NEW fathers will get about $1180 to wet the baby's head when the Gillard government introduces paid paternity leave from January 2013.

The government will use Father's Day to announce the extension to the national paid parental leave scheme, hoping it will be a diversion from the leadership tensions surrounding Julia Gillard, who has told colleagues they would have to blast her out of the job.

"We know that it's not just mum who needs the time to form these important bonds with the new baby" ... Minister for Families and Social Inclusion, Jenny Macklin. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Fathers or partners will get cheques paid over two weeks at the national minimum wage - now $590 a week before tax - to give them time off work to help mothers care for their newborns.

The government's original plans for a paid paternity leave scheme were forced off the agenda by the global financial crisis and then the big blow to the nation's coffers caused by natural disasters at the start of this year.