Those who hit the lucky jackpot of full paid parental leave get $8326 net extra, paid for by the state. Labour's bid to get an extension to paid parental leave has been stopped in its tracks by a veto from Bill English. Most commentators have expressed dismay that paid parental leave can be so niggardly when there is money for flags, defence, and possible tax cuts. Until 2016, only under half of all parents of newborns got paid parental leave because of the stringent and perverse rules around the kind of paid work experience needed. Mr English further enraged the pro paid parental leave lobby by citing an annual cost from Labour's policies of $280 million when it was actually a four-yearly cost.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 04, 2016 17:00 UTC