Column - Sunday Mail - 21 March 2010

I MIGHT be one of the few people in Parliament to be happy about US President Obama's decision to reschedule his address to the Australian Parliament from next week to June.

He was meant to come on Friday and I was torn because it is my seven-year-old son's T-ball team presentation night. I spend a lot of time away from home during parliamentary sitting weeks in Canberra and it is often moments like sports presentations and music recitals you miss out on.

Now I'm not looking for sympathy because I love my job, and technology has made being away from the family more bearable. For example, I can now ”Skype” once a day with my wife and children when I'm in Canberra which is a fantastic way to catch up on the latest news. And like every other busy family we try and make the most of weekends and holidays.

Finding family time is hard for all parents and this isn't going to change anytime soon – we're constantly being told Australians are some of the hardest working people and work some of the longest hours on the planet.

Ensuring parents, especially new parents, have the crucial time with their children is not just a benefit for them; it is a benefit for all of society. Studies show that parents remain the greatest influence on their children, especially in the important formative years, and in the first few months of a child's life there are many benefits to having a parent home as a full-time carer.

I believe it is therefore incumbent on political parties to have policies to give parents a chance to care for a new baby. In the long run this will benefit the entire community. I also think it is critical that they receive a comparable income to what they have been earning in the workforce so they don't feel like they can't take the time off without suffering financially.

Only one political party is offering this and some might be surprised to learn that it is not the Labor Party. Labor's paid parental leave policy is for 18 weeks and is set at the minimum wage.

We think you need longer with your new baby and that you need to be paid the income you were earning when working. If elected this year the Liberal Party will implement a parental leave program giving the carer six months' paid leave. The Productivity Commission's own report recommended at least six to nine months' leave would be the most beneficial.

UNDER our policy if you earn less than $150,000 a year you will be entitled to be paid the salary you received before having the baby and still get superannuation contributions over that period. It is far and away a superior policy to the Government scheme.

While Labor's parental leave policy is paid for entirely by the taxpayer, we are proposing a levy of 1.7 per cent on big business, the definition being those businesses with a company income of more than $5 million a year. This will impact on only 3200 businesses out of the 750,000 in Australia. There will also be a potential offset saving for those large businesses as many already have a parental leave scheme in place and this change could actually save them money.

At the same time, small business will greatly benefit. This scheme will mean that a small business operator and their hard-working employees will enjoy the benefits of parental leave, similar to that already offered by a number of large businesses and the public service.

We have been waiting 10 months since they announced it for the Labor Party to introduce their scheme into the Parliament, and we may be waiting for some time to come. The backlog of legislation is enormous and Parliament does not reconvene until the Federal Budget is handed down in May this year. The Government's reputation for all talk and no action is growing as their promise to introduce this important support measure for families languishes in Kevin Rudd's ”to do” pile.

But come the election, Australians again will have a clear choice on another important issue, just like they will have a clear choice on a genuine federal takeover of the Murray and proper independent management of the river.

If Australia is going to have a paid parental leave policy, why wouldn't we ensure it was the very best one, benefiting families by maintaining income support and superannuation contributions while taking care of small business?