Paid Parental Leave for a year

There are times when the term “Labour lite” is not 100% inaccurate.  Oh there will be plenty of differences between National and Labour in policy areas such as education, tax, ACC, housing, industrial relations, law & order (to name a few) but I have to say I am disappointed to see National uncritically welcome the proposal to throw half a billion a year at extending paid parental leave.

I understand the politics that no party wants to appear unsupportive to parents and families, but I have to say I do believe families first call should be on themselves, and only those genuinely in need should fall back on the state.  There are dangers in having a huge proportion of the population reliant on taxpayer money.

Quite frankly if two lawyers decide to breed, I’m not convinced that people who earn far less than both the father and mother, should have to pay more tax, so they don’t have to survive on only $250,000 for a year.

I’m all for family support, so long as it is targeted.