I’ve followed the Federal Government’s baby bonus announcement with a vested interest. I selfishly hoped they would backdate the payments to cover the current financial year, as they did with Family Allowance.
Unfortunately for us, we learnt the payments would only apply from July 1. There has been much debate since about the timing, and I’m convinced the government has got it wrong. From their point of view it’s also been a political disaster. What should have been a vote winner and electoral sweetener has turned sour like a dirty nappy.
The reasons against setting a forward date for the bonus are pretty obvious. The statistics showed that elective caesareans were few in the last week of June and frequent in the first week of July.
The payments should have been made from the time of the announcement. The only excuse I’ve heard for this not to happen was that legislation needed to pass through Parliament. That’s rubbish. As I’ve already stated, Family Allowance bonuses were backdated to the beginning of the financial year.
And what about the stress for parents who had to wonder what fate would deliver them in terms of birth dates.
This point hammered home when I heard that my cousin and his wife had twins born on June 30. The babies were a month premature. My cousin and his wife would have reasonably been expecting $6000 from the government and could be forgiven for budgeting and spending accordingly.
Now they will receive less than one third of that amount. Of course they will be delighted that the babies are both safely delivered and healthy, but the timing was a cruel twist of fate that could have been avoided if the government hadn’t been so stupid.
There have been side issues to this debate as well. Will some teenagers get pregnant for the cash? Probably.
And the government bungled again and paid Family Allowance bonuses twice to some families. Then they couldn’t decide if the extra money could or should be recovered.
I don’t think a baby bonus is good policy. I would prefer to see that money directed towards additional Family Allowance or tax deductions for families.
The idiots in the Liberal Party who devised this crazy plan have hopefully been kicked hard in the backside and shown the door. I can’t recall a more classic example of a political sweetener turning so bitter so quickly.
