with beautiful little baby Joseph. And we had baby Augie and baby Zoe visiting us this morning as well. We were talking about the fact that, in a week's time, from 1 July, paid parental leave will increase again for Australian families.
It's hard to remember that, before the Rudd and Gillard governments, Australia was one of the very few developed countries in the world that didn't have a paid parental leave scheme. Labor introduced it, Labor built it and its Labor that continues to expand it. From 1 July, so next week, parents with new beautiful little babies will get more time off with those babies.
We're going to that full six months of paid parental leave. They'll receive more money. The actual rate, week on week, is going up, so they'll receive more than $1,000 a week when they're home with their babies.
As well, since last year, those parents on paid parental leave have been getting superannuation so that they won't see that big gender pay gap in super. Of course, more people will also be eligible as we increase the thresholds for eligibility. Thanks to this Labor government under this Prime Minister, families will receive almost $30,000 during that six months of paid leave, more than doubling what they were getting under those opposite.
But those opposite have always been a bit of a mixed picture when it comes to paid parental leave. The former treasurer Joe Hockey called mothers 'double dippers' on Mother's Day. The former prime minister Scott Morrison called them 'rorters'.
The member for Goldstein, of course, said, 'It's not my choice that women have children. It's genetic.' And now we've got— The SPEAKER: The minister will pause. The member for Lindsay on a point of order.
Mrs McIntosh: Of course, it's on relevance. There was no mention of the coalition, and the coalition, in fact, has— The SPEAKER: Resume your seat. No-one heard that end bit, because that wasn't within the standing orders.
Once I say, 'Resume your seat,' no-one hears what you're saying, so that's fine. The person next to you can, but no-one else can. The question was about what the risks are to this policy.
We'll listen carefully and I'll hear what the minister has to say and see what she says. Ms PLIBERSEK: The member for Goldstein doesn't. And now we've got Pauline Hanson and One Nation saying that they want to strip away workers' rights and roll back paid parental leave.
Since 2017, Senator Hanson has been saying she doesn't support paid parental leave. More than a decade ago she said that women get themselves pregnant for the money. More recently, a couple of weeks ago, she said: 'You have the equipment.
That's what you're here for.' Then, at the Press Club, when she was asked twice if she supported it—the ABC checked with her—she said she didn't support it. But now that she's had pushback from Australian families, suddenly she's on board. Well, when someone who has been opposed to paid parental leave for a decade now says, 'Oh, no.
They misunderstood me when I said again and again that I don't support it,' no-one believes it. We know that Australians want paid parental leave. It's only Labor that backs it.
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