Submissions on dedicated Māori wards for Hastings District Council are open until Wednesday this week.It would be the local government equivalent of the Māori seats in Parliament, with only those on the Māori roll…

Chloe Ranford, Local Democracy Reporter Freedom camping rules in Marlborough could go under the microscope again, for the fifth time in 15 years.The Marlborough District Council may need to make “changes” to its new freedom…

There are no new cases of Covid-19 in the community today, but there are two new cases in managed isolation.The two cases in managed isolation are from the Philippines and Pakistan.Meanwhile, flights to and from Sydney as part…

Justin Latif, Local Democracy Reporter The majority of South Auckland schools have been getting free government-funded lunches for one term now, and while the programme is getting positive reviews from local principals and the…

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has defended the federal government's record debt and deficit levels, even as he confirms billions in new expenditure designed to drive unemployment to historic lows.

Speaking on Weekend Today this morning, Mr Frydenberg told Nine's political editor Chris Uhlmann that Tuesday's Budget will include more than $10 billion for aged care over the next four years.

"It is a very significant commitment designed to deal with what the Royal Commission has found, to strengthen our system and ensure that older Australians can retire, can live with dignity, respect and with safety," he said.

READ MORE: Plan to allow single parents to buy a home with just two per cent deposit

The funds will support in-home care as well as improvements to residential facilities.

In another new announcement today, the Morrison government has confirmed that more than $350 million will be allocated to supporting women's health, including cervical and breast cancer,

The funds will include just over $100 million for improved cervical and breast cancer screening and $95.9 million for genetic testing of embryos for genetic or chromosomal abnormalities.

"In 2009, GPD (global domestic product) fell by 0.1 per cent – last year, it fell by 3.1 per cent.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year, the total level of Commonwealth debt has skyrocketed to unprecedented highs.

It is forecast to soon surpass $1 trillion – almost five times the level seen during the height of the Global Financial Crisis.

Then, the Coalition lambasted Labor's spending as a "debt and deficit disaster" creating a "Budget black hole".

But Mr Frydenberg told Uhlmann that the Coalition's response has been proportionate to the current crisis.

"There has been a once-in-a-century pandemic," he said.

"In 2009, GPD (global domestic product) fell by 0.1 per cent – last year, it fell by 3.1 per cent.

"You can't compare the two events in terms of size and the dislocation they have caused."

READ MORE: What we know so far about government's big Budget cash splash

He said that while Budget funding for aged care and childcare were "baked in" to the Budget as long-term measures, other expenditures such as new infrastructure projects and tax relief were short-term steps to boost the economy and return employment to pre-pandemic levels.

Of the government's record expenditure, $90 billion of it was poured into JobKeeper to keep Australians in work through COVID-19 lockdowns and a global economic slow-down.

It is a spend the Treasurer credits with today's falling unemployment and Australia's relatively swift economic recovery, compared to other nations.

But the government has set itself a new unemployment target, with Mr Frydenberg saying he hopes to drive it down below 5 per cent – a low not maintained since the 1960s.

Currently, the unemployment rate is at 5.6 per cent with the historic long-term average since the 1970s of around 6 per cent.

Mr Frydenberg said this will be achieved through fresh investment in apprenticeships, jobs programs and tax relief which will boost the economy in the short-term and create jobs.

"It is designed to boost the long-time productivity of the nation by boosting demands in the short term with stimulus measures like tax relief," he said.

"Our focus is not to bake (these measures) into the Budget and we are not seeking to undermine the structural integrity of the budget… but to frontload the Budget."

The South Island is set for a wild afternoon, with rain, thunder and gale force winds forecast that may cause flooding and rapidly rising rivers.And that’s not all. Snow may fall, too, as the wintry snap bears down on New Zealand….

When Perth GP Sarah Bailey started making plans for a family she looked into the government's parental leave scheme and was stunned to discover she wouldn't be entitled to a cent.

While Dr Bailey earns slightly more than the $150,000 cut off for the government's 18-week Parental Leave Pay, her partner is currently studying and on a very low income.

But because eligibility for the scheme is tied only to the mother's income, with the father's making no difference at all, neither Dr Bailey nor her husband are entitled to Parental Leave Pay.

It's a situation which has been criticised for unfairly penalising female breadwinners and stay-at-home dads.

READ MORE: Federal Budget 2021 – What we know so far

Under the current rules, mothers are only able to transfer Parental Leave Pay entitlements – which equate to about $13,800 – to the father if they both earn under $150,000.

"I was quite shocked to find out this was the case," Dr Bailey said.

"I think it is discrimination. If my husband was a female our family would be able to get the income. If I was a male, I would be able to get the parental leave."

Unlike doctors in the hospital system, GPs work as contractors, meaning Dr Bailey does not get any workplace benefits as part of her job, including maternity leave.

Dr Bailey said she calculated she would need to save up $40,000 in order to take time off when she and her husband start their family.

The amount of study, exams and work pressure meant it was already hard for female doctors to take time out to have children, Dr Bailey said.

"It's already quite a difficult profession to be in, there are a lot of barriers to female doctors having kids already, then to put this on top of that, is really hard."

Dr Bailey has started a parliamentary petition calling on the government to change the legislation for Paid Parental Leave to make it more equitable, which has already attracted close to 1300 signatures.

Dr Bailey said her objections were not just about the money, but the unfairness of the situation.

"It is ludicrous … although I see discrimination on a daily basis in my work based on my gender, I am stunned and appalled that there exists legislation that underscores this discrimination," she writes in the petition.

"How can we expect the same working conditions as our male counterparts when our own government will not support our legitimacy?" 

A spokesperson for the Department of Social Services told nine.com.au in a statement the government's Paid Parental Leave Scheme was designed to compliment employer-based schemes and allow parents to spend quality time with their child after birth or adoption.

"The scheme's income test recognises that women who are on a higher income and are primary carers are in a stronger position to obtain paid parental leave and other family-friendly benefits as part of their conditions of employment," the statement said.

The government's parental leave scheme became law more than a decade ago in 2010.

In an effort to make the legislation more flexible, several proposed amendments to the act were debated in the Senate in June last year.

Changes were passed which meant the main carer can now take the full 18 weeks as a block or in parts shared between both parents, and anytime within two years of the birth.

However, a proposed amendment from Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff – which would have helped fixed the anomaly of the income test only applying to the mother – was voted down by the government and One Nation.

Under Senator Griff's suggestion, partners would be able to apply for Parental Leave Pay if the mother does not meet the income test.

Estimates provided to Senator Griff by the Parliamentary Budget Office at the time indicated such a change would only cost $3 million a year.

Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au.

Auckland Transport is sending out a specialist traffic team to the West Auckland suburb of Titirangi to investigate multiple complaints about a street where drivers are often seen driving the wrong way.Local resident Peter Millman,…

Test your brains with the Herald’s morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz at 3pm for the afternoon quiz. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

A man who won Lotto five times, scooping up millions of dollars, says money can’t buy him love. Carlo Massetti, a Kiwi based in Sydney, is “healing” in New Zealand after ending a five-year relationship that he felt turned “toxic”….