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Aug 27, 2009
Heed 'one for country' call
By Radha Basu
IN AUSTRALIA'S 2004 Budget, then Treasurer Peter Costello announced a baby-bonus scheme to boost the country's flagging birth rate. In a stirring speech, the politician exhorted couples to have 'one for Mum, one for Dad and one for the country'.
In return, the Government would pay parents A$3,000 (S$3,500) for the birth of each child.
It was a modest sum, compared to the bonus privileges Singaporean parents enjoy today. But thousands of Australians heeded the patriotic call to procreate. By 2006, the number of Australian births soared to 265,922, the second highest figure since 1911 and the highest in 30 years.
Aug 27, 2009
Heed 'one for country' call
By Radha Basu
IN AUSTRALIA'S 2004 Budget, then Treasurer Peter Costello announced a baby-bonus scheme to boost the country's flagging birth rate. In a stirring speech, the politician exhorted couples to have 'one for Mum, one for Dad and one for the country'.
In return, the Government would pay parents A$3,000 (S$3,500) for the birth of each child.
It was a modest sum, compared to the bonus privileges Singaporean parents enjoy today. But thousands of Australians heeded the patriotic call to procreate. By 2006, the number of Australian births soared to 265,922, the second highest figure since 1911 and the highest in 30 years.
