ACT Stands Alone Against Expansion of Entitlement Culture

Tonight the ACT Party stood alone in Parliament voting 1-119 against The Government's Paid Parental Leave and Employment Protection amendment Bill. The Bill would raise the entitlement to Paid Parental Leave to 26 weeks by 2020.

"If there's one thing New Zealand taxpayers are not short of, it is entitlements to fund. This entitlement doesn't have any principled basis whatsoever. There is no reason why people can't anticipate and provide for having children, if only they were able to keep their own money as taxpayers."

"In 2015 I negotiated for the previous Government to give longer Paid Parental Leave to parents of babies born prematurely. That's what taxpayer money should be for, for genuinely unexpected circumstances, not vote buying."

"This Bill has nothing to do with unexpected circumstances. The real motivation is purely political, taking money from one group to get votes from another, it is going to be a long three years for the taxpayer."

"Most disappointing was the National Party's support for the bill. On day one, National have abandonded the taxpayer. National voted for a bill that increases costs to taxpayers without knowing what those costs are."

"The Regulatory Impact Statement does not tell us what the cost to taxpayers will be. It seems taxpayer money has so little value to the new Government that they don't even feel the need to count it.

ENDS

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