Sabin Mike: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSabin Mike: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 25 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18936. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MIKE SABIN (National—Northland):With the advances in modern science I have just had communications from the lady who brought me into the world and I happy to be able to inform the member Tracey Martin who seems to have an uncomfortable fixation on me but I will go with it that the universal benefit—what was it called? Actually I did not know what it was about because—that is right—I was a baby at the time.Hon Members: Family benefit.MIKE SABIN: What is it? Family—family benefit. She informs me that it was—let me see here. With the wonders of modern science I have it on my phone—$6 a week for a fortnight. Good heavens! There you go. So that brings things into stark reality.Jacinda Ardern: The same amount as what you just increased the parental tax credit by.MIKE SABIN: Sorry? Six dollars—Tracey Martin: Ask your mother.Jacinda Ardern: Have you heard of inflation?MIKE SABIN: There is a lot of passion in this debate. So $6 a week for 2 weeks puts some perspective into how generous the Government of the day is now and how measured we are in terms of what the appropriate balance is.Tracey Martin: Go and do some research.MIKE SABIN: Just ease up on the fixation—ease up on the fixation. A very very important point was made also by Tracey Martin because she said that I was saying something about the Government—that it does not care about the children and does not have to pay for them or something like that. The point I was trying to make—and let us just get back to some accuracy here—is that there are plenty of parents who actually do not need paid parental leave even now when it is available notwithstanding the fact that when it was not available people actually got by. So it is not the case that the Government should always be the default mechanism in this equation. It is certainly the case that where there are those who are at the margins who are struggling and have a family that extra assistance makes all the difference but it is about getting that balance right.I want to just reflect on some of the other things that we are doing that would reflect the context of that balance because the member also made some pretty interesting allegations about us on this side of the Chamber not really caring about those people. Well a $500 million package announced in the Budget is far from not caring in my view. What we are looking at are free GP visits for those up to 13 years of age. That is a good thing. That is a good thing because there are many who will not take their children to the doctor because of that additional cost so that is huge. We are moving in a staged careful and considered manner from 14 weeks to 16 weeks to 18 weeks over the next 2 years and that is what we think is prudent and appropriate at the time. We are also increasing the parental tax credit by $70 a week to $220 a week—Jacinda Ardern: The equivalent of the old universal family benefit.MIKE SABIN: Well as I say I am not in tune with the old days because—that is right—we are forward-looking. We are forward-looking and it is about now. It is about what is appropriate for the context now. To come back to the point it is an increase of $70 a week to $220 a week in total and it is extended by 2 weeks to 10 weeks. There is $155.7 million more going into early childhood education. This Government has had an absolute commitment to getting children into early childhood education because we know the outcomes for those children are much more positive if they can get themselves into that early childhood education.The reason I am bringing these measures up is that our steps in terms of paid parental leave have been subject to some significant criticism and aspersions that we are playing politics with it but it is about the balance that we have tried to achieve. So it is hard for me to discuss that balance which has been highly criticised by the other side without mentioning that. I am still waiting for the member in the chair the sponsor of this bill Sue Moroney to stand up and tell us why she is happy to accuse us of playing politics but not happy to vote for the legislation that will help grow the economy. The economy is growing and as the economy grows so does our support for people who are in need. It is about need.I want to acknowledge and thank my mother because it was not—