TOM CONNELL, HOST: Still plenty being dissected from Pauline Hanson's appearance at the National Press Club. She spoke in her speech that the gender pay gap is about so-called smoke and mirrors.
[Excerpt]
PAULINE HANSON, ONE NATION LEADER: If you're an airline pilot, male, female, you get the same pay. You’re a hostess, same pay. You do the work, you get the same pay. The difference is that if women take time off and they are not paid their wages because they're not working, fair enough. Why should business pay them if they're not at work? That's the difference. That's why the pay gap is there.
[End of excerpt]
CONNELL: Joining me now is Assistant Minister for Women, Health and Aged Care, Rebecca White. Thank you for your time. No specific mention of parental leave. Is that the reference you were assuming there?
REBECCA WHITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING: That's the takeaway I got. I think the 250,000 Australians who rely on paid parental leave will be watching that and should be worried. What we heard was little regard for the fact that a lot of people who are taking time out of work to have a baby also need to pay the bills. And it also impacts on their superannuation on retirement, which is why we've added superannuation to paid parental leave. It's a way for us to keep people connected to their jobs. It reduces recruitment costs for employers who are looking to replace those workers because they know they can rely on those people coming back to their workplace. So I heard there an attack on working Australians who are taking time out to have a baby.
CONNELL: We did hear- the specific words were, business shouldn't have to pay it. Now, there is no rule now that business has to pay parental leave. The guaranteed scheme is the government one. So, in terms of actual policy, there's no difference, is there? Labor doesn't have plans to make business top up parental leave payments, does it?
WHITE: We have a government scheme, you're quite right, and about 250,000 Australians rely upon it. I think the comments I heard yesterday showed little regard for that, and I think you'd be worried about what rollbacks you might see under any government in coalition with One Nation. But also, we do have small businesses and other businesses who offer paid parental leave, about 70 per cent voluntarily participating in that. And they do that because they know it's good value for them. It's good value for their employees. They're able to get those workers back into the workplace. And they understand how important it is to allow parents, and especially women, to take that time out with their young children before they return to the workplace.
CONNELL: One of the constant attacks from Pauline Hanson has been around immigration. The latest figures have the actual net migration, again, tens of thousands above what the target is. So I'm interested in this. We know Labor's taken some measures to try to reduce it. We know there are, for example, things on how long students can actually stay in the country. But the question is, do you think the settings right now the Government has in place do provide a sustainable migration number, or is there more work to do?
WHITE: So we have cut migration by 45 per cent. It was much higher post-COVID because a lot of people had not been able to travel into the country during that period because the borders were shut, and we did see an escalation. We've reduced it by 45 per cent. I think the settings are about right. And you have to think about who we are talking about here. Half the Australian health workforce have come from overseas, and what a privilege for us that they've chosen to come here to care for our loved ones and to care for us when we're sick. Is she talking about reducing migration for supporting our health workforce? Because it would collapse if we didn't have those people coming to Australia to choose to work in our health system.
We have to be really sensible when we talk about immigration policy, and think about what this means for our economy as well as what it means for our other settings. There's no doubt that we have work to do when it comes to building more houses, and we are getting on and doing that.
CONNELL: [Talks over] Okay.
WHITE: It's not simply about looking at targeting migrants.
CONNELL: Okay. So settings about right. Well yeah, we don't know the exact changes that One Nation would make, nor the Coalition, but we'll see as that policy takes shape, if you like.
Interesting to note the optics in how both major parties are dealing with Pauline Hanson. Gina Rinehart today presented her with a bulldozer, so cutting red tape - this is a nod to Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Is this something Labor will take aim at - Pauline Hanson connected to Australia's richest woman - or would that be the politics of envy that Labor essentially, from 2019, said wasn't working in its favour?
WHITE: I think Australians are smart enough to work out for themselves what's going on here. We know, because every time there's pressure put on Pauline Hanson about which way she's going to vote, she always votes against workers' interests. We've seen her refuse to support the minimum wage increase. I think we saw yesterday again her saying that she didn't support an increase to childcare workers, some of our lowest paid employees in the country.
So I think what Australians can see here is pretty clear. They don't need me to explain it for them. She's siding with big business over the interests of working Australians, and that includes looking to cut their entitlements and potentially…
CONNELL: [Talks over] Okay.
WHITE: …their access to things like paid parental leave.
CONNELL: So it sounds like the party’s- the Government's going to be careful not to have that direct criticism, but you hope voters join the dots?
WHITE: I think Australians are smart enough to see it for themselves, Tom.
CONNELL: Okay. CGT carve-out finally announced today. So, curious as to what this means for the overall small business sector. If we take the changes to the CGT overall, all the ones that have been announced today and the Budget Night ones, is the small business sector better off or worse off?
WHITE: They're better off. What we already said when the Budget was handed down is those four exemptions and concessions for small businesses were staying. And what we've announced today is that the threshold for small business turnover has lifted from two million to 10 million. So all 2.7 million small businesses in Australia will be better off under the announcement made today by the Prime Minister and the Treasurer.
CONNELL: Right. But some previously could get two forms of a discount and they don't. So when you say better off, the overall sector is how much? What's the overall amount that the sector's better off by?
WHITE: Well, there's 2.7 million businesses in Australia who will benefit from the announcement made today around capital gains tax and its treatment by the Government. But there are also measures we announced in the Budget that support small business, including making permanent the $20,000 instant asset write-off along with a...
CONNELL: [Talks over] Okay. So those measures are needed to be better off overall, not just on CGT?
WHITE: I think on CGT you'll find as well that the majority of businesses will be better off, 2.7 million Australian businesses today. So, an income threshold up to $10 million, where they will be able to access the 50 per cent reduction, along with the other exemptions that were not changed and continue to be supported through the Budget.
CONNELL: Hobart Stadium, about to have the first earthworks done. How are you feeling about this? It's been a journey for the state and I guess for you as well. Is it time to just get behind it? Do you support it or do you have reservations still?
WHITE: Well, this is a project that the State and the Federal Government are contributing funding towards, as you well know, Tom. And it's good to see some work happening there because I think Tasmanians have been put through the ringer on this, and it's divided a lot of people in our community. The Parliament had the ultimate authority as the planning authority, and it's been approved. I think it's up to the State Government to prove to everybody else now that they can actually build it in this location as they're now setting out to do.
CONNELL: All right. Sounds like onwards and upwards. Bec White, I appreciate your time today. Thank you.
WHITE: Thank you.