Treasurer Joe Hockey won't say if he regrets using terms such as "double dipping" over proposed changes to the commonwealth's paid parental leave scheme.
The government wants to stop new mothers claiming the government's PPL if their employer is offering a more generous benefit.
Mr Hockey avoided saying, despite repeated questioning, whether he now wishes the government hadn't used terms such as "double dipping" or "rorting" while defending the measure.
"We have to pay for $3.5 billion of extra childcare support to make the system more affordable, more accessible, more flexible for mums and, if we are going to do that, we have to find the money somewhere," he told ABC television on Sunday.
The plan, which has been opposed by Labor, would leave about 20 per cent of new mothers without access to a taxpayer-funded benefit.
Labor's finance spokesman Tony Burke believes the taxpayer is fine with people receiving two incomes for the same purpose, and there should be no changes to the system.
The policy would mean new mothers get to spend less time with their newborns, Mr Burke told Sky News.
Meanwhile, Nationals deputy leader Barnaby Joyce believes the tax white paper should look at why families with a stay-at-home mother miss out on benefits such as PPL when they are working at home.
He says his wife stays at home to look after the children, and is just as much part and parcel of his career.
"She says, `If I don't look after the kids you wouldn't be where you are'," Mr Joyce told Sky News.
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