Post by humanrightsgirl on Mar 2, 2017 6:26:28 GMT 7
Hanson: One Nation won’t support omnibus
One Nation leader and senator Pauline Hanson.
The Australian12:00AM February 23, 2017
JOE KELLY
Political reporterCanberra
@joekellyoz
ROSIE LEWIS
ReporterCanberra
@rosieslewis
The government has failed to secure the crucial support of Pauline Hanson for its omnibus bill without major changes, as the One Nation leader suggests women who work part-time will deliberately get pregnant to access paid parental leave payments tied to the package.
In a major setback for the Coalition, which has been forced to negotiate the $4.3 billion savings bill with the Senate crossbench, Senator Hanson told The Australian she would not vote for the omnibus legislation in its current form because the revised PPL arrangements were too generous and needed to be reined in.
Her stance reveals the challenge for the government as it attempts to balance the demands of One Nation with those of the three Nick Xenophon Team senators and independents David Leyonhjelm, Jacqui Lambie, Derryn Hinch and Cory Bernardi.
“The omnibus bill is coming up and they are wanting me to support (it), but there are some parts that I can’t,” Senator Hanson said.
The new PPL scheme was part of a suite of measures included in the omnibus bill, which was dealt a blow last week when Senator Xenophon announced his party could not support the package’s cuts to family payments.
Senator Hanson said the parental leave arrangements would be open to exploitation by women who worked one day a week after the government proposed extending the scheme from 18 to 20 weeks. “They get themselves pregnant and (the government will) have the same problems they did with the Baby Bonus, with people just doing it for the money,’’ she said.
“This is not commonsense policy. I’ve gone through a bloody tough life myself as a single mother and held down a part-time job. I had no assistance, no help from anyone. But we have such a welfare handout mentality.
“Unless we make the tough decisions, we will not be able to provide for those in the future who need a helping hand, like the aged, the sick and the needy.”
Social Services Minister Christian Porter has indicated the government could drop some of the omnibus bill’s savings measures if they “hold up” the entire package in parliament.
Senator Hanson said she had raised her concerns about the PPL scheme with Scott Morrison, as she hit out at senators Xenophon and Hinch for blocking savings.
“They have no idea about pulling the budget back,” she said.
Amid revelations that senators Xenophon and Lambie had opposed more than $10bn in savings, One Nation’s NSW senator Brian Burston declared his party was “not a Xenophon and never will be” because it was “not wanting to be popular” on budget repair.
Senator Burston said there were no substantial measures in the omnibus bill ringing alarm bells and he expected the government would be “happy” with the party’s position once negotiations concluded. “(The government) will get the vast bulk of it (the savings), I would think,” he said.
“It’s pretty well essential that we co-operate in that regard and I think people have got to realise there’s got to be some sacrifice.”
Senator Burston said he was worried about the retrospectivity of changes affecting pensioners, which include ending the pensioner education supplement and a clampdown on payments to pensioners overseas. “It’s quite unfair that people have planned for retirement based on existing legislation,” he said. “The government has got to come up with some alternative compromise.”
Without the support of Labor or the Greens, the government needs to win over nine of the 10 Senate crossbenchers for bills to be legislated. The Australian understands NXT opposes the PPL measure because fewer parents will receive both employer and government payments as part of the crack down on “double-dipping”.
The omnibus bill winds back Family Tax Benefit payments to fund a new $1.6bn means-tested childcare package covering up to 85 per cent of childcare costs for low-income earners. The government had attempted to increase pressure on the crossbench to back the bill by announcing $3bn of the savings from the bill would help fund the NDIS.
The 16 measures in the legislation include the four-week wait for the dole for Australians under 25, and increasing the age at which people would be eligible for Newstart and Sickness allowance.
One Nation leader and senator Pauline Hanson.
The Australian12:00AM February 23, 2017
JOE KELLY
Political reporterCanberra
@joekellyoz
ROSIE LEWIS
ReporterCanberra
@rosieslewis
The government has failed to secure the crucial support of Pauline Hanson for its omnibus bill without major changes, as the One Nation leader suggests women who work part-time will deliberately get pregnant to access paid parental leave payments tied to the package.
In a major setback for the Coalition, which has been forced to negotiate the $4.3 billion savings bill with the Senate crossbench, Senator Hanson told The Australian she would not vote for the omnibus legislation in its current form because the revised PPL arrangements were too generous and needed to be reined in.
Her stance reveals the challenge for the government as it attempts to balance the demands of One Nation with those of the three Nick Xenophon Team senators and independents David Leyonhjelm, Jacqui Lambie, Derryn Hinch and Cory Bernardi.
“The omnibus bill is coming up and they are wanting me to support (it), but there are some parts that I can’t,” Senator Hanson said.
The new PPL scheme was part of a suite of measures included in the omnibus bill, which was dealt a blow last week when Senator Xenophon announced his party could not support the package’s cuts to family payments.
Senator Hanson said the parental leave arrangements would be open to exploitation by women who worked one day a week after the government proposed extending the scheme from 18 to 20 weeks. “They get themselves pregnant and (the government will) have the same problems they did with the Baby Bonus, with people just doing it for the money,’’ she said.
“This is not commonsense policy. I’ve gone through a bloody tough life myself as a single mother and held down a part-time job. I had no assistance, no help from anyone. But we have such a welfare handout mentality.
“Unless we make the tough decisions, we will not be able to provide for those in the future who need a helping hand, like the aged, the sick and the needy.”
Social Services Minister Christian Porter has indicated the government could drop some of the omnibus bill’s savings measures if they “hold up” the entire package in parliament.
Senator Hanson said she had raised her concerns about the PPL scheme with Scott Morrison, as she hit out at senators Xenophon and Hinch for blocking savings.
“They have no idea about pulling the budget back,” she said.
Amid revelations that senators Xenophon and Lambie had opposed more than $10bn in savings, One Nation’s NSW senator Brian Burston declared his party was “not a Xenophon and never will be” because it was “not wanting to be popular” on budget repair.
Senator Burston said there were no substantial measures in the omnibus bill ringing alarm bells and he expected the government would be “happy” with the party’s position once negotiations concluded. “(The government) will get the vast bulk of it (the savings), I would think,” he said.
“It’s pretty well essential that we co-operate in that regard and I think people have got to realise there’s got to be some sacrifice.”
Senator Burston said he was worried about the retrospectivity of changes affecting pensioners, which include ending the pensioner education supplement and a clampdown on payments to pensioners overseas. “It’s quite unfair that people have planned for retirement based on existing legislation,” he said. “The government has got to come up with some alternative compromise.”
Without the support of Labor or the Greens, the government needs to win over nine of the 10 Senate crossbenchers for bills to be legislated. The Australian understands NXT opposes the PPL measure because fewer parents will receive both employer and government payments as part of the crack down on “double-dipping”.
The omnibus bill winds back Family Tax Benefit payments to fund a new $1.6bn means-tested childcare package covering up to 85 per cent of childcare costs for low-income earners. The government had attempted to increase pressure on the crossbench to back the bill by announcing $3bn of the savings from the bill would help fund the NDIS.
The 16 measures in the legislation include the four-week wait for the dole for Australians under 25, and increasing the age at which people would be eligible for Newstart and Sickness allowance.
