By Peter Reith
Even though I have spent many years as an activist promoting labour-market reform, I promised Tony Abbott I would suspend my interest if I became federal president of the Liberal Party. I thought that was the best way I could support Tony and the team and quietly encourage good policy.
I was more than surprised to learn after the ballot on Saturday that that was not his view. It was his choice.
Tony Abbott ... played "show and tell".Credit: Graham Tidy
I have no idea why he voted against me and I am sad that it happened.
I never liked the contest because I thought it might be a problem whoever won and so I offered a compromise three weeks ago, but it was rejected. All that means that I can resume my interest in reform knowing that Tony respects my right to do so, based on a conversation we had earlier this year after I publicly called for the reintroduction of individual agreements.
It was good Tony publicly called for the business community to make the case for reform. I hope he means it. Julia Gillard's retrograde changes are slowly burning our economy and in time the voices of embattled business will be heard across the country.
The Liberal Party has to take responsibility for labour market reform in Australia because Labor is hopelessly compromised by the fact that it is owned lock, stock and barrel by the unions. Labour-market issues are at the heart of productivity and, in the end, about living standards. Australia's productivity performance has been poor in recent years. We cannot pretend that this problem does not exist.
Too many people are too worried about Work Choices. It is obviously buried and no one wants it back. If we jump in fright every time Nick Minchin says the ALP is salivating at the thought of the Liberals doing something necessary, then Australia's prospects are not looking good.
The attitudes of Liberal leaders to labour-market reform were on display at the Federal Council. The two new Liberal premiers, Ted Baillieu and Barry O'Farrell, have announced initiatives on workplace relations. In both cases, poor behaviour and excessive wage demands have been driving up costs and putting pressure on state budgets. Both have been attacked by Labor as examples of the Work Choices bogyman at work.
Luckily, these two premiers have not been deterred by a scare campaign and they will act in the public interest. By addressing practical problems with specific reforms, these premiers are demonstrating an approach that Abbott could emulate.
When the Premier of Western Australia, Colin Barnett, was asked if he would follow suit to curb militant unionism in the construction industry, he said it was not necessary - despite the reality of a massive infrastructure program, huge cost pressures and a construction union known for its industrial aggression. My hope for Western Australia is that Barnett will want to help the 450,000 people working in one of the most overregulated, pro-union state systems in the country.
And, of course, the fourth player was Tony Abbott. His current policy is that the issue is "dead, buried and cremated".
It seems that the reformers on workplace relations were also supporters of party reform; once a reformer, always a reformer. I assume Baillieu voted for me; that was the assessment of the Victorian delegates and they know him well. O'Farrell would have voted for me because he said publicly that he would. Barnett seems to have voted for Alan Stockdale.
And Tony? He played "show and tell". This is the opposite of a secret ballot and much favoured by Labor Party factional bosses who like to see the ballots to make sure that their lackeys vote as directed or as agreed. It was a pity that the Liberal federal director did not accept my suggestion that we needed polling booths because some delegates felt they were being pressured. Anyway, that was not a problem for Tony. Sitting at the top table in the full glare of the media, he filled out the form and showed it to Stockdale, who was sitting next to him. Alan looked pleased.
This ambivalence about workplace relations reform is a continuing concern not just for me but a growing number of Australians running businesses large and small. The Liberals must win the next election but winning is not enough. Let's aim higher than a rerun of the Fraser years.
In the same way that Baillieu and O'Farrell have put aside fears about the bogyman, the next federal government also needs to be pro-reform.
I fervently hope that is the case because otherwise our country is in for a rougher ride than it deserves.
Peter Reith is a former workplace relations minister. He lost a vote for Liberal Party president, 57-56, on Saturday.