Joe's IR reform drive hides leadership aims

JOE Hockey is making his play.

By coming out yesterday and calling for industrial relations reforms to be part of any Liberal Party policy debate, after Tony Abbott had been so strident during the election campaign when ruling out IR changes, the opposition Treasury spokesman is deliberately positioning himself for a future leadership tilt.

The time for it, of course, remains a long way off, and Hockey will strenuously deny such strategising is on his mind. But Hockey also understands that he needs to do some ground work to convince the Liberal base he is a worthy future leader.

As shadow Treasurer, he needs to support ways of improving productivity. What better way to do that than by reforming the Fair Work Act. His economic credentials have been called into question lately. A pitch for more flexible workplace relations is a powerful response.

Hockey needs to win back the Liberal Party heartland after his emission trading scheme stance late last year. What better way to do that than by answering the cry for help from small businesses weighed down by unfair dismissal laws. Small business has always been the Liberal Party's core constituency.

As an alternative leader, Hockey needs to find a point of differentiation from his boss, as Abbott did with Malcolm Turnbull by backflipping on support for a carbon price. What better policy area for Hockey to find such a point of difference with Abbott than IR - a policy area that has stifled Abbott's capacity to do anything other than remain weak on.

If Abbott now embraces IR reforms - after so fervently ruling out a return to Work Choices during the campaign - it will call into question his promises at the last election. Remember, Abbott didn't just guarantee he wouldn't return to Work Choices, he also said he wouldn't amend the Fair Work Act now or in the future, which is exactly what Hockey is calling for.

IR is to Hockey what the ETS was to Abbott: the policy that will deliver him core support for any future challenge. He has the popular support to ride out the barbs Labor will throw at him for backing IR reforms. And it is a policy area MPs who have been shafted by Abbott ideologically - such as Steve Ciobo - believe in just as the Turnbull malcontents - such as Cory Bernardi - strongly opposed the ETS.

Winning a leadership challenge is about two things: securing support of Liberal members, and with that the parliamentary party, and maintaining popularity in the wider electorate. Hockey has always had the latter; the former has been his problem. He's hard at work to fix that hole in his armour.