Pauline Hanson says parental leave will force small businesses to ‘fold’ – despite no law forcing employers to pay

One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, says her comments last week on paid parental leave were ‘totally taken completely out of context.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP View image in fullscreen One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, says her comments last week on paid parental leave were ‘totally taken completely out of context.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Pauline Hanson says parental leave will force small businesses to ‘fold’ – despite no law forcing employers to pay One Nation leader says she isn’t suggesting Australia get rid of taxpayer-funded parental leave entitlements Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Pauline Hanson says small businesses will “fold” under the cost of providing paid parental leave, as Labor suggested the One Nation leader didn’t understand how the policy worked. It is not compulsory for employers to pay parental leave entitlements in Australia, though most businesses do provide it and employees are entitled to 12 months of unpaid leave. Hanson was criticised last week for suggesting parents taking time off work to care for newborn babies should not have their wages paid by employers, telling the National Press Club parental leave was the reason for the gender pay gap. “If women take time off and they are not paid their wages because they’re not working, fair enough,” Hanson said last week. “Why should business pay? But they’re not at work. That’s the difference. That’s why the pay gap is there.” Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email She attempted to clarify the comments on Tuesday, telling the Seven Network that it was “OK” for the government to pay parental leave but the cost was too much for small business operators. “It’s up to companies if they want to have it in their policy to give it to their workers,” she said. “So there’s no way, shape, or form that I am actually saying to get rid of it. I think it’s been very beneficial to women to get back into the workforce. So that was totally taken completely out of context.” “There are businesses that cannot afford it. It’s OK for government, taxpayers pay for it. You put another pressure on the small businesses, pay for maternity leave, they’ll actually fold.” But under the National Employment Standards, it is not compulsory for employers to pay staff parental leave, but employees are entitled to 12 months of unpaid leave from their job. Federal government data shows nearly 70% of businesses pay additional parental leave entitlements to their workers. The taxpayer-funded paid parental leave scheme coming into effect from 1 July will offer parents 26 weeks at the national minimum wage, up from 24 weeks under the current rules. The leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, called on Hanson to explain the apparent change in her party’s position since last week’s speech . “The Press Club speech was considered a detailed view from One Nation , it would be a surprise if they’ve had to revise that within da