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Fact Checker: Will working mothers be $21,000 better off? Labor slames 'unfair' baby scheme Analysis: A real motherhood statement Full election coverage Election Live with Stephanie Peatling The Coalition revealed it was yet to speak to the states on sharing funding for its paid parental leave scheme, as the opposition comes under fire over how it will pay for its ''signature policy'', including from a leading business group. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott conceded on Monday that the Coalition still needed to speak to the states to strike an agreement to partly fund the scheme, amid government claims of a $1 billion a year hole in the costings. Mr Abbott told reporters on Monday he was confident that there was ''more than enough time'' before the July 2015 start date to reach agreement with the states on sharing the funding for the federal scheme. ''There are many things which are obviously subject to agreement but sensible adult governments are normally able to get agreement and obviously the state governments understand if we are relieving them of hundreds of millions of dollars of obligations they've got, there ought to be a fair tradeoff,'' Mr Abbott said. Costings criticism At a media conference in Melbourne, Finance Minister Penny Wong accepted that paid parental leave was important and said the Labor government had delivered such a scheme. "Tony Abbott was in government a very long time and it was a Labor government which has delivered paid parental leave and 300,000 families have already accessed it and that’s a good thing," she said. Senator Wong said earlier that the Coalition's costings had "more holes than Swiss cheese". She said the proposed big business levy would raise less than half what was needed to fund the scheme and this would not be available because of the offsetting company tax cut. "With so many holes, it's no wonder the opposition still hasn't put out any detail of their costings," she said. "These costings holes and blowouts mean Mr Abbott will only be able to pay for his scheme by cutting family payments, health and education." Business Council of Australia spokesman Scott Thompson said the tax burden should be lowered for all businesses and the Coalition's levy idea should be dropped. ''The BCA has consistently raised concerns with the Coalition's policy of funding paid maternity leave through a levy on some businesses and we remain of that view,'' he said. While opposing the levy, Mr Thompson said paid maternity leave and ''reasonably priced, high-quality child care'' were needed to encourage higher workforce participation. Return to work not compulsory Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey also confirmed that new mothers would be able to claim up to $75,000 in paid parental leave under the Coalition's scheme even if they opted not to return to work. Mr Hockey said he believed that the $5.5 billion a year scheme would boost productivity and most people would resume work after the six months of leave but they were ''not handcuffed to their job''. Mr Hockey played down the prospect of such situations, saying the eligibility rules would be the same as those that applied under Labor's less-generous scheme. The details Mr Abbott announced the details of his ''signature'' parental leave policy on Sunday, declaring the plan to fully replace the wages of new mothers for six months was superior to Labor's existing scheme, which pays 18 weeks at the minimum wage. The Coalition scheme would be capped at the $150,000 salary level, meaning the maximum available is $75,000. The Coalition would also cover superannuation contributions on top of the leave payments. The policy would be partly funded by a 1.5 per cent levy on about 3000 companies with taxable incomes over $5 million, but this would be offset by an across-the-board equivalent company tax cut. In a further cloud over the funding of the scheme, the Coalition would ask state governments to contribute. The Coalition says it will stop ''double dipping'' by allowing state public servants to choose between either their existing state-funded leave schemes or the new federal entitlement. Asked about the funding of the scheme, Mr Hockey pointed to the fact the government would also pay out less family tax benefit because of the higher salary – and people would be liable to pay more tax on the higher rate. ''The total cost of the scheme is $5.5 billion a year,'' Mr Hockey said in an interview with Neil Mitchell on Fairfax Radio on Monday. "It phases in obviously, but as we've said previously the levy, plus reduced payments in family tax benefit, plus the increased tax that is going to come from people receiving replacement salary, plus the abolition of the government's current scheme, plus the fact we're not going to let state governments double dip, that covers the total cost of the scheme.'' Cuts needed: PM Prime Minister Kevin Rudd defended the government's existing minimum-wage parental leave scheme as affordable, saying it had so far supported 300,000 families. ''The problem with Mr Abbott's scheme is that he cannot fund it unless he cuts jobs, health and hospitals,'' he told the Seven Network. But Mr Hockey said there would be ''no cuts to health or education or anything else to pay for the scheme''. ''The costs are totally covered. You'll see the absolute details prior to the election,'' he said. Mr Hockey said he was confident most people would go back to work after taking the six months of parental leave, but confirmed the money would be available regardless of whether they decided to stay home for longer. ''She's entitled to that money as it would be the case under her existing job if she were entitled to paid parental leave, but it is unlikely because what we think is this is actually going to provide some incentive for a person to go back to work,'' he said. Mr Hockey said people should not be penalised for having children and parental leave should be the same as any other workplace entitlement like sick leave and annual leave. Eligibility for the scheme The Coalition policy document says eligibility will be the same as for Labor's scheme. Full-time, part-time, casual, seasonal, contract and self-employed workers can be eligible so long as they had worked for at least 10 of the 13 months before the birth or adoption of their child. They must also have worked for at least 330 hours in that 10-month period, or about one day a week. Mr Hockey said the scheme would deliver job security for lower-income people. This was because small business suffered a big turnover of young women who moved to the public service or big business when thinking of having children because smaller firms were not able in the past to afford proper parental leave. Swan weighs in Former deputy prime minister Wayne Swan accused the BCA of failing to speak up against the ''fiscally reckless'' policy. ''BCA again missing in action on Lib's PPL,'' Mr Swan tweeted on Monday. ''What trade-offs have been made which rest of Aus don't know about? GST rise to cut company tax?'' Mr Swan also declared Mr Abbott's scheme would deliver ''more for high wage earners and less for low wage earners''.

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