Axe baby bonus for education spending, says Labor backbencher Kelvin Thomson

A LABOR backbencher today called for the abolition of the baby bonus to curb the birth rate and free up money for education spending.

Kelvin Thomson

A LABOR backbencher today called for the abolition of the baby bonus to curb the birth rate and free up money for education spending.

The Gillard government slashed the baby bonus from $5000 to $3000 for second and subsequent children this week, saving $451 million over three years.

But Victorian MP Kelvin Thomson said the government should have gone further.

"It was originally introduced on the claim that we need more people. I don't subscribe to that," he told The Australian.

"Births every year are twice the number of deaths, and furthermore, we have a massive migration program that is projected to bring in 200,000 people this year. That's 4000 more arrivals than departures each week."

Mr Thomson said the money allocated to the baby bonus should be used to cut the cost of tertiary education.

"I think there are better ways of spending public money," he said.

Meanwhile, opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey was attacked in an article posted on conservative website Menzies House over his comments comparing the baby bonus cut with China's one child policy.

The article, by Menzies House editor Tim Andrews said the cut to the baby bonus was "one of the few good things to come out of (Monday's) mini-budget", which he described as an "ineffective and wasteful welfare policy".

"So it was disappointing that the Coalition decided to engage in political point-scoring by deciding to oppose it," he said

"But what is more than disappointing and is, quite frankly, outrageous, is that Joe Hockey came out today to compare this with China's one child policy. Because apparently in Joe Hockey's universe reducing welfare is identical to forced abortions."

Mr Hockey told ABC television on Monday that the government wanted to penalise anyone that had a second or third child.

"I think that worked quite well in China, didn't it?" he said.

Menzies House was started with the help of seed funding from Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi, who was recently forced to resign as Tony Abbott's parliamentary secretary after likening gay marriage to bestiality.