Love him or hate him, Tony Abbott sure knows how to get the nation talking: debate over his plan to offer six months’ paid parental leave at the expense of big business has got even more chins wagging today — from the business community, to parents’ groups, to his own Coalition colleagues.
Yesterday, Crikey‘s Bernard Keane weighed in with his view:
Slugging medium and large businesses to the tune of $2.7b a year dwarfs the cost of the CPRS on business … It’s not just bigger, but bigger by several orders of magnitude.
On the blogs, Croakey‘s Melissa Sweet was surprised to find herself almost defending Abbott:
Leaving the politics of it all aside for a moment, isn’t there anyone pleased to see this issue at least being put on the political agenda?
Expect plenty more commentary from Crikey commentators coming today. In the meantime, here’s what the rest of the punters have to say:
The Australian
Editorial: Shock, horror? Not quite
Mr Abbott’s scheme is poor policy … But compared to squandering billions of dollars duplicating school halls and gymnasiums, propping up the car industry or wasting $2.45bn on ceiling batts it hardly rates on the scale of irresponsibility.
Peter van Onselen: Tony Abbott’s baby redraws battlelines
It may be that the policy is the right thing to do for women in the workforce, as well as for social progress in this country, but the funding mechanism is problematic.
Peter Van Onselen: Taxing times for big business as Abbott strives to be lesser of two evils
This scheme would be one of the biggest advances in women’s rights in this country’s history.
Jessica Brown: Woo mums and big end of town
A plan for reform, rather than an election year handout, could be the policy that Abbott needs to win support from the big end of town and young mums.
Sydney Morning Herald
Peter Hartcher: Abbott betrays a core Liberal philosophy
If Abbott takes this policy to the election, he will have made the Liberals the party of first recourse to taxing the wealth-generators and job creators of Australia
Lenore Taylor: A nappy change designed to wedge Labor and woo women
[Abbott] thinks he can win. And he’ll do whatever it takes. No matter if it’s efficient, or if it will work.
Julia Perry: We must all pay for parental leave
Abbott’s plan resembles a proposal I – and 36 other submissions – put to the Productivity Commission in 2008.
The Age
Michelle Grattan: Abbott makes same mistake Turnbull made
The wonder is that there wasn’t more agitation within the opposition about this $2.7 billion impost.
Shaun Carney: At a loss over Abbott
Abbott’s parental scheme does not look like it could ever be implemented. Yesterday, the cracks started to appear.
Leslie Cannold: Baby leave is not a women’s issue
By failing to talk about childcare and paid leave as something of critical importance to children, men and women, both political parties doom us to more of the same work/life crunch.
National Times
Tony Wright, The Goanna: Upside-down, inside-out parliament wonderland
Lewis Carroll could hardly have dreamt up the sort of marvellous hallucination that is consuming the federal parliament.
Herald Sun
Andrew Bolt: Don’t slug business for maternity leave blueprint
… 13 reasons Abbott’s plan is so dumb. But, sigh, who’s still counting?
Daily Telegraph
Malcolm Farr: Is Abbott a Maoist or a Margaret?
Tony Abbott is not the traditional traditionalist he might have once presented to be. He is a genuine radical who re-draws the “conservative’’ boundarises when he wishes.
Elsewhere…
Business Spectator, Alan Kohler: The mother of all policy blunders?
Tony Abbott’s parental leave policy is a dismal confirmation that there is no-one sensible in the coalition’s leadership group.
Parton Words, Mark Parton: Tony and the great game
On Monday, Tony Abbot gained possession inside 50 but with his back to the goal.
North Coast Voices: Abbott intends to institutionalize economic disadvantage for newborns?
Bottom line – Abbott intends the infants of ordinary working class women to receive less than their more affluent cousins.
Andrew Norton: Familism meets feminism
Given how families do in fact operate today, women’s workforce participation is a fact that simply has to be accommodated.
So who has it right? Is the Mad Monk’s plan good policy? Is it even workable? Or should Abbott simply be applauded for putting parental leave back on the national agenda, regardless?
What’s more interesting is how political parties now operate more like marketing firms rather than candidates for government… I hate this policy purely because it’s 99% dirty blatant populism.
I’m sure they’d find the money somewhere. However, there is a serious disconnect in our minds between government spending and the fact they’re actually spending [i]our[/i] money.
Why did it need to be put on the agenda when a scheme is already about to be implemented?
This is a political stunt, that very successfully moved the electorate and press away from health (where the coalition could make no ground at all).
I very much agree with North Coast Voices — its inequity is breathtaking.
And has anyone asked big business how they feel about paying for not only their own employees, but also all those women working in the public sector? From what Abbott said, his plan will supercede all previous schemes. Or does the taxpayer somehow pay as well?
How much were unemployed, studying or stay-at-home parents going to be entitled to under this scheme again? Or parents with part-time jobs that fit around care of other children?
Sounds like a bit of a Reverse Robin Hood to me. Balanced and Fair, just like Fox News.
It is clear from Tony Abbott’s recent press conference that the opposition is attempting to govern from opposition.
They are blocking govt measures and seeking to introduce their own legislation instead. I am sure the opposition somehow think that the govt. will get angry enough to have a double dissolution in the misguided notion that they have the govt on the back foot and will lose an election if held now.
Hubris!
I have seen little coverage of John Howard breaking his silence yesterday to stand behind this Tony Abbott and support this policy, and commend him on his every action to date.
Howard was most definitely annointing Abbott as his one true heir.