Paid Parental Leave Takes From The Poor For The Rich

Thursday 13 Dec 2001

The flawed Paid Parental Leave scheme will put money in the pockets of wealthy and middle-class women at the cost of those on lower incomes, ACT Women's Affairs Spokesman MP Penny Webster said today.

"This legislation discriminates against women who work part-time or are self-employed. A woman working as a self-employed dairy farmer will be paying taxes so her far wealthier vet can take time off to have a baby. A woman who works several jobs cleaning, delivering newspapers and the like, will be paying for wealthy lawyers and professionals to have a break.

"Why should the taxpayer fund someone who is quite able to fund her own maternity leave?

"This nanny state legislation comes between every employee and employer. By setting these rules in stone, we are ruling out the rights of adults to negotiate a unique arrangement that works.

"Women wanted equality. We fought for equality. But now we seem to ask for special privileges because we are women, and we want others to pay for it.

"The decision to have a child is a personal one. Employers are not consulted and have no say in the matter. There is no logical reason why employers should fund pregnancies through their taxes," Mrs Webster said.

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