The Liberal Party has always had a strong commitment to free enterprise. John Joseph Madigan would be the first to remind people that the outlook of the DLP is quite different. The DLP - like the ALP which sired it - believes in collective rights like the rights of unions and trade associations, and in statutory marketing organisations where individuals are bound by collective decisions. The Liberal Party believes in individual rights, individual freedom to trade, and personal liberty.

One Coalition spokesman who seems to have an affinity with the old regulated order of the Australian economy is Barnaby Joyce. These days he is apparently free to speak on all areas of policy. Writing recently in the The Canberra Times, Joyce made much of his Jesuit education as a reason for airing doubts about free trade. According to Joyce, most of the Australian economy is protected in one way or another and ''once you start protecting some things then you start to protect others".

The idea of "protection all round" - that one sector deserves protection and all others are entitled to some kind of corresponding benefit - is certainly a DLP idea. It might be held in some parts of the Nationals, but it is certainly not a Liberal idea. Liberals believe that our economy can be more productive and create more jobs with higher wages if we promote freedom and flexibility all round. During the Hawke and Keating governments, Labor started moving in that direction as well.

Tony Abbott has recently been asked to specify the labour reforms he will introduce to improve flexibility in the workplace. He should avoid the trap of ruling things in or ruling them out so far away from the next election. We know the incoming government will inherit a bad debt and fiscal position - much worse than that inherited by Labor.

The Coalition will need a range of policy options to address Australia's falling productivity. Playing a game over what is in and what is out is to limit the capacity of a future government to deal with problems. Whether Abbott rules things out, Labor will mount a scare campaign against him, saying he cannot be believed. And Labor does not believe that ruling something out counts for anything, anyway. ''There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead," Julia Gillard said before the election.