Mike Hosking: Who the hell is this Government to tell us what's good for our kids

They will never tell us whether they really meant it (well not until 2020 and the next election anyway) if they roll it out as policy.

But National's idea of allowing both parents to take advantage of the Government's new paid parental leave is a mixture of good idea, good politics and hypocrisy.

National were never fans of expanding paid parental leave as much as many other parties were. They had a "dragged kicking and screaming" feel about their approach to it all. But the idea as put forward, as Machiavellian as it might be given the Labour Party have walked right into the trap, is actually a good one.

It's about choice. And who is against choice? Well the Labour Party, as it turns out.

They've blocked the move for no other reason than they have decided that it would not be good for your baby. They argue that if you and dad or you and mum take the time together, you will have less time with baby, and that is detrimental to its future.

Simple question: who the hell are they to tell us what's good for our kids?

And given the answer is obvious, we see our clearest example yet of ideology over riding and overruling any form of common sense. The limousine left has always been this way, and ultimately it proves their undoing.

Third term, last time they were in office 2007, they came out with their famous shower head pressure thinking. Remember it? They were going to regulate water pressure in your shower.

A government was telling you how much water you could have. It wasn't the single thing that saw them swept out of office, but it came on top of a bunch of other mad stuff that ultimately led to an overwhelming view that control freaks are not our cup of tea.

And here we are, all these years later, and they haven't learned a thing.

In a poll with the question "who is it that's more qualified to decide what's best for your new baby?" how many would say the government? Did you come up with zero as well?

And yet here they are, using our money to boost paid parental leave, while at the same time telling us how to live our lives and how to raise our kids.

The fact they didn't join the dots on this is beyond belief. Whether it was a trap laid by the Nats, or a genuine offer, doesn't matter now because it's gone.

But the fact they don't "get it" - and walked blindly into it, proving they've learnt nothing from their previous foray into finger wagging - is something that will come back to haunt them.