Pressure is coming from business for changes to unfair-dismissal provisions affecting small business, and to the controversial rule imposing a minimum shift length of three hours, which has hit students seeking after-school work. Mr Abbott, under political pressure before this year's election to disown WorkChoices, pledged that a Coalition government would not make any changes to Labor's IR laws in its first term, and that any reforms it proposed for later would be taken to the 2013 election. While changing the hours for students does not need legislation, a law change would be needed to exempt small business from unfair-dismissal rules. Senator Abetz, responding to calls by some backbenchers for a workplace policy review, said yesterday that ''chances are that there will be some change'' before the next election. ''We will be listening to community feedback and backbenchers provide a valuable role in getting that,'' he said. He said that in the meantime ''our election policy remains in place'' and stressed that ''any change we make will not in any way, shape or form embrace WorkChoices, which is dead, buried and cremated.''

Senator Abetz went missing on the IR issue during the election after over-frank remarks in the first week were seized on by Labor and undermined Mr Abbott's no-change message. Yesterday Senator Abetz would not speculate in detail on where the system could be improved, apart from altering the provision where the interest on back pay collected by the Fair Work Ombudsman went into consolidated revenue rather than going to the workers. He said students were raising the hours issue but it could be resolved by Fair Work Australia before the next election. Mr Hockey said the opposition was not going to fall into the trap of the Labor Party, which defined everything as WorkChoices. ''For many years we have talked about the need to protect small business from unfair dismissal laws,'' he said. ''There are lots of areas where it's good to have a debate.'' '' WorkChoices is dead, but it's WorkChoices as defined by the WorkChoices legislation, not defined by Labor spin''.

Asked on Sky whether the election commitment not to change the Labor regime for three years still stood, Mr Hockey said: ''Well, it is our current proposal, yes''. Ms Bishop said businesses had been contacting the opposition about the need to liberalise minimum hours for students and the unfair-dismissal provisions for small business. ''These are issues that will have to be debated publicly because businesses are raising them.'' Mr Anderson said the Coalition's pre-election position of no change on industrial relations was unsustainable. It needed to find a policy position that differed from both WorkChoices and Labor's Fair Work system. ''There needs to be a sensible contest at least over the detail of regulation. We are not calling for Fair Work to be turned on its head,'' Mr Anderson said. ''But experience is already developing and indicating a case for some changes over the life of the Parliament. The opposition should be identifying where it has a different view and what it would do. Tony Abbott should start developing and arguing a case publicly''.

Mr Anderson said changes to the unfair-dismissal provisions should not be radical. For example, WorkChoices' exemption of firms with up to 100 workers had been excessive, he said, but the case for a broad-based exemption should be debated. Loading Mr Anderson said the Coalition should also look at curbing the scope of union bargaining rights, especially in relation to businesses with only a few union members. Trade Minister Craig Emerson claimed the Coalition was preparing to restore WorkChoices. ''It's not dead, it's just resting,'' he said.