Govt has mandate for parental leave scheme DEPUTY Prime Minister Warren Truss says voters gave the coalition a mandate for its generous paid parental leave scheme and it will push ahead with the plan. "The coalition went to the people and got a mandate for a paid parental leave (scheme)," Mr Truss said on Sunday. We will put that to the parliament in due course. The coalition's scheme offers mothers 26 weeks' leave on full pay, capped at $75,000, at an estimated cost of 5.5 billion a year. Both Labor and the Greens say that's too generous. Greens leader Christine Milne has told Prime Minister Tony Abbott she is willing to negotiate on the paid parental leave scheme to get it through the Senate. But she told him it needs to be reduced, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Mr Truss told ABC television there would be a change of Senate next July. So there will be plenty of opportunities for the parliament to deal with this issue. But we will be sticking to the scheme that we asked the Australian people to support," he said. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was a matter for the prime minister . "But I think you should assume that the government will stick to the policy it took to the election," he told Ten Network Ten.