“Dead, buried, cremated,” Tony Abbott decreed theatrically of WorkChoices amid a shaky start to his 2010 election campaign.
It turned out it was a mere hiccup compared to the spectacular Cabinet leaks on the Government side which scuttled Julia Gillard’s credibility. She has never really recovered.
But the mere fact that a resurgent IR debate scared him witless says much about the history of this issue and the scars the 2007 defeat left.
That trauma also informed his pledge to leave Labor’s union-friendly Fair Work Act untouched for three years if elected.
That “dead, buried, cremated” promise may have been real politik but it was a more substantial capitulation than Julia Gillard’s “no-carbon-tax” pledge because it was an open-eyed surrender on a central article of conservative faith. Mr Abbott at least hasn’t gone back on his word.
But then, perhaps he should?
As large swathes of the economy struggle against a high dollar and high interest rates - both exacerbated by the mining boom - there is a renewed push from business for greater flexibility in the labour market.
And the more pressing that argument becomes, the less reasoned Mr Abbott’s election retreat looks.
In any case, not everyone feels as bound by that promise or as fearful of re-awakening the WorkChoices bogie.
Indeed a growing number of policy-minded MPs as well as business leaders are speaking up, complaining that Labor’s Fair Work Act, which ostensibly restored the balance after WorkChoices, has actually proved more regressive.
Critics believe that the Gillard reforms, (Ms Gillard was IR minister before replacing Kevin Rudd) have done much more than merely unpick WorkChoices.
“What underpinned WorkChoices really did go too far in removing what was known as the No Disadvantage Test,’’ concedes Peter Anderson from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“But for the ten years before WorkChoices we had a system of collective bargaining and also a system where you could make individual agreements with a No Disadvantage Test. That system worked quite well.’‘
Now they say, pattern bargaining is back - the tendency for union gains in one enterprise to become standardised for entire industry sectors.
For employers, the two biggest gripes among many are the restoration of weekend and over-time penalties, as uniformity of outcomes replaces enterprise-based agreements, and the return of onerous unfair dismissal laws.
Small business in particular says this has had the perverse effect of frightening employers into not hiring new staff for fear of being stuck with them if it doesn’t work out.
“In other words, the pendulum has swung back too far towards one size fits all rules across our economy,’’ says Anderson.
It’s an analysis the Workplace Relations Minister, Chris Evans steadfastly rejects.
“We think the Act gets the balance right,’’ he said on Tuesday.
“I think what we’re seeing now is a couple of things. First of all we have ideological warriors, those who want to go back to an individual contract system joining the debate. The same sort of people who’ve always opposed the sort of protections we’ve put in for working people into the Act,’’ he told Radio National.
But the Australian Industry Group’s Heather Ridout has long argued that there is a strong case for dropping the inflamed rhetoric in favour of change.
“Putting the positive aspects of the `Fair Work’ system to one side, the Government needs to accept that the laws are far from perfect and there are problems which need to be addressed,’’ she told an employment relations conference earlier this year.
The list of people calling for a proper debate to replace the old WorkChoices war is growing by the day.
But the silent one so far is Tony Abbott.
While a detailed IR policy is promised at a later time, the best the Opposition has done to date is agree with calls to bring forward next year’s scheduled review of the Fair Work Act.
Abbott’s reluctance was again on display this week after his mentor, John Howard said: “At some point this country has to wind back the re-regulation of the labour market.’’ He added for good measure: “It won’t happen under Labor because Labor is run by the unions’‘.
“It’s blindingly obvious that one of the worst mistakes Julia Gillard has made is to re-regulate the labour market. It is affecting our productivity and it will therefore affect our competitiveness,’’ he told 7.30.
While Mr Howard is mindful not to snooker his protege, the inescapable conclusion is (a) that he believes IR reform is absolutely essential, and (b) that it will have to come from the Coalition’.
Confronted with the Howard comments, Tony Abbott had little choice but to concede ground, but he did the bare minimum.
“Well, I think we need freedom,’’ he said in the best traditions of political hair-splitting.
“Now, there’s got to be minimums. There’s got to be fairness. But there’s also got to be freedom.’‘
Others take a more robust view.
Liberal MP Jamie Briggs, thinks the first step is to acknowledge that falling productivity is the problem and that flexibility is a big part of the answer - especially in the flat retail sector where the internet has changed the game.
“What it’s done is that it has exposed our retail sector to the competitive pressures that an industry sector like manufacturing has been exposed to for thirty years [and] what that does is highlight inefficiencies,’’ he says.
With all the clamour for a manufacturing inquiry, it is clear that declining productivity is the real elephant in the room. With manufacturing employing around one million people in this country compared to mining which employs more like 200,000, failure to address this problem will have material impacts on many peoples’ lives.
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
@MickNeven the game is called rugby league not rugby. Just like it's cricket not croquet! Sorry I can't catch ya show.
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
Schapelle has done her time
Schapelle Corby has served more than seven years in Kerobokan prison for attempting to import 4.2 kilos…
Do women need to know when to walk away?
Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond has sparked controversy over her advice that young women should sometimes…
Who murdered the Arts degree?
Have we murdered the liberal arts education? That was the final question on Monday night’s Q&A…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
Michael S says:
"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone
Change Up! says:
I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more
Most commented