Pauline Hanson says parental leave will force small businesses to ‘fold’ – despite no law forcing employers to pay | One Nation

The cost of providing paid parental leave will be “increased” for small businesses, Pauline Hanson said, as Labour’s One Nation leader suggested she did not understand how the policy worked.

In Australia, employers are not required to pay parental leave entitlements, but most businesses do and employees are entitled to 12 months of unpaid leave.

Hanson was criticized last week for not recommending that employers pay the wages of parents who take time off work to care for newborns, telling the National Press Club that parental leave was the reason for the gender pay gap.

“If women are taking leave and not getting paid because they’re not working, that’s fair enough,” Hanson said last week. “Why should businesses pay? But they’re not at work. That’s the difference. That’s why the wage gap exists.”

He sought to clarify the comments on Tuesday, telling the Seven Network that it was “okay” for the government to pay for parental leave but the cost was too much for small business operators.

“It’s up to companies to decide whether or not they want it to be part of their policies to give this right to their employees,” he said.

“So there’s really no way, shape or form of getting out of this. I think it’s very beneficial for women to get back into the workforce. So it’s been completely taken out of context.”

“There are businesses that can’t afford it. That’s fine with the government, taxpayers are paying for it. If you put another pressure on small businesses, you pay for maternity leave, they’ll actually close down too.”

However, under the National Employment Standards, employers are not required to pay staff maternity leave, but employees are entitled to 12 months of unpaid leave from their jobs.

Federal government data shows that about 70% of businesses pay additional parental leave benefits to their employees.

The taxpayer-funded paid parental leave scheme, which comes into force from July 1, will give parents 26 weeks at the national minimum wage, up from 24 weeks under current rules.

National Party leader Matt Canavan called on Hanson to explain the apparent change in his party’s stance since his speech last week.

“The Press Club speech was treated as a detailed view of One Nation; it would be a surprise if they had to revise it in a matter of days,” he said.

Tanya Plibersek, a leading figure in the Labor Party, said Hanson’s latest statement was insincere.

“One Nation doesn’t even understand how politics works,” he said.

“Senator Hanson has said many times over nearly a decade that he does not support paid parental leave,” he said.

“Obviously Australian families told him they wanted it and now he claims it was taken out of context.

“But Senator Hanson is wrong; small businesses do not need to force their employees to choose between career and family.”

Families will receive almost $30,000 in exchange for their paid parental leave entitlement, Plibersek said.

“Senator Hanson’s only solution is to pit people against each other instead of offering policies that can actually help them.”

Shadow Minister for Childcare Matt O’Sullivan said families, not politicians, understood the paid parental leave system they needed.

“We have no plans to roll back access to paid parental leave programs. Paid parental leave is about giving families the choice and support they need.”