BABY BONUS BUSINESS

On Melbourne’s 3AW earlier this month I said I wanted to ask a crude question:

How many pregnant women in Australia would cross their legs for several days to make $3000?

And I realized: apparently… quite a few.

It all stemmed from the Federal Government’s $3000 baby bonus announced in the May pre-election Budget.

And the Treasurer Peter Costello announced that the 3000 bucks would kick in – if that’s the appropriate term – from July 1.

So if your baby were due on June 29 or 30 – yesterday or today --would you try to hold off?

At first thought you think: how could a mother-to-be be so mercenary? How could you possibly put a baby’s health and welfare – even their life --- at risk for money. Would a poor couple delay a caesarian operation to try to qualify for the payout? Would a single mum?

And women have. There are heaps of stories around today about women quietly sipping tea and watching TV and putting off cervix examinations in the hope that the birth of their child will not happen until after midnight tonight.

In hindsight I believe the Government made a mistake. It may have been an innocent one but I suspect it was a calculated election year decision. The $3000 bonus is fine. But in retrospect shouldn’t the Government have announced the grant but not put a date on it?

Then on June 30 they could have said it kicks in at midnight tonight. That way the whole cynical delayed birth issue would have been avoided.

And a friend had a good phone idea today. He said: Why didn’t the Government “ do an Iraq handover”?

Bring in the birth bonus two days early and stop all the risk and all the calculated game-playing. And maybe stop putting some babies’ health and lives in danger.

Wednesday, June 30, 2004

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2004