A new report has warned that Labor's promise to abolish the Coalition's WorkChoices reforms if its wins government would push up mortgage interest rates and unemployment. Labor denies this as a false assumption, and the report is written by liberal pals ACC.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) commissioned the economic consultants Econtech to model the consequences if the industrial relations landscape of 1993 was restored.
Its study predicted that would result in a 1.3 per cent hike in inflation and interest rates would climb by 1.4 per cent, pushing up the average mortgage by $273 a month.
ACCI spokesman Peter Hendy says the axing of WorkChoices alone makes up a sizeable share of the predictions.
"You would see about a third of the results here, so a very, very significant impact on the Australian economy," he said.
Mr Hendy says the report also forecasts major job losses.
"If you reverse industrial relations reform, you will have a massive impact upon the job market," he said.
"There would be something like up to 316,000 jobs lost.
"We're sending a message to both major political parties that you cannot afford to roll back the industrial relations reforms we've had to date."
But deputy Opposition leader Julia Gillard has told Channel Nine the report does not make sense and is based on a false assumption.
"The key claim in it is that Labor's industrial relations system is somehow going to have pattern bargaining in it," she said.
The report is being officially released later today.
Source: ABC
