Questions of Tony Abbott about Industrial Relations are persisting because it’s not an entirely believable position that Tony Abbott and his team agree that Labor’s workplace laws are the right ones for a strong economy.

It’s also true that not everyone believes that Labor can get the balance between managing an economy responsibly and pandering to the unions’ correct either. But people seem content with the economy at the moment, and are happy with Labor’s IR regime. For now.

The view that Labor has, for now, got the balance right can be shifted with clever debate, the display of true character and ballsy leadership.

The microscope has turned on the Coalition in regard to managing the delicate issue of IR. IR is one of the rare areas of Federal politics people really care about; it affects every single worker in a household, or every employer in a household.

So going to sleep and rolling over with the line, “Oh we trust Julia’s got it right and we won’t tinker with her marvellous legislation”, does not cut it with the public.

If it’s the case that Julia’s got IR right why on earth have loyal Coalition supporters been running around campaigning on how Julia’s got it wrong? Was that BBQ fundraiser at our house with Eric Abetez last December and his one hour lecture on the evils of the current system all for nothing?

The proposition of the Coalition agreeing with Julia on IR is preposterous and cannot be swallowed by the public.

WorkChoices is a pariah hanging around the Coalition’s neck. It is clear that Tony Abbott tried to clear the decks with IR early in the campaign. However , he should have cleared WorkChoices as an issue as soon as he started his tenure as Liberal Leader.

Clearing the decks could have been presenting a creditable alternative early, which was done to some degree and then sticking to it. You can’t have two parties going to an election on the same Industrial Relations policy. The mind boggles.

This situation will call into question the character of Tony Abbott as people think, “Would he really accept the IR Laws of Julia Gillard, which are so opposite to his own beliefs, just so he can win an election?”.

This mistake may create untold damage for the Coalition.

I heard a report on ABC morning radio yesterday where the interviewer asked passers by about how believable Tony Abbott’s position on IR was. Each person said they were unlikely to believe his story. In essence it wasn’t that they didn’t like Tony, it’s just that people are cynical about what comes from a politician’s mouth.

So what will the public believe? They will believe you if you say we will change the laws, but here’s how. The Coalition may have made changes that would strengthen workers rights, but ensure more flexibility in the work place. They may have actually stuck to the core principles of the Party I so strongly believe in, the core principles of freedom of choice.

This whole tragic mess comes back to my blog from yesterday about Julia Gillard’s character. The public have a right to see the full character of those that lead them, they also deserve an honest dialogue about a leader’s philosophy, and how their mind processes, their personal opinions and their views are collated and how this will shape the decisions they make and ultimately the way Australians live their lives for the next 3 years.

Politicians make the assumption people are mugs. Australians, despite popular opinion from elites who think otherwise, actually think about the way they vote. People think about policy. If they didn’t think about policy, we wouldn’t have any.

Part of a voter’s process has always been reviewing policy and philosophy. Unfortunately for the Coalition people expect Industrial Relations to be a point of difference between the two parties, and it will be marked as a tragic mistake of this campaign that the coalition won’t outline how an alternative style or system could benefit working voters.