Prime Minister Julia Gillard has admitted she questioned Labor's paid parental scheme and offer of more cash for aged pensioners in cabinet, but denied saying older people don't vote for the ALP.
The Nine Network on Tuesday quoted unnamed sources as saying Ms Gillard spoke against the 18-week scheme and questioned a $30-a-week increase to the single aged pension.
The Prime Minister denied the allegations out of hand.
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Ms Gillard said the schemes came at a cost of $50 billion over a decade and needed to be examined thoroughly to see if they were affordable.
"That's a lot of money and so when these proposals were made ... the question at the forefront of my mind was are they affordable?
"I looked at them from every angle, I held them up to the light, I examined every possibility.
"I asked every question because I wanted to satisfy myself that they were affordable."
No regrets
The PM said it was an appropriate approach to take and she would use the same approach in future.
Ms Gillard said she did not want to "shilly shally" around the allegations and wanted to be frank with the Australian people.
"My answer to them is - I joined the Labor Party many years ago because I believe in fairness and decency for Australians, including for older Australians.
"Of course I wanted to see a pension increase, of course I wanted to see paid parental leave."
Both measures were two of Labor's proudest achievements of the Rudd government.
Ms Gillard said she had spoken to her deputy Wayne Swan about the matter, but would not say whether she had spoken to Kevin Rudd, who was prime minister at the time cabinet made both decisions.
'Give me a break'
The PM also dismissed claims that the leaks about her stance on parental leave were a symptom of malaise and lack of cohesion or discipline in Labor's ranks.
Ms Gillard said she was doing far better than her opposition counterpart Tony Abbott.
"On the question of discipline and cohesion, I mean with respect, give me a break," she said.
"I'm opposed to the third Liberal leader in this period of government, I'm opposed to a man who won his position by one vote."
Ms Gillard said she understood former Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull - who Mr Abbott deposed - was speculating about his future ambitions publicly.
"So let's just take a little bit of a reality check here," she said.
