If Shorten 'understands' women why not pay PPL on super?

02/11/11

Minister Shorten’s claim in Question Time today that Labor ‘understands’ women and that the Labor Government does ‘not believe that women should miss out on the benefits of the superannuation system’ is a total farce.

Labor’s Paid Parental Leave scheme does not include any superannuation. The Coalition’s Paid Parental Leave scheme includes super payments at a mandatory 9 per cent.

‘Including superannuation in a PPL Scheme is an important step to address the chronic disparity between male and female retirement incomes, that Mr Shorten claims to understand so well,’ Senator Cash said.

‘The Coalition believes that superannuation contributions must be paid while women are receiving PPL so that they are not further disadvantaged when it comes to their retirement savings. That’s why our scheme, unlike the Government’s, includes superannuation contributions at the mandatory nine per cent.’

‘The Coalition has consistently argued that any PPL Scheme must include superannuation – and the Coalition's proposed scheme is a prime example of its commitment to pay equity.’

‘The Labor Party has yet again failed Australian women and shown that it is not committed to pay equity in Australia by not including super in its paid parental leave scheme.’

Prime Minister Gillard has previously referred to Labor’s PPL Scheme as being a ‘measure taken by the Labor Government to close the gender pay gap.’

‘If this was true they would have included superannuation in their scheme – an important step to address the disparity between male and female retirement incomes. This scheme is just another example of Labor's dishonesty regarding pay equity,’ Senator Cash said. ‘Mr Shorten cannot continue to claim the high moral ground on this issue when the Government’s paid parental leave policy does not pay superannuation to women on maternity leave and if he continues to do so he and the Prime Minister need to explain why they do not.’