Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey is adamant his government is not dumping its paid parental leave policy.
And he says he is willing to hold talks with senators to convince them of the merits of the $5.5 billion scheme.
"There's a fair bit of misinformation around at the moment, starting with the PPL ... We're not dumping the PPL," Mr Hockey told the Nine Network on Monday.
"There is a lot of work to do, but I will meet with anyone who is sensible and the independent senators so far are proving to be sensible, unlike some of the others in the upper house."
Mr Hockey said the scheme was self-funded through a levy on big business, so there was no argument it was too expensive.
It would help many low and middle income families in metropolitan areas, who had no choice but to have two parents in full-time work to cover the mortgage, the treasurer said.
"If we do care about people being able to meet their mortgage repayments then what you want to do is ensure that people actually receive replacement wages for paid parental leave," he said.
His comments follow reports legislation for the scheme has been quietly shelved amid disquiet within the coalition, putting in doubt its July 2015 start date.
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