Tony Abbott does have policies and I think we should discuss them :)

[donnashuggy]

Paid parental leave is a great idea but isn't it going to cost tax payers a fortune and favour the highly paid workers?

That is how I read it.

[***super_nova***]

When my children were young, child endowment was income adjusted. I don't know if it still is. 

When my children were young we got 50c a week, but it was the same for everybody; I think later on it was income tested.  Which is fair enough, benefits should be for those who need it. 

existing parental leave:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/parental-leave-pay?utm_id=10

[***super_nova***]

Maybe we can move onto another policy 🙂

There are more Lakeland......promise!

Stop the boats? 

[lakeland27]

check out the labor scheme, it makes more sense and isn't just abbott thinking aloud. he doesn't intend to implement his scheme anyway, its a vote chasing thought bubble.

[donnashuggy]

Stop the boats? 

Maybe wait till we see what happens when Rudd comes back from Indonesia, it will be interesting that is for sure.

[cherples]

... and the TA scheme is paid for by the employer not government.

In any case the one thing that is very unfair is that mothers who were not able to work a certain number of hours before the baby is born miss out altogether.  That means that somebody who has had a difficult pregnancy and was forced to quit work early, and is more likely to be in financial difficulties, does not get anything under either scheme.  Nor do women who are at home with their first child when they get pregnant again.  Or do they get some other help?

yeah, it's a bit like the carbon tax in that way isn't it?

Don't the high end companies have to pay a tax to cover all maternity leave?

Isn't that going to add costs to everything, wipe out somewhere like Wyalla, and destroy the country?

[vampire-teddy]

"

Gays/Lesbians will be offered $50,000 to convert to Catholicism.

      Not true.

                          Just a retired mick being norti.

hey that's not fair I'm already catholic B-)

[monman12]

"Paid parental leave is a great idea but isn't it going to cost tax payers a fortune and favour the highly paid workers?

 That is how I read it."

Read again, apropos funding, and then consider that  the highly paid workers contribute far more towards the personal tax income coffers.

I think "we" should discuss the Henry Tax Review, commissioned by the ALP/Rudd.

Alan Kohler:

"The team of five headed by Treasury Secretary Ken Henry has produced 138 recommendations that make up a compellingly comprehensive vision for Australia’s future tax and transfer system. It is a great document – probably the best tax review ever produced in this country.

Amazingly, the government has almost entirely ignored it. After five months of leaking and spinning since the report was handed to him, the Treasurer has picked up exactly 1.75 of its 138 recommendations, or a bit over 1 per cent."

[lakeland27]

how many would hockey take up ? isn't that fact an indictment of the state of biparisanship more than anything else ? who has eroded the concept of bipartisan politics most in this country ?

[i-need-a-martini]

my 18 year old was asked to to do a survey today by the Liberal Party. They asked her if she was happy with border protection, health care, job creation, support of small business and the cost of living. They also asked her if there was an election tomorrow, who she would vote for

so I think some policies may be on the way   😄

What? Are they going to make them up after they get some survey results back?

[lakeland27]

the other point being of course that an economist only has to look at the fiscal outcomes, the social and other considerations are left to the pollies .