Call for ‘minimum’ 26 weeks’ paid parental leave

Labor is staring down a concerted push from unions and the crossbench for paid parental leave to be extended to at least 26 weeks.

Independent MP Kylea Tink. Picture: Julian Andrews

Labor is staring down a concerted push from unions and the crossbench for paid parental leave to be extended to at least 26 weeks, with the Coalition claiming the government’s “out of hand” rejection of the idea proved the jobs summit was “a facade”.

Member for North Sydney Kylea Tink said she would like to see 52 weeks of paid leave spread across two parents, rather than the 26 being called for by fellow independents.

“I think the minimum is the 26 weeks being advocated for because that does cover the child’s first six months. Ideally, I’d like to see 52 weeks spread across two parents rather than just 26,” she said. “What happens now is a conversation about where the revenue comes from.”

Ms Tink raised a super profits tax for fossil fuel companies as one way to raise money for paid parental leave.

The debate comes as Labor also faces pressure to bring forward its childcare reforms from July to January to ease cost-of-living pressures, which it has resisted on the grounds it would be too “expensive” at an estimated one-off cost of about $900m.

Anthony Albanese on Monday appeared sympathetic to the call for commonwealth-funded paid parental leave to be increased from 18 weeks, but warned the cost was again too high, with the Grattan Institute estimating that expanding it to 26 weeks would cost $600m a year.

“Of course these measures are ones that are positive for increasing women’s workforce participation,” the Prime Minister told ABC. “(But) we have something called a budget. And if you in the budget did everything that you wanted to do … it would be about the enormous increase in our expenditure.”

Mr Albanese said the government wouldn’t “be doing everything that we would like to do” in the October budget, but pointed to the fact there was “another budget next May”.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the government was “considering the specific enhancements to be made to the paid parental leave scheme to ensure it is working in the best way for families”.

But Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley slammed Labor’s refusal to commit at the jobs summit to putting the extra money into parental leave and childcare, despite many attendants calling for it.