Senator Abetz said workplace laws had been a "political hot potato and a huge negative for us" when he took charge of the portfolio but after four years the policy area "has been cooled down substantially, temperature wise, which is if I might be so bold which is exactly what the Coalition wanted".

"We have been able to basically neutralise [Labor] and look ... if you want your changes to last you've got to do it in evolutionary steps, not revolutionary steps and clearly as it now transpires Labor did overreach with the Fair Work Act," he said.

The Tasmanian senator said Labor and the Australian Council of Trade Unions would try to mount a scare campaign against the government on workplace law changes but "you can't just chant WorkChoices and expect people to run away. People aren't believing that anymore".

"If I might say, that was part and parcel of, if I might say a performance indicator I set for myself, that if people were to chant WorkChoices the public would say 'Nope, we don't believe you. This is sensible, reasonable policy'. Labor tried it at the last election and it clearly did not work."

Senator Abetz also confirmed he and Treasurer Joe Hockey had "basically settled the terms of reference" for the commission's review of work laws. That review is expected to get under way this year and report back in the months before the election due in 2016.