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Policy bombshell has backfired

By Graham Young - posted Friday, 20 August 2010


One is the sheer size of the opposition's promise.

It is so large voters believe it would be sacrificed if an Abbott government needed to make budget cuts, particularly as they don't believe the commitment is heartfelt in the first place.

In contrast, they see the ALP plan as a good first step and one that is pitched at a level commensurate with other welfare payments and is affordable.

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If you view parental leave as part of the social security system, then the idea that wealthy families should get greater assistance appears wrong.

It doesn't occur in any other area, including the age pension, unemployment benefits or family tax benefits, where it could be tied to a previous income but isn't.

This leads one respondent to suggest it would be fairer to implement a HECS-style "breeder pays" parental leave scheme.

It leads other respondents to see the scheme as inequitable and opine, in echoes of the school funding debate, that the Liberals always look after the better-off.

Then there is the fact most voters won't receive a direct benefit from either scheme, leading 50 per cent of them to be neutral, or to believe money from either would be better spent in other areas.

This is particularly true of Liberal voters, who frequently express the view that couples raising children should be prepared to foot the bill because "we never got it [parental leave]".

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Liberal voters are also concerned Abbott's scheme will be paid for by an impost on businesses: effectively a tax increase, which will feed through into the price of consumer goods, so we all end up footing the bill.

Abbott had three strengths going into this campaign. One was his authenticity, another the government's managerial failings and the last the good economic record of the Liberal Party.

In this policy he has sacrificed all three.

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First published in The Australian on August 19, 2010.



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About the Author

Graham Young is chief editor and the publisher of On Line Opinion. He is executive director of the Australian Institute for Progress, an Australian think tank based in Brisbane, and the publisher of On Line Opinion.

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