Abbott sorry over go-it-alone policy call

Tony Abbott has sought forgiveness from his party room after failing to consult it about his plans for a paid parental leave scheme.

The opposition leader made the announcement on Monday - which was International Women's Day - without taking the scheme to shadow cabinet. Under his idea, big business will face a 1.7 per cent levy on company tax above $5 million to fund six months paid leave at full salary, capped at salaries of $150,000 a year.

Mr Abbott told a joint party room meeting that he had made a "leader's call" in making the announcement.

He admitted it was something leaders shouldn't do often but was sometimes necessary.

"Sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness than permission," Mr Abbott told his colleagues.

Numerous MPs and senators chided the opposition leader over his failure to consult his team.

Mr Abbott apologised to his colleagues that the matter had not gone to shadow cabinet or through the party room.

"Yesterday I made a call, leaders shouldn't do this very often but sometimes, occasionally, it has been done and this was such an occasion," he told them.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has derided it as "policy-making on the run".

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Abbott would not say whether he had discussed the policy with treasury spokesman Joe Hockey or finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce ahead of the announcement.

"I discussed it with, I think, some quite significant and influential people prior to putting the proposal forward yesterday."

But a Liberal source later claimed Mr Abbott had discussed it with several members of shadow cabinet including Mr Hockey.

It's unclear whether Mr Abbott will take the policy to the party room when he fleshes out the detail at a later stage.

During the meeting, Mr Hockey backed the policy, suggesting workforce participation was a key economic imperative for Australia.

He indicated it was the "right economic response" to dealing with this issue.

Mr Abbott flagged the levy was a "temporary" measure until a coalition government had paid off the debt created by Labor and addressed tax reform for individuals. Once it had dealt with those issues, he told the party room the coalition would address other imposts, such as the levy.

Mr Abbott flagged the policy in a speech on Monday, which was International Women's Day.

However, he did discuss the issue in his book Battlelines, which came out last year.

The coalition policy compares with Labor's soon-to-be-introduced policy which offers 18-weeks paid leave at the minimum wage.

Big business has taken issue with the policy, which it says will just be an additional impost. Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has warned it could have serious implications for the Australian economy.

"Were it to be introduced, it would introduce a major distortion into the business taxation system," he told reporters.

"There would be a significant disincentive for companies to grow, to add jobs, if their current turnover is slightly below the $5 million mark."

There would be a disincentive for companies to merge, he said.