By Mark Phillips:

As polls continue to show Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in with a real chance of becoming prime minister later this month, ACTU Media Co-ordinator Mark Phillips comments on the lack of scrutiny of the volatile leader from the media and lists the questions the media should be asking.
Where did they put the real Tony Abbott?

The one who said climate change is crap.  Or that a bad boss is like a bad husband – better than none at all.

The Tony Abbott in the final days of the Howard Government verbally berated dying asbestos victim Bernie Banton.

Where have the Liberal spin doctors hidden him? One suspects that on 22 August, if he is elected Prime Minister of this country, the real, ultra conservative Tony Abbott will come out of hiding.

Halfway through the election campaign, and to a large extent it has been a triumph of spin over substance.

Nowhere is this truer than in the Coalition’s approach to industrial relations and consequently, Abbott has been let off the hook about his true plans for Australian workplaces.

After his stumbles of the first few days – when his carefully manufactured sound bite that “WorkChoices is dead, buried and cremated” fell apart – Abbott has faced no proper scrutiny about his record as a Workplace Minister in the Howard Government, his public statements since becoming Opposition leader, or his intentions if he wins Government.

This is a failure of our media and a failure of our democracy. In an election, it is essential that the policies and plans of the alternative Prime Minister should under rigorous scrutiny to make them accountable.

But Abbott has managed to avoid this scrutiny – much in the same way as John Howard did before the 2004 election, when he did not reveal his plans to introduce WorkChoices if he gained control of the Senate.

Abbott knows that WorkChoices and industrial relations are electoral poison for him. He will have had that point reinforced to him by the spin doctors and media consultants who have analysed focus groups and massaged his messages.

They would have told him to keep a low-profile on industrial relations, which he’s done.

But it’s totally unconvincing. Abbott has an entire career history of support for hardline, anti-worker policies behind him. He also has tried to distance himself from the statements he has made in recent months. Statements like his Budget Reply speech, when he vowed to take away protections from unfair dismissal and to reintroduce individual contracts. And statements like his attacks on the award safety net, and his ambiguous comments on the $26 a week increase to the minimum wage.

It is absolutely appalling that this far into the election campaign, Abbott still hasn’t released an industrial relations policy. And it’s disturbing that he hasn’t been held to account for this.

As Kevin Rudd said this week:

“There is a real danger at present . . . that Mr Abbott is simply about to slide quietly into the office of Prime Minister because that is his strategy. Without proper scrutiny, without proper examination or any real debate about how he would govern Australia and what he would do to Australia if he became Prime Minister of Australia, and I personally do not think that is good for our democracy.”

It’s not necessarily the media’s fault, but in the absence of proper scrutiny from the Fourth Estate, unions are determined to hold Tony Abbott to account. Unions will be asking these questions. We have a duty to, because we remember that before the 2004 election, John Howard never uttered a word about his plans to introduce WorkChoices.

Not a word.

Unions are determined not to let this happen again.

The ACTU this week released a detailed and comprehensive report on Abbott’s three-year record as a Howard Government Workplace Minister.

During that period, he laid the foundations for WorkChoices. His record as a Minister includes opposing decent wage increases for the low paid, winding back unfair dismissal protections, the Cole Royal Commission, backing employers to sack Australian workers, blackmailing industry to implement his IR agenda, attempting to spread WorkChoices-style policies in the public service, and taking legal action against workers.

Remember, this was all during the period before the Coalition controlled the Senate – a situation similar to what is likely to occur if Abbott wins on 21 August. Given the man’s track record, it is impossible to believe he’s undergone some kind of latter day conversion.

You can read the full report here.

Based on this record, the ACTU has also analysed the Fair Work Act to see what powers Abbott would have to make changes to workplaces without Parliamentary approval. The ACTU found 198 ways that Abbott could make changes through regulations or ministerial power.

From all this, there are some basic questions Tony Abbott must answer, such as:
* Do you support the current unfair dismissal protections for all Australian workers?
* Do you agree that all workers, including young people, should be protected by a robust safety net of National Employment Standards and awards and will you rule out any moves to reduce the current safety set of minimum pay, conditions and rights, including annual leave and sick leave?
* Will you rule out making changes to the way that minimum wages are set and commit to an entirely independent process by Fair Work Australia?
* Do you support collective bargaining and will you rule out the increased use of or scope for individual contracts or individual flexibility clauses in agreements or awards or other mechanisms?
* If elected, will you rule out spending taxpayers’ money to reduce the rights of workers in universities, schools, hospitals, community services, government departments, publicly funded services or industries that receive government assistance?

Between now and 21 August, pressure must be placed on Tony Abbott to answer these questions and to encourage the media to ask them. He must face proper scrutiny.

Journalists are focussing on minute differences between the IR policies of Labor and minor parties, rather than the radical changes Abbott would make – and once again, he is being let off the hook.

On 21 August, the first priority must be to ensure that Tony Abbott does not win the election and bring back WorkChoices, whatever name he gives it.

Whatever our differences about IR policy, they will be irrelevant if Abbott wins power. The door will be slammed shut on any further improvements to the Fair Work Act, abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, and better rights at work.

We will go backwards. It’s a risk the Australian people cannot take.

Mark Phillips is ACTU Media Co-ordinator. This article originally appeared in Your Rights at Work.

Tags: abbott election, abbott ir, r@w, tony abbott conservatism, tony abbott media scrutiny, tony abbott workchoices, your rights at work