The Liberal leadership saga has overshadowed growing unrest within the Government over industrial relations, which the Prime Minister will again avoid this week. Some backbenchers fear Julia Gillard’s proposed industrial relations legislation is too similar to Work Choices. Last Tuesday, while Brendan Nelson was being dumped, New South Wales senator Steve Hutchins was telling a restive Labor caucus that the legislation was “Work Choices lite”.

Former Labor Opposition Leader Kim Beazley’s argument was that the pace of reform under Kevin Rudd had been slowed by the constipation of process. His speech was about the centralised control being exercised by a self-confessed anal prime minister. Beazley’s point of departure was the administrative style of Bob Hawke versus that of Kevin 24/7. And it was the Duracell Bunny that came off worse.

The question we want answered is whether the growth slowdown under way will be another mid-cycle correction as in 1996 and 2001, or alternatively the long-predicted business cycle recession, last seen 17 years ago in the recession we had to have? Unfortunately corrections and recessions can look similar in their initial stages.

With the introduction of temporary protection visas, the Tampa incident and the excision of Australian territory from our migration zone, refugees were treated increasingly inhumanely. They were demonised by policies and practices that were largely - and shamefully - supported by both sides of parliament.

There is a disturbing hollowness to much of our force. This reflects particularly badly on the Hawke and Keating governments, which left our defence forces bedraggled and grossly under-equipped, underfunded and undermanned, while proclaiming, wholly fatuously, that they had produced the defence of Australia.

The truth is that governments have become so obsessed by the economy that they aren’t always aware of specific instances of “the limitations of markets”. And even at this early stage gaps are emerging between the Rudd Government’s ideals and its performance, with potential pitfalls abounding.

By opposing a bill of rights, the Liberal and National parties will align themselves with leading Labor intellectuals, including Bob Carr and former Labor staffer and now NSW Chief Justice James Spigelman, along with NSW Labor Attorney-General John Hatzistergos and many others within the ALP. Senator George Brandis, one of the Coalition’s sharpest minds, knows what he’s doing politically but he also knows why he’s doing it constitutionally.

The Rudd Government has to be immediately concerned with its short-term narrative. The problem here is that the story is changing. The difficulty is not just striking the right note but choosing the right volume at which to deliver messages.

Australian Workers Union head Paul Howes said the Rudd Government should allow its total cap on greenhouse emissions to expand to accommodate pollution from new state-of-the-art plants built by energy-hungry industries. Mr Howes’s comments echo industry concerns that investment would be driven overseas.

The Superannuation Minister said today the Government was working on a two-part reform plan that included increasing the aged pensions as well as considering a boost in compulsory super contributions.