Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The Nats buy votes too

The government now appears to be entertaining Labour MP Sue Moroney's Bill to extend Paid Parental Leave from 14 to 26 weeks.

Opinion polls have shown strong support for extending paid parental leave.

In a nutshell, most parents with newborns already stay off work for 6 months. They fund the difference themselves. That's because they can afford to.

If Bill English approves this it's a middle-class handout. A vote-buyer. Nothing more, nothing less.

3 comments:

Brendan McNeill said...

Another nail in the coffin of personal responsibility. And what's more all this from a supposed conservative Government. It is all too predictable. The politics of pragmatism rule, at least until we can no longer afford it.

Anonymous said...

On the flip side you could differentiate it from the more left leaning way of handouts because the people using it are probably taxed to buggery so are paying for it anyway in a round about way.

Its still stupid as is WFF.

3:16

Anonymous said...

We haven't been able to afford welfare since before Hellen left. Every cent on welfare - the DPB, the Dole, the Super, Health, and Education - is borrowed.

every cent.

So yeah, of course the Nat's buy votes: it's not called "National Superannuation" for nothing!