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Paid Parental Leave in Australia
Dear friend,
To date, this Government has delayed the introduction of a paid parental leave scheme - waiting for the Productivity Commission to report, while making grand promises to mums and dads around Australia.
The Productivity Commission has now reported and the evidence is in: government-funded paid parental leave is good for babies, good for parents and good for the economy. And at $450 million a year, it's a sound investment.
We've just found out though that a decision on whether to include paid parental leave in this year's budget sits on a knife's edge.
Click below to sign the petition telling the Government this delivery is overdue - and we'll take it directly to Canberra next week as the Budget decisions are being made:
www.getup.org.au/campaign/
The Government's excuse for not introducing it - the global financial crisis - simply doesn't stand up. Paid parental leave has proven economic benefits. It will stimulate the economy, retain parents in the workforce, and safeguard the nation's future prosperity.
A government-funded parental leave scheme would mean those working in small businesses or in low-wage sectors will have access to something previously only the domain of those lucky enough to work for big corporations that have their own scheme.
Decisions are being made now about this year's Budget. This is our one opportunity to show the Government we aren't willing to wait any longer for paid parental leave:
www.getup.org.au/campaign/
It's easy for a government to make grand promises like this - now it's up to us to make sure they deliver. Join our petition today and we will deliver it to Canberra next week.
Thanks for being a part of the solution,
The GetUp team
PS - We've designed a new series of bumper stickers to put on your car, pram or nappy to spread the message of this campaign. Click here to get your sticker.
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:P
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I only just got the email! They were at 87.7% when I did it. They must have passed their 40K aim by now...
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But seriously - maternity AND paternity leave is like such a basic thing to me. My sister was living alone and jobless when she had peanut and she had been so horribly sick throughout the pregnancy and had post-natal depression.
I think some people are just turned off because of those rednecks out in western sydney who use baby bonus for plasma tvs, they are NOT the majority!
And also some people get upset saying "Oh well I'm not having kids, so I shouldn't have to pay" - dammit, those kids are going to run our nursing homes and pay taxes for us old pensioners one day! I think it's only fair.
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I agree with everything except your swipe at rednecks
:-)
My theory is, you either give the money to every one or no one. It's not our jobs to decide if something someone spends it on is good or bad. If they want to buy a TV, then let them. What we really need to do is fix the education system before they even get to puberty...
I do think that there should be an equal paternity leave with pay. Fathers are incredibly important to raising children.
It's so unfair that everything is so unequal. There's real joys in family life which gets tossed out the window in exchange for the all mighty dollar.
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Hell yes!
I had a childless-by-choice teacher complaining about paid maternity leave ('why should they get money and I miss out?'). I pointed that out that if I had a baby and took a year off and she kept working for that year, after the 12th week, I wouldn't be receiving any money and she would for the next 40 weeks.