SHADOW treasurer Joe Hockey has likened the government's decision to slash the baby bonus for second and subsequent children to China's one child policy.
The policy that has restricted urban Chinese families to a single child since the 1970s has been attributed with leading to a gender imbalance in that country, with male children often seen as more desirable.
The Labor government announced in its budget update it would cut the baby bonus to $3000, from $5000, for second and subsequent children, as it looks to save money to prop up its budget surplus.
The measure will deliver more than $500 million in savings over the forward estimates period.
Families Minister Jenny Macklin said the change, to apply from July 1, 2013, recognised families purchased durable, big-ticket nursery items when their first child was born.
Mr Hockey said the baby bonus was initially introduced by the Howard government to encourage people to have more children and arrest Australia's declining birth rate.
"Now the government seems to want to penalise anyone that has a second or third child," he told ABC television.
"I think that worked quite well in China, didn't it?"
Mr Hockey also said the government "hates private health insurance" since it has further cut the rebate paid to health fund members.
The coalition was unlikely to support this move.
"We want to see more Australians spend more of their money on their own health care," Mr Hockey said, adding that the rebate encouraged this.
The shadow treasurer also attacked government plans to make big companies pay their tax to the government each month, rather than each quarter.
The change will smooth government tax receipts and create a revenue gain of $8.3 billion over three years.
"The bottom line is $8.3 billion doesn't appear in Wayne Swan's accounts if it isn't coming out of someone else's pocket," Mr Hockey said.
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