I ab-so-ber-loody-lutely agree with your summing up of all this 'tosh'!

When I first read the header I wondered how exactly does one delay the birth of a baby? I mean when the wheels are set in motion and the baby's on its way there's not much any mother can do to stop it! Anyone who has been through the process knows it doesn't matter how tightly you cross your legs or hold your breath... far too late for those tactics.

If it's a matter of finely tweaking a pre-term delivery date a few days either way to maximise its earning potential and if the doctor is sure it does not increase the risk to either mother or baby what's the problem? How many money minded economists do you know who wouldn't advise their clients to do just that?

Of course, those financially strapped welfare bludging women who are playing the system, having babies just to cash in on the baby bonus wouldn't be acting on the advice of their accountants or economists, they've just figgered it out for themselves and persuaded their public hospital obstetricians to go along with their plans! Amazing the amount of influence these women have!

Playing the system! Well I wonder who put it there. Yes! thats right! The Australian government. Why you ask? Well how about this! The government wants 25 million people, and this is the way they will meet the targets. Why 25 million people? Cause while we are fighting with ourselves for a job, they know with the struggle of it, we will have to take what ever is on the table, and business wins again.

Its curious isn't it, the assumptions people make? While the assumption is that the baby bonus is feeding into teen mums and welfare bludgers, the facts are quite different.

The fact is that the proportion of births to teenage pregnancy is actually falling (i.e the proportion of teen mums was actually higher amongst the later baby boomers in the 60s and 70s than now. Secondly, the so-called baby spike now is mostly women 30-35 who delayed having children while they established careers and the boost in baby bonus helped bring that choice on. They might have had children anyway but given uncertainty over the future of baby bonus under Labor many decided to take the money while the going was good.

Finally, given that its only elective ceasarians, rather than natural births, that can be put off; whether people shifted is primarily a function of appropriate medical management, rather than when the baby bonus is paid.

If Drs and mothers were to put off a birth that had any medical risks attached, simply to get more money, then the mothers don't deserve the children and the Doctors should be struck off. My view is that this was not the case and the whole beat up is yet another example of the media feeding a frenzy by appealling to the worst prejudices.