Policy Address 2026｜Kwan Ho-ming advocates extending statutory maternity leave and paternity leave, Fan Ka-kit calls for increasing the newborn baby bonus to 30k yuan.

The new “Policy Address” is currently undergoing public consultation. Several legislators have submitted written proposals to the Chief Executive today (2nd), while more people have continued to put forward suggestions on encouraging childbirth. Legislative Council member from the Election Committee sector, Koo Hoi-ming, suggested considering optimizing and extending the current statutory maternity leave and paternity leave, and studying the introduction of Singapore’s “shared parental leave,” under which spouses can freely coordinate and allocate paid parental leave.

The 3-year HK$20,000 newborn baby reward fund scheme will end on October 24 this year. Legislative Council member from the Election Committee sector, Fan Kai-chi, suggested making the reward fund permanent, and, taking inflation and fiscal conditions into account, moderately increasing it to HK$30,000 per newborn baby—sending a clear signal to society of the government’s long-term support for childbirth. He also suggested that the government study including postpartum care service costs in the salaries tax deduction scheme, so as to work in tandem with the existing child tax exemptions, providing appropriate tax relief for families that can afford postpartum care services.

Policy Address 2026 | Koo Hoi-ming Advocates for a Re-Launch of Consultation to Expand the Tax Base

On taxation, Koo Hoi-ming suggested that the HKSAR government work together with Hong Kong’s major chambers of commerce, accounting and tax professional bodies, and think tank scholars to restart research previously conducted by past administrations on “introducing new taxes and broadening the tax base.” In response to various proposals for new tax types raised by the public and academia in recent years—including targeted luxury taxes, new consumption taxes, and internationally common value-added tax on asset gains and interest taxes—a full pros-and-cons analysis should be carried out with a scientific and pragmatic approach. The research should look for scope to optimize the tax structure while striking a balance between safeguarding basic livelihood welfare for the middle class and grassroots, and maintaining Hong Kong’s core competitiveness of a “simple and low tax system.”

Policy Address 2026 | Chan Man-yi Advocates Keeping the Poverty Line as an Internal Reference Tool, Saying the Poverty Line and Targeted Poverty Alleviation Are Not in Conflict

Social welfare sector legislator Chan Man-yi suggested keeping the poverty line as an internal reference tool. She stressed that the poverty line and targeted poverty alleviation are not mutually exclusive: the former helps understand macro trends, while the latter helps deploy resources precisely, and the two complement each other.